The Beagle. 141 



12 inches in height, with extraordinarily long ears, 

 characteristic face, but rather long in the body. 

 Merry was wire-haired and sandy in colour, not 

 unlike a pale-coloured Irish terrier. She was in 

 the North of England, but where she came from 

 I could never make out. Her first public appear- 

 ance was on the bench, where she was shown by 

 her owner, a sporting dealer in oilcake, who 

 had been a great wrestler in his day. Mr. W. 

 Lort, the judge, was so taken with the little hound 

 that he gave her first prize in the '' variety class." 

 She had a lovely voice — a thorough hound, but quite 

 unlike any beagle I ever saw before or since. 



Recently, a number of excellent black and tan 

 beagles have been introduced, some of them so 

 perfect in their way as to beat others of the more 

 orthodox colour. The old bitch Musicwood, bred by 

 the late Lord Wentworth, appears to have been the 

 progenitor of many of these black and tans ; she was 

 at one time the property of Mr. E. J. Cackett, who 

 then resided near Brentwood. They are mostly 

 about 14 inches in height, and the best specimens of 

 the strain are undoubtedly Rasselas and Forester, 

 which were placed first and second in an ordinary 

 class at our last great show. Mr. Joachim has been 

 extremely successful with the one, and Mr. Lord 

 not much less so with the other. Musicwood has, 



