74 THE DOGS OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 



of Mr. Garth's Daisy, and afterwards that of Mr. Purcell Llewellyn's Countess 

 and Nelly, that the Laverack strain attained its present high reputation. Before 

 Daisy came out, Mr. Garth had produced a brace of very bad ones at Stafford 

 in 1867; and it was with considerable prejudice against them that the above 

 celebrated bitches first exhibited their powers, in spite of the high character given 

 of them by Mr. Lort, Mr. Withington, and other well-known sportsmen who 

 had shot over them for years. It is Mr. Lort's opinion that Mr. Withington 

 possessed better dogs than even Countess; but it must not be forgotten that 

 private trials are generally more flattering than those before the public. 



I come now to consider the value of Mr. Llewellyn's " field trial " strain, as 

 they are somewhat grandiloquently termed by their "promoters," or as I shall 

 term them, the " Dan-Laveracks," being all either by Dan out of Laverack 

 bitches, or by a Laverack dog out of a sister to Dan. As a proof of the superiority 

 of this cross to the pure Laveracks " Setter " states, that " during the last two 

 years ten of this breed" (Laveracks), "and ten of the Duke-Rhoebe and Laverack 

 cross have been sent to America ; the former including Petrel, winner of the champion 

 prize at Birmingham, Pride of the Border, Fairy, and Victress ; the latter including 

 Rock, Leicester, Rob Roy, Dart, and Dora, the same men being owners of both 

 sorts. At the American shows both sorts have appeared, and the Rhcebe blood 

 has always beaten the Laverack. At field trials no Laverack has been entered; 

 but, first, second, and third prizes were gained at their last field trials, in the 

 champion stakes, by dogs of the Rhcebe blood, all descended from Mr. Llewellyn's 

 kennel." I confess that, in my opinion, this does not indicate any superiority 

 in the one over the other, as far as regards field trials, since they were not 

 tested together ; and, in reference to the superiority of the Dan-Laveracks on 

 the show bench, it is of little interest to my present inquiry, but I un- 

 hesitatingly state, that, as far as my judgment and opportunities for forming 

 it go, " Setter " is quite correct. Dan himself was a very fine upstanding and 

 handsome dog, and his stock might therefore be expected to resemble him, while 

 the Laverack dogs are nearly all heavy and lumbering, and the bitches, though 

 very elegant, too small and delicate for perfection. But, as I have above remarked, 

 the Laveracks have not shown very delicate noses in public, and indeed I have 

 always considered them rather deficient than otherwise in this quality, which 

 is the worst point of the setter as compared with the pointer, and should be 

 regarded, therefore, as the first essential in estimating any of its strains. Now, 

 though I have always regarded Duke himself as on the whole a good dog, especially 

 in pace and range, and have estimated Dan and Duke, the result of his cross 

 with Mr. Statter's Rhcebe, favourably, as compared with the Laverack litters as 

 shown in Bruce and Rob Roy, yet I never considered Dan as a good cross for 

 the Laverack bitches, because his sire always showed a want of nose similar to 

 that of the Laveracks themselves. Duke is said by "Setter," and I believe 

 correctly, to have received a high character from Mr. Barclay Field for his nose 

 as exhibited in private, but he was notoriously deficient in this quality when brought 

 before the public, going with his head low, and feeling the foot rather than the 



