The Dalmatian 335 



That we do not see the Dalmatian figured in old paintings does not 

 imply that he was not an English dog at the time we speak of, for we 

 know that the small beagles were court dogs in Queen Elizabeth's time, 

 but we have not yet seen a picture of any of them, nor any reference to 

 any such picture. Beagles were playthings, we fancy, and not taken seriously; 

 and these particular spotted hounds were probably looked upon in much 

 the same way, as not of the genuine hunting class, and so bred about the 

 place for their fancy markings, and, having no particular vocation, were 

 taken with carriage parties when that manner of conveyance became 

 more common. Coaches were not in anything like common use in Eng- 

 land, even among the wealthy, until well into the seventeenth century. 



Who first mentioned the Dalmatian we have not yet found out. Buf- 

 fon, possibly, about the middle of the eighteenth century. Up to that 

 time English writers on dogs had little to say about any animal not used 

 in sport, and in that case colour was not an essential, though sportsmen 

 and sporting writers had fancies regarding certain colours. Bewick, at 

 the close of the century, included the Dalmatian, or coach dog, in his 

 "History 'of Quadrupeds," and, as might be expected, gives an excellent 

 illustration, even to the padlocked brass collar which was always the correct 

 thing for the coach dog. The ears are cropped closely, as was the custom, 

 but Bewick wrote: "We do not admire the cruel practice of depriving 

 the poor animal of its ears, in order to increase its beauty; a practice so 

 general that we do not remember ever to have seen one of these dogs unmu- 

 tilated in that way." Bewick's Dalmatian has a small black patch at the 

 ear and a much larger but lighter one around the eye. The Dalmatian 

 of Reinagle in the "Sportsman's Repository" is a more racing-built dog 

 than Bewick's, and was most likely a portrait dog, as the spots run some- 

 what in colour. It has a china eye and is dark around the eyes, and 

 has its ears cropped, as was the custom. Captain's Brown's Dalmatian 

 like all his illustrations, is stiff and wooden, but it has natural ears, 

 and he wrote that the barbarous practice of cropping was then (1829) 

 quickly dying out. The whole ear is black, and there is a mark around 

 the eyes as in the other drawings just named. The description is that he 

 is something between the foxhound and pointer. "His head is more acute 

 than that of the latter, and his ears fully longer; his general colour is white, 

 and his whole body and legs are covered with small, irregular-sized black 

 or reddish-brown spots. The pure breed has tanned cheeks and black 



