The Mastiff. 13 



have had more to do with the foundation of our 

 present strain than some people would imagine. 



The Duke of Devonshire had an old strain of 

 mastiffs at Chatsworth, but this has been lost, and 

 so have those that were once known at Elvaston 

 Castle, near Derby, in the family of the Galtons.at 

 Hadzor Hall, Worcester. There had been a special 

 strain at the Duke of Sutherland's, at Trentham, 

 and the author of the " History of the Mastiff" 

 mentions strains kept by Colonel Wilson Patten, 

 at Bold Hall, which had been at this seat since 

 its occupation by the Honourable Peter Bold ; and 

 later by Mr. John Crabtree, of the Kirklees Park, 

 near Halifax. The latter was head gamekeeper 

 to the Armitage family, and he, about 1820, came 

 into the possession of a brindled mastiff bitch, 

 which he found caught in one of his fox 

 traps that had been set in the park. From 

 this bitch, and by judicious crossing, he obtained 

 a strain of dogs highly spoken of by Mr. Wynn, 

 which, it seems, Mr. F. Crabtree used principally 

 as assistants to himself and his under-trappers in 

 the apprehension of poachers. 



Mr. J. W. Thompson, another Yorkshireman, 

 about 1830 and later, gave considerable attention 

 to the breeding of mastiffs, but to Mr. H. V. 

 Lukey, of Morden, Kent, must modern admirers 



