146 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 



procured by his owner, a Mr. Robinson, from Bold Hall, 

 Lancashire, being one of the noted strain of English mastiffs 

 kept up at that fine old residence. 



Of this race of mastiffs, Col. Wilson Patten, writing to me 

 in 1873 sa id : " I do not know of any picture of a Bold mastiff, 

 "nor do I know in whose hands any specimen of the breed 

 "now is. The breed is distinct from that of Lyme Hall in 

 " two respects only. The Bold mastiff is a light tawny colour, 

 " that of Lyme Hall is much darker, almost amounting to red, 

 "the former has a light, the latter a black muzzle. In these 

 " latter years there have been crosses between the two, 

 " much to the advantage of both. 1 ' 



Writing later in the same year he said : " The Bold breed 

 " of English mastiffs has been in the Bold family for several 

 "centuries." Col. Wilson Patten kept the breed up himself 

 in a measure when residing at Bold Hall. There is an 

 anecdote of a mastiff of this breed in " The Natural History 

 of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak in Derbyshire,'' by 

 Charles Leigh, M.D., printed at ye Green Dragon, Oxford, 

 A.D. 1705, it runs: "Anecdote of a Mastiff Dog." "He 

 "belonged to the Honourable Peter Bold, of Bold. This 

 " mastiff still attended his master in his chamber during a 

 "tedious sickness, being a consumption of the lungs. After 

 " this generous gentleman expired, and his corpse removed, 

 " the dog almost each moment entered the room making a 

 " mournful noise, and prosecuted his researches several days 

 "through all the rooms of the house, but in vain, he then 

 " retired to his kennel, from whence he would not be courted, 

 " but refusing all manner of sustenance, died there. Of this 

 ' ; I was an eye witness, being through the whole course of 

 " the distemper concerned for that honourable gentleman." 



