The Clumber Spaniel 223 



to be pretty straight, and for want of a better name he was christened Bate- 

 man, after the man who owned him abroad at one time. Bateman was 

 shown in a class at New York for large spaniels and took second, but when 

 application was made for the medal to be awarded to the best Clumber in 

 the class it was not forthcoming, the judge declaring or specifying that 

 Bateman was not a Clumber, and the medal went to something else farther 

 down the list. We then sold Bateman to Mr. Marmaduke Richardson, 

 and the next thing was that the dog got quite a piece bitten out of one ear. 

 It was somewhat of a disfigurement, so that Mr. Richardson had the ear 

 rounded and the other one shaped to match. After this Bateman won several 

 prizes in classes for Clumbers. He was not much of a Clumber, we 

 will admit, but he was nothing else, and was entitled to the medal as against 

 any dog he beat in that class at New York. 



The late Mr. Mercer was a great enthusiast on the subject of Clumbers, 

 and as the breed had always had more supporters in Canada than in the 

 States, he was more at home in Ottawa in securing his facts. Mr. Mercer 

 credited Major Venables, who was stationed at Halifax as a lieutenant of 

 the 97th Regiment in 1842, with being the first importer of Clumbers, he 

 having got his dogs from Mr. Yeatman of Dorset, a prominent breeder 

 mentioned by " Idstone." Major Venables's Clumbers were the foundation 

 stock upon which later importations were grafted, Mr. Piers of Ottawa 

 getting some of their descendants as well as Mr. Mercer. 



While Clumbers flourished in the Ottawa district under the rivalry 

 of Messrs. Mercer and Hill and Messrs. Bate and Geddes, it was left to 

 Mr. J. L. Little to uphold the breed in the States, but he soon relinquished 

 the field and the Canadians had matters their own way. From the Mercer 

 kennel came Johnny, a seventy-pound dog according to Mr. Mercer, but 

 a little under sixty by others who weighed him specially. He won many 

 prizes, but his only positive claim to being a Clumber was his length and his 

 colour. In all else he was a very poor dog, over nineteen inches at the 

 shoulder, light all over and devoid of Clumber character in head. The 

 same owner's Drake was a better Clumber, but in those days judges knew 

 less — not much less — about Clumbers than they do now, and they thought 

 the big dog must be the better one. Newcastle and Tyne were also winners 

 sent down from Canada, not one a really good one, our opinion always being 

 that Tyne was the best of the four and Drake the best of the dogs. Mr. 

 Richardson bought Newcastle and Tyne. 



