Irish Water Spaniel 275 



"is a very distinct one," and that is just what the variety is to-day and 

 has been since he has been known, or was resurrected, in 1859. It is 

 to be noted that no mention is made of the variety, which Captain Brown 

 thus describes, as being restricted to any portion of the Kingdom, nor that 

 it was in any sense an Irish dog; yet with the exception of the white markings 

 his description talHes with that of the Irish water spaniel, and neither 

 book nor illustration issued before the time of his description mentions or 

 shows any such dog as being an English dog. 



It is possible that Mr. McCarthy, by judicious breeding, got rid of the 

 white and at last secured the whole-coloured dog. The Irish fancy seemed 

 to run to all-red dogs, for we have the blood-red setter, this spaniel and the 

 red or red wheaten terrier, the three dogs of Ireland, for the wolfhound is a 

 made breed. 



That the breed was thoroughly established at the time Mr. McCarthy 

 described it is beyond dispute, and we regret to say he is not as prominent 

 at the present time as was the case twenty years ago. At that time there 

 were in England and America many excellent dogs, the like of which it is 

 hard to find to-day in either country. He seems to have lost the popularity 

 in which he was held at that time, and in America at least he is but little 

 used. One or two specimens are shown at the Eastern and Middle States 

 shows, but they are anything but common. About Ottawa and Kingston 

 there are more than anywhere else that we know of, except on the northern 

 Pacific coast, where they are used for wild-fowl shooting, as are also the 

 Chesapeake Bay dogs. The moist climate of that country suits the coats 

 of both of these dogs, and we were agreeably surprised to see such a nice 

 exhibit of both breeds when at Seattle in 1904. 



At the time Mr. C. H. Mason and Mr. Skidmore were showing in 

 England there was no lack of good Irish water spaniels, and many of them 

 were brought to this country at that time. Those who can recall the number 

 and excellence of the dogs owned at Chicago and Milwaukee at the time 

 we refer to will bear us out in our statement regarding the quality of the 

 dogs of that period compared with the paucity of competition and compara- 

 tive inferiority of the exhibits of late years. 



Of those who did good service for the breed we may mention Mr. W. H. 

 Holabird, of Valparaiso, Ind.; Mr. John D. Olcott and Mr. H. D. Gardner, 

 of Milwaukee; Mr. J. H. Whitman, of Chicago; Mr. T. Donoghue, of 

 La Salle, 111.; Mr. C. B. Rodes, of Moberly, Mo.; and Doctor Daniels, of 



