THE KING CHARLES SPANIELS. 



433 



ties own Dog, and doubtless was stolen, for 

 the dog was not born nor bred in England, and 

 would never forsake His Master. Whosoever 

 finds him may acquaint any at Whitehall for the 

 Dog was better known at Court, than those 

 who stole him. Will they never leave robbing 

 His Majesty ? Must he not keep a Dog ? 

 This Dog's place (though better than some 

 imagine) is the only place which nobody offers 

 to beg. — June 28-July 5, 1660." 



In the Intelligence for January 9th, 

 1664-5, is the following notice : — 



" Lost, on the 6th inst., a black and white 

 Bitch (one of his Majesties Hounds). She has a 

 cross on the right shoulder and a C.R. burnt 

 upon her left ear, behind her right ear upon 

 her neck (which is white) she has a black spot 

 about the breadth of a silver 

 crown. Whoever shall bring or 

 send her to the back stairs at 

 Whitehall shall be rewarded for 

 his pains." 



There are now four recog- 

 nised varieties of the English 

 Toy Spaniel, or, more properly 

 speaking, five, as the Marl- 

 borough Blenheims are con- 

 sidered a distinct type. The 

 latter are said by some to be 

 the oldest of the Toy Spaniels ; 

 by others to have been first 

 brought over from Spain during 

 the reign of Charles II. by 

 John Churchill, first Duke of 

 Marlborough, from whose 

 home, Blenheim Palace, the 

 name was derived, and has 

 ever since been retained. 



If we may take the evidence of \'andyck, 

 Watteau, Francois Boucher, and Greuze, in 

 whose pictures they are so frequently 

 introduced, all the toy Spaniels of bygone 

 days had much longer noses and smaller, 

 flatter heads than those of the present time, 

 and they had much longer ears, these in 

 many instances dragging on the ground. 



The Marlborough Spaniel. — The Marl- 

 borough Blenheim has retained several of 

 the ancestral points. Although this variety 

 is of the same family, and has the same 

 name, as the short-nosed Blenheim of 



the present day, there is a great deal 

 of difference between the two types. 

 The Marlborough is higher on the legs, 

 which need not be so fully feathered. He 

 has a much longer muzzle and a flatter 

 and more contracted skull. The Marl- 

 borough possesses many of the attributes^ 

 of a sporting Spaniel ; but so also does 

 the modern Blenheim, although perhaps 

 in a lesser degree. He has a very good 

 scent. Mr. Rawdon B. Lee states that 

 " the Blenheims of Marlborough were ex- 

 cellent dogs to work the coverts for cock 

 and pheasant, and that excepting in colour 

 there is in reality not much difference in 

 appearance between the older orange and 



SPANIELS OF KING CHARLES BREED. 



From the Painting by SIR E. LANOSEER, R.A.. IN THE National Gallery. 



white dogs (not as they are to-day, with 

 their abnormally short noses, round skulls, 

 and enormous eyes), and the liver and 

 white Cockers which H. B. Chalon drew 

 for Daniel's 'Rural Sports' in 1801." 



This will bear out the statement that the 

 smaller type of Spaniel may be descended 

 from the Cockers. 



The ground colour of this dog is white, 

 with chestnut encircling the ears to the 

 muzzle, the sides of the neck are chestnut, 

 as are also the ears. There is a white 

 blaze on the forehead, in the centre of which 

 should be a clear lozenge shaped chestnut 



55 



