174 The Dog Book 



contrary: Coleraine was only twelve months old when she won the English 

 Kennel Club Setter Derby; Aveline, the beautiful, was but fourteen months 

 when she was second in her Derby, and Signal but sixteen months when 

 he made his great record of first puppy, second St. Leger, fourth Irish 

 Alt-Ages Stakes, and ran the great setter Fred (winner of Third Grand 

 All-Ages Stakes), at the Irish Grouse Trials, such a heat that Fred's handler 

 said at its conclusion: 'I shall always have a great regard for Signal, and 

 both fit and well, should like to see them drawn together again. He is 

 the best dog Fred has ever met. His son, Young Signal, was but sixteen 

 months when he was second in the St. Leger Stakes, second All-Ages 

 Stakes (for all breeds) and third in the Irish All-Ages Stakes at the Irish 

 Grouse Trials of 1893. 



"Dr. J. H. Salter, who judged the Irish Grouse Trials in 1889, was 

 certainly surprised at what he saw at the trials, where some of the best 

 English setters and pointers competed, for he wrote as follows : ' It has cer- 

 tainly done one thing, and that is to establish the Irish setter, when properly 

 broken and handled, as equal, if not superior to the best English setters 

 and pointers. For pace, endurance, cleverness and game finding sense 

 give me an Irish setter such as Henmore, Sure Death and Mac's Little 

 Nell/ Corroborative of that is this extract from the London Field: 'To 

 Sure Death would undoubtedly have gone the Champion cup, had she not 

 been so hard run. How she went over the ground even in the earlier part 

 of her last course, after running during the last three days no fewer than 

 ten trials, some of which were prolonged ones, must have been seen to be 

 believed. We fancy she is even faster than Mac's Little Nell; her style is 

 smart and clean; she knows where to look for birds and possesses a fine 

 nose. We do not expect to find such a prodigy as a dog that can gallop 

 around her or take the outside beat.' 



"Mr. Rawdon B. Lee in 'Modern Dogs' (and Mr. Lee has been the 

 London Field kennel reporter for years now), writes: 'When properly 

 and perfectly trained, the red setter has shown us that no variety can beat 

 him. I should not conscientiously say that from what I have observed 

 in his work of late years, and I have seen all the best dogs run, that the 

 Irish setter is as dashing, as energetic, as stylish as the best English dog I 

 ever saw. I believe he will, as a rule, do a long and hard day's work better 

 than any other breed of setter. His stamina is extraordinary, and the 

 shooting man who has a wide expanse of moor upon which birds are scarce 



