English Toy Spaniels. 285 



towards the top of the skull, upon which should 

 be an orange spot or mark called the " lozenge " 

 or " spot." Several of our modern Blenheims are 

 without this spot, but it is an old fancy, difficult to 

 produce, and, although not of the slightest use, I 

 do not care about seeing Blenheims devoid of it a 

 beauty mark, in fact. 



One recent writer, alluding to the Blenheim 

 spaniel, says : " Strange as it may seem to those 

 who only know the Blenheim spaniel as the tiny lap 

 dog with its retrousse nose, goggle eyes, and abnor- 

 mally prominent brows, which properties are so 

 admired by their lady owners, that animal was 

 originally a sporting dog, and I have reason to 

 believe that there is a family connection, of remote 

 period, between the Blenheim and the old fashioned 

 liver and white spaniels that are to be found in the 

 eastern counties. I am borne out in this opinion by 

 the fact that, hung over the mantelpiece in the 

 library at Elsenham Hall, the seat of Sir Walter 

 Gilbey, is a portrait of one of the late Duke of 

 Marlborough's spaniels, painted by Stubbs. This 

 dog is represented to be curly-coated, with a long 

 nose, and probably weighed upwards of 3olb. This 

 was no doubt the type of Blenheim spaniel that was 

 known as a sporting dog, and has now been entirely 

 lost sight of." However, such Blenheims as have 



