3 1 2 ALL ABOUT DOGS 



from some of the leading exhibitors in his section, 

 whether he would reconsider the matter, and he wrote 

 me a very courteous letter, agreeing to do so. I then 

 had a fac-simile letter, of my writing, prepared, and 

 sent a copy to all the leading breeders and exhibitors of 

 non-sporting dogs, and I do not think I had one refusal. 

 I doubt if any judge ever had such a requisition, and the 

 result was, that for many years, the public had the bene- 

 fit of his valuable services, until, I regret to say, ill 

 health compelled him to give up all such matters, but he 

 retained his popularity to the last, and his retirement 

 was universally regretted. I have often met him since 

 as a looker on at shows, and we have occasionally cor- 

 responded. 



As I have mentioned in the earlier pages of this 

 work, for many years I was a very keen breeder and 

 exhibitor of Dandies, and kept a great many of them 

 at one time, perhaps the strongest kennel of the 

 breed in the kingdom, and won scores of prizes, etc. I 

 remember, on one occasion, when I had a team of dogs 

 at a show in Gloucestershire, I had one of my best 

 Dandies entered either in a " Rough Terrier Class," 

 or a class composed of " Winners of so many Prizes " 

 (in those days, all sorts of peculiar classes and condi- 

 tions were introduced into the schedules), and there 

 were two judges to officiate, neither of whom, I very 

 much expect, had ever had a Dandie before him pre- 

 viously. I was, at first, much amused to see how they 

 were puzzled over him, and I could see them taking 

 counsel together (I may say, they were men of the 

 highest class, as straight as gun barrels, and both cle- 



