2o6 The Dog Book 



they moult their setter [sic] coat, when they take the brilliant mahogany 

 red, and follow the form and have the noiseless panther gallop of the Irish 

 setter." This statement is exclusively that of this writer, and if it had been 

 at all generally known surely "Sixty-one" would have been only too glad 

 to tack it on his claim that the Gordons originally came from Ireland and 

 resembled the Irish most closely. " Stonehenge " said the Irish was used 

 to get the tan, but the tan was there in the English setter long, long before 

 there was a setter in Scotland. 



We doubt the Irish affiliation very much, and for this reason: The 

 Duke was a great breeder of improved cattle, and he got his shorthorns from 

 England. He went in for coursing and he got his greyhounds from England, 

 and, as we have seen, he got a setter from Mr. Osbaldestone when he sent 

 his trainer to Major Bower for the greyhound Belle. He was a member 

 of the Malton Coursing Club; he was well acquainted with Colonel Thornton 

 and had received the gift of a pointer from him; he exchanged setters with 

 Mr. Coke, so that all his associations were with England. There was no 

 taking a "Flying Scotchman" in those days and going from Gordon Castle 

 to Yorkshire in a day. Colonel Thornton gave up his Scottish trips on 

 account of their excessive cost. From "Sporting Anecdotes" (second 

 edition, London, 1807), we take the following: "So much was the Colonel 

 enchanted with the diversity of the scenery and the variety and quantity 

 of game of every description which the remote parts of the Highlands 

 afforded, that he there passed the best part of seventeen years in succession." 

 His first visit was paid in 1789, and on that occasion he had to charter a 

 sloop which came from London to Whitby to take his party to Forres, the 

 point nearest to his destination. We continue the quotation: "Previous 

 to Colonel Thornton's quitting the Highlands, he gave up the land there 

 which he had received from the Duke of Gordon, where he had erected a 

 small mansion in the Gothic style, which was called Thornton Castle. The 

 Colonel was prompted to this measure on account of the great expense 

 attending the keeping up of this establishment, as well as the enormous 

 sums which were expended in travelling from England; in addition to which 

 the roads were scarcely passable during the rainy season." Here we have 

 a description of the conditions as between Gordon Castle and Yorkshire, 

 and it is left to the imagination as to what a trip from Ireland must have 

 been. No, we will have to discard the Irish suggestion altogether and 

 stick to the line of least resistance, which is, that when he sent south for grey- 



