The Clumber Spaniel. 435 



on a shooting pony and surrounded by a group of 

 his spaniels, which are identical with the Clumbers 

 of the present day, though, perhaps, they appear 

 rather smaller, and are rather longer in the head, 

 than the majority of the best dogs we see now. 

 At that time, or rather a few years later, a writer in 

 the " Sporting Magazine " called them " springers " 

 or " cock-flushers." This admirable and useful 

 picture, the work of F. Wheatley, R.A., was, in 

 1797, engraved; the painting itself remains, copies 

 of the engraving are still extant, and, although 

 highly valued by the admirers of spaniels who own 

 them, others are occasionally to be found in the 

 leading shops that deal in such treasures. 



Dog shows were unknown then, and the spaniel 

 was kept solely for working purposes. In due 

 course, this strain from Clumber came to be some- 

 what spread about the country, though com- 

 paratively scarce and highly valued. That the 

 latter was the case may be inferred from the fact 

 that, at the first Birmingham show, say in 1859, 

 a class was provided for them, and the following 

 year two divisions were given this handsome spaniel, 

 and such have been continued ever since. At the 

 early show Lord Spencer was the winner with a 

 good looking dog, but the succeeding one saw Mr. 

 E. Boaler, of near Chesterfield, taking first honours 



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