270 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



" a dash of Bloodhound in their veins," 

 which is certainly borne out by the details 

 he gives of their various points, and, al- 

 though he gives no particulars as to size 

 or general appearance, he says quite enough 

 to make it tolerably certain that they did 

 not resemble the modern dog in any way. 



The Northern Irish Water Spaniel cer- 

 tainly did exist, and many old sportsmen in 

 Ireland still speak of them, sometimes call- 

 ing them " the old brown Irish Retriever"; 

 but for many years past they have fallen 

 into disfavour, and it is extremely doubtful 

 whether a single individual specimen with 

 an authentic pedigree could be found nowa- 

 days anywhere within the whole length 

 and breadth of the island. Mr. Skidmore 

 describes them also, and says they were 

 about 20 inches high and " like bad speci- 

 mens of liver-coloured Retrievers." 



The history of the third, and to us most 

 important breed is in many ways a very 

 extraordinary one. According to the claim 

 of Mr. Justin McCarthy, it originated 

 entirely in his kennels, and, as far as I 

 know, this claim has never been seriously 

 disputed by the subsequent owners and 

 breeders of these dogs. It seems to me 

 most improbable that Mr. Justin McCarthy 

 can actually have originated or manufac- 

 tured a breed possessing so many extremely 

 marked differences and divergences of type 

 as the Irish Water Spaniel ; what he most 

 probably did was to rescue an old and mori- 

 bund breed from impending extinction, and 

 so improve it by judicious breeding and 

 cross-breeding as to give it a new lease of 

 life, and permanently fix its salient points 

 and characteristics. However that may be, 

 little seems to have been known of the 

 breed before he took it in hand, and it is 

 very certain that nearly every Irish Water 

 Spaniel seen on the bench for the last half- 

 century owes its descent to his old dog 

 Boatswain, who was born in 1834 an d lived 

 for eighteen years. He must have been a 

 grand old dog, since Mr. McCarthy gave 

 him to Mr. Joliffe Tuffnell 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 Com- 

 mittee gave two classes for them, at which, 

 however, several of the prizes were with- 

 held for want of merit, a proceeding on the 

 part of the judge which provoked much 

 indignant comment in the Press from 

 breeders and exhibitors, who asserted that 

 it was he who was in fault, and not the dogs. 

 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, 

 the most prominent owners being Captain 

 Lindoe, Captain Montresor, Mr. N. Morton, 

 of Ballymena, Captain O'Grady, Mr. J. S. 

 Skidmore, Mr. R. W. Boyle, and Mr. J. T. 

 Robson, who may be described as the 

 fathers of the breed in its present form. 



Of the many good dogs exhibited during 

 the first decade of dog showing, none had 

 so successful a career as Doctor (K.C.S.B. 

 2,061), who won no fewer than five first 

 prizes at Birmingham, two at the Crystal 

 Palace, and one each at Islington, Dublin, 

 Edinburgh, and Glasgow, besides several 

 seconds. This record would not be a very 

 wonderful one in these days when dog 

 shows are held somewhere on nearly every 

 week-day in the year, and many success- 

 ful prize winners spend nearly their whole 

 lives either in their travelling boxes or on 

 the bench ; but it must be remembered 

 that in the 'sixties and 'seventies shows 

 were few and far between, and that Doctor 

 was being continually exhibited for over 

 seven years, during which time he was 

 practically unbeaten. He was by Rob- 

 son's Jock out of Robson and Willett's 

 Duck, and was a great-grandson of old 

 Boatswain. He was owned at one time 

 or other during his lengthy career by Mr. 

 Robson, Mr. N. Morton, Mr. Sims, the 

 Rev. Mr. Mellor, and Mr. J. S. Skidmore. 

 His son' Shamrock (K.C.S.B. 4,386), out of 

 Beaver, has transmitted his blood to many 

 latter-day winners, of whom the most 

 notable are Barney, Mickey Free, The 

 O'Donoghue, Kate Kearney, and Free 

 O'Donoghue. Mr. Skidmore, who is, I 



