384 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



It must not, then, be thought that because the fashionable Irish Setter colour is a red, the 

 red-and-white dog should not be encouraged ; for, to begin with, the two coloured dogs of 

 certain strains are just as likely to throw pure red puppies as the self-coloured dogs them- 

 selves, and, in addition, they are just as handy in the field. We, therefore, are strongly in 

 favour of due encouragement being given to the red-and-whites by the committees of dog 

 shows throughout the country. 



Mr. Macdona certainly seems to share our opinions on this subject, for he writes as 

 follows : 



" In Ireland, America, and Germany, at the great dog shows, there has grown up a 

 strong inclination to mark the Irish Setter as an exclusively red dog, and to allow no 

 white whatever to .appear. This is all very well if it is thought desirable to establish it 

 as a new breed and to frame modern rules for judging them, &c. ; but some of the finest 

 types of the old breed had a fair share of white on the face, neck, and feet. 



" For endurance no Setter can compare with the Irish. They are as quick as lightning ; 

 but their pace never gets beyond their nose. True, unless they are extremely well-bred, they 

 are so wilful and headstrong, that they require much breaking, and often to be broken a little 

 every year, but when well-bred not much breaking is needed. (By-the-bye, I much prefer 

 the American term "trained" to breaking, as it implies a much more rational treatment of 

 dogs to train than break them.) 



" The Irish Setter has certainly more dash and go than the Gordon, but for this 

 reason he is the more headstrong, and therefore more difficult to control, and hence it may 

 be his victories at field trials are as few and far between as the Gordon, even less, for 

 I find only one Irish Setter a winner at field trials ; this was my young dog, Plunket, 

 in the spring of 1870, when he won, as a puppy, second in the Shrewsbury Stakes, and 

 was immediately afterwards sold for 150, to Mr. Llewellin, considered a long price in 

 those early days. Mr. Llewellin, I believe, sold him afterwards to an American for .300." 



Another powerful argument in favour of the red-and-white colour is to be found in 

 the illustration of the three Setters which has been given before and alluded to in the 

 Gordon Setter chapter. The middle dog in the old plate is coloured red, with a distinct 

 blaze of white up the face. This must prove that there was a red-and-white Setter in 

 existence somewhere in 1805, as no artist such as Mr. Sydenham Edwards, who is responsible 

 for what appears in "Cynographia Britannica," from which the illustration is taken, would be 

 likely to invent a colour for a dog he was portraying. The dimensions of the blaze, too, are 

 so considerable as to exceed the amount permitted by some opponents of white markings, who, 

 though strongly objecting to the presence of any white at all, admit that they would not 

 absolutely disqualify an otherwise good dog because he had a snip of white upon his head, 

 chest, or feet Having thus drawn full attention to the question of white in the Irish Setter, 

 and given it as our opinion that, though the wholly blood-red is the more preferable, the 

 parti-coloured dogs should not be discouraged, but rather the reverse, we will proceed to the 

 discussion of another point in connection with the colour of the breed which has from time 

 to time evoked considerable correspondence in the public press. 



The desirability of a tinge of black along the back and around the edges of the ears 

 has been keenly argued by several writers and experienced breeders supporting the introduc- 

 tion of these features, which they affirm is very frequently to be met with in many principal 



