THE SPORTING SPANIEL 151 



half century owes its descent to his old dog Boatswain, who 

 was born in 1834 and lived for eighteen years. He must have 

 been a grand old dog, since Mr. McCarthy gave him to Mr. 

 Joliffe Tufmell in 1849, when he was fifteen years old ; and his 

 new owner subsequently bred by him Jack, a dog whose 

 name appears in many pedigrees. 



It was not until 1862 that the breed seems to have attracted 

 much notice in England, but in that year the Birmingham 

 Committee gave two classes for them, in which, however, 

 several of the prizes were withheld for want of merit ; the next 

 few years saw these dogs making great strides in popularity 

 and, classes being provided at most of the important shows, 

 many good specimens were exhibited. 



During the last few years, however, the breed seems to have 

 been progressing the wrong way, and classes at shows have 

 not been nearly so strong, either in numbers or in quality, as 

 they used to be. Yet there have been, and are still, quite a 

 large number of good dogs and bitches to be seen, and it 

 only needs enthusiasm and co-operation among breeders 

 to bring back the palmiest days of the Irish Water 

 Spaniel. 



There is no member of the whole canine family which has a 

 more distinctive personal appearance than the Irish Water 

 Spaniel. With him it is a case of once seen never forgotten, 

 and no one who has ever seen one could possibly mistake him 

 for anything else than what he is. His best friends probably 

 would not claim beauty, in the aesthetic sense, for him ; 

 but he is attractive in a quaint way peculiarly his own, 

 and intelligent-looking. In this particular his looks do not 

 bewray him ; he is, in fact, one of the most intelligent of all 

 the dogs used in aid of the gun, and in his own sphere one 

 of the most useful. That sphere, there is no doubt, is that 

 indicated by his name, and it is in a country of bogs and 

 marshes, like the south and west of Ireland, of which he was 

 originally a native, where snipe and wildfowl provide the 

 staple sport of the gunner, that he is in his element and 



