The Spaniel. 401 



appears " more beautiful." This custom of tail 

 docking has continued to this day, we practising 

 it, because the spaniel in working covert is less 

 likely to injure his tail by lashing it backwards and 

 forwards and tearing it amongst the tangled briers 

 and the thick undergrowth. 



But even prior to such early times, we have 

 mention made of the spaniel as of use in hawking, 

 and " hys crafte was also for the perdrich or 

 partridge, and the quaile ; and, when taught to 

 couche he is very serviceable to the fowlers who 

 take those birds with nets." In a fourteenth 

 century MS. there is a picture of ladies hawking, 

 they being attended by two dogs with long ears, no 

 doubt intended to represent the spaniel of that 

 period. 



The spaniel in his two varieties, the land and 

 water spaniel, was the sporting dog in these 

 early days, and in " The Master of the Game," 

 written early in the fifteenth century, we are told 

 that this dog " hath many good customs and evil; 

 he should have a large head and body, be of fair 

 hue, white or tawny, and not too rough ; but his 

 tail should be rough and feathered." 



The Prince to whom we are indebted for this 

 early treatise further says, the breed came from 

 Spain, although it was to be had in other countries, 



[VOL. i.] D D 



