292 The Dog Book 



as to the terms, and a gentleman, who was not contradicted, stated in the 

 Sporting Magazine a few months after the transaction that the sale was 

 made at a dinner (at which he was probably present), the terms being 120 

 guineas, a cask of genuine Madeira, and fifty guineas to be returned when 

 the dog was sent back to Colonel Thornton, which was done very soon 

 afterward, as Dash broke his leg. 



Pluto and Juno were the brace which stood for an hour and a quarter 

 on point while Gilpin made the sketch from which the painting was made, 

 of which we give an illustration. It has been somewhat customary to ridi- 

 cule the statement of these dogs holding their point so long. Lee does so 

 by matching it with the story of the man who returned to the place w^here he 

 saw a pointing dog the year before and found its skeleton on point at a 

 bird's skeleton, but his beau ideal of an authority, Stonehenge, not only 

 fully credits the statement, but caps it with one of his own knowledge 

 where a dog stood his point for six hours. "Idstone" quotes from the 

 Sporting Magazine of a point of five hours, though he doubts the possibility 

 of birds remaining so long on one spot. Notwithstanding that doubt, he 

 states that a relative of his travelling from Leicester to Oxford in the 

 memorable frost of 1814, came across a dog frozen dead on point. 

 "Idstone" leaves no doubt as to his implicit belief in the positive correct- 

 ness of this assertion. 



It will be well to draw attention to the very great difference between 

 these dogs of Colonel Thornton. The brace on point show no evidence of 

 foxhound cross, if the dog Dash is to be considered typical thereof. Yet 

 the pointer Pluto took part in several hunts after outlying deer at Thornville. 

 If these are compared with the drawings by Sydenham Edwards, the latter 

 show decidedly more quality, while all differ very much from the Spanish 

 pointer of Stubbs, which has always been recognised as the typical painting 

 of that variety, even Bewick seemingly copying it. 



There can be little question that during the period we are now discussing 

 —from Colonel Thornton's time to, say, 18 10— there was no established 

 type, but that every dog was good enough if he found birds and was staunch. 

 Colonel Hamilton, who was a shooting man so far back as 1800, states in 

 his "Recollections" that he had had various breeds of pointers, "amongst 

 them the Russian breed, which are distinguished by having extremely 

 rough hair. I had also one of that smooth species which are pupped with, 

 tails not more than two or three inches in length. I also used the old 



