36 INTRODUCTION. 



ter^% the Smooth Terrier, and innumerable others, cul- 

 tivated and kept either for use or ornament. 



Having proceeded thus far in attempting a feeble out- 

 line of the natural history of the dog, I propose devot- 

 ing a few pages to the more interesting task of describ- 

 ing his moral qualities ; to which I am prompted by a 

 hope that I may thereby more effectually advocate his 

 cause ; and that, by exciting inquiry into his real cha- 

 racter and properties, I may aw^aken a due considera- 

 tion for him in the minds of those (of whom there are 

 too many) who now regard him with indifference, con- 

 tempt, or dislike. To those who are conversant with 

 the animal, I need offer no apology for such detail ; 

 they will agree, that, in what follows, I have been 

 guilty of no exaggeration; on the contrary, I have 

 barely done justice to this amiable companion of man- 

 kind ; to one that, whether we consider the extent of his 



*7 The setter is undoubtedly derived wholly from the spaniel, and 

 not, as has been supposed, from a mixture of spaniel and pointer. 

 Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, is recorded as the first 

 person who broke (to the net) a setter (i. e. a spaniel), so called from 

 its lying down before game until a net was drawn over both dog and 

 game. After this aptitude had been displayed, it is natural to sup- 

 pose that the breed would be continued, and future cultivations in- 

 creased its size and powers. The setter retained the name of spa- 

 niel until of late years ; and to this day he is called, in Ireland, the 

 English spaniel. Gay calls him the " creeping spaniel ;" Thomson, 

 also, has 



How, in his mid-career, the spaniel struck 

 Stiff by the tainted gale, with open nose 

 Outstretch' d, &c. 



The old English setter is now scarce, and has given place to a breed 

 of less docility and subjection, but of enlarged size and increased 

 speed: these are mostly red, and are of Irish origin. The term 

 Index, by which the setter has been known, it is evident is not more 

 appropriate ; indeed, it is less so than to the pointer. 



