164 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



VII. THE ENGLISH SPRINGER. It is only quite recently 

 that the Kennel Club has officially recognised the variety known 

 by the name at the head of this section. For a long time the 

 old-fashioned liver and white, or black Spaniels, longer 

 in the leg than either Sussex or Field Spaniels, had been 

 known as Norfolk Spaniels, and under this title the Spaniel 

 Club has published a description of them. There had, how- 

 ever, been a considerable amount of discussion about the 

 propriety of this name of " Norfolk," and the weight of the 

 evidence adduced went to show that as far as any territorial 

 connection with the county of that name went, it was a mis- 

 nomer, and that it probably arose from the breed having been 

 kept by one of the Dukes of Norfolk, most likely that one 

 quoted by Elaine in his Rural Sports, who was so jealous of 

 his strain that it was only on the expressly stipulated condition 

 that they were not to be allowed to breed in the direct line 

 that he would allow one to leave his kennels. 



But, when this old breed was taken up by the Sporting 

 Spaniel Society, they decided to drop the name of " Norfolk," 

 and to revert to the old title of "Springer," not, per- 

 haps, a very happy choice, as all Spaniels are, properly 

 speaking, Springers in contradistinction to Setters. The com- 

 plete official designation on the Kennel Club's register is 

 " English Springers other than Clumbers, Sussex, and Field," 

 a very clumsy name for a breed. There is no doubt that this 

 variety of Spaniel retains more resemblance to the old strains 

 which belonged to our forefathers, before the long and low 

 idea found favour in the eyes of exhibitors, and it was certainly 

 well worth preserving. The only way nowadays by which 

 uniformity of type can be obtained is by somebody having 

 authority drawing up a standard and scale of points for 

 breeders to go by, and the Sporting Spaniel Society are to be 

 commended for having done this for the breed under notice, 

 the fruit of their action being already apparent in the larger 

 and more uniform classes to be seen at shows. 



As the officially recognised life of the breed has been such a 



