THE IRISH AND ENGLISH SETTER. 385 



. strains of Irish Setters of undoubted purity. The vast majority of admirers of this dog, 

 however, unite in deprecating such fancy markings, and their views, backed up by common 

 sense, must certainly command respect. 



Detractors of the Irish Setter are accustomed to make much capital out of the dog's 

 headstrong nature, and no doubt there is a considerable foundation for their hostility to him. 

 In comparison with the other breeds of Setter the Irishman is impetuous, and if not kept in 

 constant work often requires re-breaking, and on this account has made many enemies of 

 those sportsmen who, under other circumstances, would have gladly given him their best 

 support. As it is, he must be constantly worked or he will soon be useless in the field ; but 

 if care has been taken with his education and he is naturally a generous dog an Irish 

 Setter is no mean companion to the sportsman. He is active, intelligent, and possesses 

 great pace, and is not at all of a jealous disposition. His constitution, too, is, as a rule, 

 far superior to that of the Laverack, with which he has been often crossed. The advantage 

 of this cross has been recognised by many eminent authorities, and even the great E. Laverack 

 himself spoke of such an experiment as follows : 



" So highly do I value the true blood belonging to the Irish that I have visited Ireland 

 four times for the express purpose of ascertaining where the pure blood was to be found, with 

 a view of crossing them with my Beltons. I very much regret to say that, after all my 

 troubles and efforts, I found that this fine and magnificent old breed had degenerated, owing 

 to the carelessness and negligence of the Irish in not having kept it pure." 



In our opinion, it was chiefly from a desire to improve and strengthen the constitution 

 of his breed that Mr. Laverack was in favour of an Irish Setter cross ; for it is more than 

 probable that his practised eye was beginning to see traces of that delicacy of constitution 

 which so injured his efforts later on. No finer cross for such a purpose could be possibly devised, 

 for the hardy upstanding Irishman would most certainly correct the weakness of the Laverack 

 in this respect. In spite of the disclaimer on the part of Mr. Laverack, it is almost beyond 

 a doubt that some of the followers of his Setter have really crossed the Laveracks with the 

 Irish, as unmistakable signs are often seen in so-called pure bred Laveracks. These dogs, for 

 the most part, seem stronger in constitution than the others, though it is more than 

 probable that the introduction of Irish blood has caused the Laveracks to be headstrong 

 and hard to break. Mr. Laverack, in writing of a famous Setter of the former breed which 

 he saw at Cockermcuth Castle, alludes to the dog as follows : " The most magnificent 

 specimen of an Irish Setter I ever saw. This dog was very long in the head, particularly 

 low, very oblique in his shoulders, wheeled or reached back, very deep and broad in the chest, 

 remarkably wide behind the shoulders, and very short in the back and legs, more so than 

 any Irish Setter I ever saw ; he has an immense profusion of coat, with a tinge of black on the 

 tip of his ears. I should have bred from this dog but for the following reason, and I think 

 I was right : no one was ever able to break him, and his stock were frequently black." 



This brings us to the consideration of another cross to which the Irish Setter has been 

 subjected, though it is one which has almost certainly failed to improve this useful and 

 handsome breed of dog. It is an unquestionable fact that Gordon Setter blood has been 

 largely introduced into many strains of Irish Setter, and the result has been much injury 

 to the latter breed. The presence of Gordon blood has, we have no doubt in our own mind, 

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