CHAPTER II 

 THE ENGLISH MASTIFF 



OF the many different kinds of dogs now established as British, 

 not a few have had their origin in other lands, whence speci- 

 mens have been imported into this country, in course of time 

 to be so improved by selection that they have come to be 

 commonly accepted as native breeds. Some are protected 

 from the claim that they are indigenous by the fact that their 

 origin is indicated in their names. No one would pretend 

 that the St. Bernard or the Newfoundland, the Spaniel or the 

 Dalmatian, are of native breed. They are alien immigrants 

 whom we have naturalised, as we are naturalising the majestic 

 Great Dane, the decorative Borzoi, the alert Schipperke, 

 and the frowning Chow Chow, which are of such recent 

 introduction that they must still be regarded as half-acclima- 

 tised foreigners. But of the antiquity of the Mastiff there 

 can be no doubt. He is the oldest of our British dogs, culti- 

 vated in these islands for so many centuries that the only 

 difficulty concerning his history is that of tracing his descent, 

 and discovering the period when he was not familiarly known. 

 It is possible that the Mastiff owes his origin to some remote 

 ancestor of alien strain. The Assyrian kings possessed a large 

 dog of decided Mastiff type, and used it in the hunting of 

 lions. It is supposed by many students that the breed was 

 introduced into early Britain by the adventurous Phoenician 

 traders who, in the sixth century B.C., voyaged to the Scilly 

 Islands and Cornwall to barter their own commodities in ex- 

 change for the useful metals. Knowing the requirements 

 of their barbarian customers, these early merchants from 



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