HUMOURS OF THE "FANCY' 193 



exhibitor, "who never failed to take leading honours 

 wherever she showed," has given it up because she 

 has married. 



It would be wrong to laugh at the National Mouse 

 Club, because it leads to higher things. It is difficult 

 to draw the line at which the fancier ends and the 

 stock-breeder begins. In the preliminary remarks 

 printed and circulated before a sale of one of the 

 premier herds of pedigree cattle in this county, the 

 auctioneer noted that the owner " had been marked out 

 early for distinction. A natural taste from boyhood 

 for live-stock, first with canaries, later with rabbits, 

 and then with Langshan poultry, with all of which 

 champion prizes and challenge cups were won, led him 

 to extend his taste," with results of the happiest kind, 

 and the creation of a transatlantic reputation. The 

 parallel of Dandie Dinmont's terriers occurs, they 

 being entered first to " stots and rottens, then to 

 tods and brocks." 



The chief difference between the " fancy" and the 

 stock-breeders is the vivacity and vigour with which 

 the devotees of the former differ on the subjects 

 most dear to them. Their surplus energy is immense, 

 and their loyalty to their leaders unstinted. The 

 tributes paid, in works devoted to their special 

 animals, to the organisers or founders of the fancy 

 are of the floridly generous but perfectly sincere 

 order. The personal sacrifices, unremitting single- 

 minded zeal, unswerving devotion, and singular recti- 

 tude of these pioneers and pilots are dwelt upon 

 in pages of heartfelt laudation. Their portraits 



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