CHAPTER XV. 



THE ENGLISH SETTER. 



WITHOUT doubt, to the late Mr. Edward Laverack, 

 who died in April, 1877, the present generation is 

 indebted for the excellence of the setter, both in 

 form and work, as he is found to-day, and, with few 

 exceptions, the very best dogs are actual descendants 

 of the Laverack strain. That there is, however, 

 such a thing as a (l pure Laverack" to be found 

 now in 1892 I very much dispute. The best strains 

 have a cross or two cropping in somewhere or other. 

 Mr. R. L. Purcell Llewellin, to whom Mr. Laverack 

 dedicated his volume on the setter, claims a strain 

 of his own, which perhaps has been more successful 

 than any other, both in the field and on the show 

 bench. Mr. Llewellin has, however, kept it very 

 much to himself, so the continuation of the general 

 improvement, at any rate in appearance, of this 

 dog, has been due to another source. This is 

 from the kennel of Mr. James B. Cockerton, of 

 Ravensbarrow Lodge, North Lancashire, who, in 



