CHAPTER XIV. 

 THE SETTER. 



THE setter has been called by his many admirers 

 the handsomest of all varieties of our English sport- 

 ing dogs, and whether he be rich red in colour, like 

 the Irish strain ; glossy black and tan, as the 

 Gordon ; or gaudily blue and white, or orange and 

 white, as in the English race, there is no more beau- 

 tiful dog seen in our fields or on the show bench. 

 Other canine varieties are bigger, some, of course, 

 are more diminutive ; in temper he is excelled by 

 none, and, so long as his kindly countenance is not 

 disfigured by light yellow eyes and a heavy cumbrous 

 dewlap, nothing in the way of live-stock can be 

 handsomer than he. His intelligence and utility in 

 the field and on the moor no one will gainsay ; so 

 there is little wonder that his popularity has gradually 

 but surely increased during the past quarter of a 

 century. 



There was a time when the setter was unknown in 

 this country by his present name, and this cannot 



