346 Modern Dogs. 



O'Connor breed; but Mr. Bennett says the wholly red were scarce, 

 and much more difficult to break than the red and white dogs. 



It is to be observed that neither Mr. Mahon nor Mr. Bennett 

 ever exhibited setters, but used them solely for work. I myself 

 shot over a dog and bitch, Beau and Belle, the property of Mr. 

 Darby, of Leap Castle, Roscrea, which he obtained from Judge 

 O'Connor Morris, a descendant of Maurice Nugent O'Connor 

 (before mentioned), and both these were dark red with black 

 noses, but with, to my eyes, a strong suspicion of a Gordon or 

 other cross, as their coats were too deep in colour, and were, 

 moreover, inclined to be broken, not silky and fine as they 

 should be. 



I next consulted Mr. John G. King, of Ballylin, King's County, 

 who may be fairly looked upon as the father of the breed in this 

 country. He has been a constant attendant and exhibitor at 

 dog shows, not alone of setters, but of pointers and foxhounds. 

 He is still as keen as possible, notwithstanding that he paid 

 for his first game licence in 1837, and his experience is 

 golden, for not only does he remember clearly the dogs of the 

 past, but he can recollect the names of winners at dog shows, in 

 what he calls recent years, from the show in the Rotunda Gardens, 

 Dublin, about 1863, down to the last field trials in Cookstown. 



At the Rotunda show he pointed out that there were numbers of 

 red and white setters exhibited. Although Mr. King keeps a note 

 book in which he, from time to time, jotted down names of dogs 

 and incidents connected with them, he seldom has to refresh his 

 memory of either the owner, breeder, or dog, and he firmly 

 adheres to the assertion that the entirely red coloured dog was 

 not only in the minority, but difficult to obtain at all. He quotes 

 an instance of a gamekeeper from Roscommon, from whom 

 he was in the habit of purchasing dogs, bringing him a red dog, 

 and urging him to purchase it because of its rarity. He gives the 

 palm to the O'Connor strain as having been selected with the 

 most care, and kept for years pure from extraneous crosses. In 

 confirmation of his assertion that the red and white were, in 



