The Irish Setter 183 



the Elcho-Palmerston when a good dog was wanted. This Grouse II. was 

 an own sister to Ganymede and Hebe, all bred and owned by the late Rev. 

 Robert O'Callaghan, one of the most successful breeders of Irish setters 

 of his day. Hebe was accidentally mated with Ganymede and the result 

 was the famous Geraldine and Tyrone, and so plain was the good results 

 of this interbreeding that the same mating was continued, and among their 

 additional offspring was Kildare, one of the best show dogs of his day. 



"Grouse II. won the Challenge Cup at Dublin in 1879 and was selected 

 for illustration in 'The Book of the Dog.' Four years later she was bred 

 to Frisco, and the result was Aveline and Fingal in the first litter, and later 

 on came Desmond, Desmond II. — imported by Mr. Charles T. Thompson 

 of Philadelphia, and winner of many prizes on the bench as well as a field 

 trials winner — Fingal I., Fingal II., Shandon, Shandon II., Ossory, Or- 

 monde, Ormonde II., Drogheda and others. Mr. O'Callaghan always 

 considered Shandon II., and Geraldine II., a granddaughter of Frisco 

 and Ganymede, as about the best two Irish setters he had bred. Frisco 

 was said to have black in his coat, but his owner wrote me that it was abso- 

 lutely erroneous. Ossory was the sire of Champion Ponto, famous as a 

 sire of show and field trials winners; among the latter being Punches- 

 town, Regalia, Clonsilla, Creevagh and others. 



"Another dog about which equally false statements were made by 

 rivals was Muskerry, which was kept as a private shooting dog by the late 

 W. H. Cooper, of Henmore, Derbyshire. Until he became prominent as 

 a sire nothing was known of him. Entering into correspondence with Mr. 

 Cooper I obtained a good deal of useful information regarding his setters 

 and their breeding. Muskerry was bred by the well known Mr. F. H. Bass, 

 of County Cork, and was by Ballingary, a great shooting dog and a show- 

 winner, also owned by Mr. Bass, whose dog Count was Ballingary's sire. 

 Ballingary's dam was Mr. Bass's Flirt, and beyond sire and dam 

 we simply have the knowledge that the ancestry were from old strains. 

 Muskerry's dam was Romp, a full sister to Rapid Meg, whose daughter 

 Nancy Lee was the dam of the field trials dogs Blue Rock, Signal and Miss 

 Signal. Romp was by Milo out of Fan, who was by Colonel Warren's 

 Major, and he by Hutchinson Massey's Rock (son of Hutchinson's Bob) 

 out of Captain Woodley's Flirt of the La Touche strain. Milo was by a 

 son of Palmerston out of a daughter of Dr. Stone's Dash, a dog of a strain 

 which Dr. Stone had bred pure for twenty years. This Dash had white 



