382 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



In General Appearance the Gordon Setter is the heavy-looking specimen of his family, and 

 the substantial amount of bone which he possesses makes him look a slow dog when compared 

 with either the English or the Irish. 



In spite of the similarity between the English and Gordon Setters, a different scale 

 of points is necessary for adjudicating upon the merits of each breed, as the question of 

 colour alone renders the English scale inapplicable to the Gordons. We, therefore, add a 

 table, showing the numerical value of the points at the end of this chapter, as in other breeds. 



The specimen of the Gordon Setter selected for illustration in our coloured plate is 

 Blossom, late the property of Mr. Howard Mapplebeck, of Knowle, near Birmingham, but sold 

 by him to Mr. J. S. Niven, M.B., London, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Niven has written us 

 with reference to the dog : " I have not had much luck with him here, as the Americans 

 are all going in just now for big, heavy Gordons. I got first in Montreal with him, and 

 also special for best Setter in the show. The old boy looks splendid now (March, 1880). 

 I have some pups by Grouse out of a Duke bitch, but they are too big, and I am sure 

 will never do the work that smaller dogs of the same class can do." 



Blossom was bred by the Rev. J. Gumming Macdona, in 1872, and is by Shot, out 

 of Bloom ; Shot by Bruce, out of La Reine ; Bruce by Bliss, out of Ruby ; La Reine by Mr. 

 Pearce's Kent, out of his Regent. The pedigree of Kent was always more or less obscure, 

 but the following table appears in the " Kennel Club Stud Book," which is sufficient 

 guarantee for its correctness : 



KENT. 



I 



Shot, black-and-tan. Black-and-tan bitch of Adamson's. 



Jobling's Scamp. His Nell. 



Sir Matthew Ridley's His black-and-tan Nell, 



liver-and-tan dog. 



Blossom has in the course of his show career in this country performed as follows 

 upon the bench: 1875, first Birmingham; 1877, first Agricultural Hall, first Bath, first 

 Burton-on-Trent, first Manchester, first Alexandra Palace, first Edinburgh, first Bristol, first 

 Swindon ; 1878, first Birmingham, second Alexandra Palace, second Bristol, second Wolver- 

 hampton (champion class) performances which prove how good a dog he undoubtedly i 



SCALE OF POINTS FOR JUDGING GORDON SETTERS. 



Value. 



Head, &c ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 



Shoulders and neck ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 



Body and ribs ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 



Feet and legs ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 



Colour ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 



Coat ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... 5 



General appearance ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 



5" 



