8PANIBLS ] 



FOR MOUNTAlxX, FIELD, AND FAKM. 



[the SETTEa. 



took to his bed, at tlie loot of it uiiwcuiily 

 atteuilecl the laiiliful animal; and when ho 

 died, the dog would not quit the body, but 

 lay upon the bed by its side. It was with 

 diflifu'ty he was tempted to cat any food ; 

 and although, after the burial, he was taken 

 to the hall, aud caressed with all the temler- 

 ness which so fond an attachment naturally 

 called forth, he took every opportunity to 

 steal back to the room in the cottajxe where 

 his old master breathed his last. Here ho 

 would remain for hours ; from thence ho daily 

 visited his grave ; and, at the end of fourteen 

 davs, notwithstanding every kindness and 

 attention shown him, he died literally broken- 

 hearted." To this anecdote we may append 

 the Danish motto, only altering the name, and 

 sav, "Dash was faithful." 



" As the shepherd's dog," says ^Mr. Elchard- 

 son, " is the taithful friend of those in the 

 humbler walks of life, so are the spaniels to 

 'chiefs and ladies bright' — to the gentler 

 sex, par excellence, and to those high in 

 ' honour and in place.' Examples of the good 

 qualities of these dogs are everywhere noto- 

 rious. As the shepherd's dog represents the 

 utile, so may these represent the dulce. The 

 former, the rough aud honest comrade of the 

 rough and honest peasant — the latter, the 

 associate of luxurious courtiers and of power- 

 ful princes ; but still, though moving amidst 

 tinsel and falsehood, n'^ver losing the primi- 

 tive honesty and purity of intention which 

 characterise his disposition." 



The following we take from a communica- 

 tion made to a respectable paper; — "I had a 

 spaniel dog that was particularly attached to 

 me. She seemed quite conscious when I was 

 about to leave home for a lengthened absence, 

 and would whine and look exceedingly miser- 

 able on such occasions ; though she would 

 suffer me to depart without any exhibition of 

 especial regret when I was only going to the 

 neighbouring towns for a day or two. I was 

 informed, on credible authority, that when I 

 was in London, or any other distant place, 

 and wrote home, this dog would select my 

 letter from a number of others, and, if 

 she could possibly obtain it, would run 

 away with it in her mouth to some secure 

 hiding-place, and cry over it ; and, perhaps, 

 if she had found words, would have exclaimed, 



like Hero, wlieu perusing an ej)istle from 

 Leander : — 



** ' With wlint delight I rend your letter o'er; 



Your iircsence only could have pivin me more.' ** 



How far credulity may be given to thi« 

 instance of s.'igacity, we must leave it to the 

 reader's own judgment to decide. 



THE SETTER, OR LAND SP.VNIEL. 



This spaniel was first broken ia to set 

 partridges and other feathered game, as an 

 assistant to the net, by Dudley, Duke of 

 Northumberland, in 1335 ; and Mr. Daniel, in 

 his jRural Sports, gives a copy of a document, 

 dated 1(JS5, in which a yeoman binds himself, 

 for ten shillings, to teach a spaniel to set 

 partridges and pheasants. That the setter 

 and the old original land spaniel are identical, 

 there can be no doubt. 



" There are several varieties of setter. Tho 

 ordinary old English setter, with rather a 

 square head and heavy chops, looking as if he 

 had a dash of Spanish pointer in him : colour 

 usually liver-and-white. The Irish setter, 

 narrower in the head, finer in the muzzle ; 

 usually of a yellowish-red colour, perhaps the 

 fastest of all setters. This is a dog in very 

 high esteem ; no trace of the pointer is seen 

 in him. These are the genuine, unmixed de- 

 scendants of the original land spaniel ; and so 

 highly valued are they, that a hundred guineas 

 is by no means an unusual price for a single 

 dog. There was a celebrated breed of these 

 dogs — now, I believe, extinct — kept by that 

 ancient and noble Irish family, the O'Connors 

 of Offaly : those belonging to the late Maurice 

 O'Connor were highly renowned, and the 

 breed is described by his grandson as yet 

 remaining." 



Of the sagacity of every variety of spaniel, 

 we have almost innumerable instances, which, 

 to those who are unacquainted with the mental 

 manifestations of dogs, sometimes appear so 

 extraordinary, that it makes credulity pause 

 before it can admit them into the repository 

 of its facts. On one occasion, some gentle- 

 men were shooting in the woods belonging to 

 Mrs. Stackpoole and Miss "W'asey, of Prior's 

 Court, when one of the party (Mr. J. "W'eru- 

 ham Pocock, of Chievely) discovered that he 

 had lost his watch and chain. He recollected 

 having them safely in his pocket about an 



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