206 NOTED MASTIFFS. 



grand, and his lips extremely pendulous, he was also a very 

 muscular, well-grown animal of great size and bone, with a 

 stern if possible too fine ; his pedigree was very indifferent, 

 and his produce inferior and disappointing. 



In 1876 Fredk. Valter of Birmingham made a crayon 

 sketch of my Norah 6397, who took First Prize at Birming- 

 ham that year, she had the white blaze down the face, and 

 white on neck and paws, her ears were extremely small and 

 semi-erect, she was excessively active, very muscular, and a 

 very fast and terrible fighter, and when roused would roll 

 even a male specimen over in a second ; she was descended 

 from the brindle and white Rose of the old Elvaston Castle 

 strain. 



Formerly the mastiff ran all colours, and were mostly pied 

 with white. The continual reproduction of the breed without 

 foreign crosses was calculated to produce a very uniform type, 

 at the same time to render the colouring matter weak, the 

 face, chest, neck, paws, and tip of the tail being the first 

 places to show it. Now the question of colour looked at 

 impartially, will at once be seen to be anything but a charac- 

 teristic, all colours being admissible, (except liver colour and 

 black white and tan in patches like a foxhound, which I have 

 never heard of) but owing to the careful selection of the 

 fallow, that colour may now be looked upon as a sign of 

 purity almost, and the fancy (i.e. the public breeders and 

 judges) have a right to give a preference to whatever colour 

 they may think the handsomest ; for my own part I prefer the 

 all black, or the stone, or smoky fawn, with intense black ears 

 and muzzle, in fact the darker the head the better, as it gives 

 that lowering sullen look, which to use the words of Dr. Cains, 

 " Drives cold fear into the heart of man." 



