THE SPORTING SPANIEL. 



273 



on both sides, and a more liberal spirit, more intelligent-looking. In this particular 



has removed these differences, or at least his looks do not bewray him ; he is, in 



smoothed them down, so that one may fact, one of the most intelligent of all 



entertain hopes of a happier future, and the dogs_used in aid of the gun, and in 



the advent of a new Club, the Sporting his own sphere one of the most useful. 



Irish Water Spaniel Club, if it will only That sphere, there is no doubt, is that 



work in harmony with, and not antagonistic- indicated by his name, and it is in a 



ally to, the existing organisations, may be country of bogs and marshes, like the south 



hailed as a good omen. 



and west of Ireland, of which he was origin- 



Within recent years the most success- ally a native, where snipe and wildfowl 



ful owners have been Mr. Trench O'Rorke, provide the staple sport of the gunner, that 



Mrs. F. Carter Michell, Mr. J. Conley, Sir he is in his element and seen at his best, 



Hugo FitzHerbert, Mr. Jelly Dudley, and though, no doubt, he can do excellent work 



Mr. J. J. Holgate. The last named gentle- as an ordinary retriever, and is often used 



man possesses probably the best brace being as such. 



shown at present, Ch. Young Patsey Boyle 

 and Ch. Southboro' Jewel ; while Mr. 



But Nature (or Mr. McCarthy's art) has 

 specially formed and endowed him for the 



Trench O'Rorke has shown successfully amphibious sport indicated above, and has 

 Clonburn Aileen, Clonburn Molly, Clonburn provided him with an excellent nose, an 

 Biddy, Clonburn Chieftain, Clonburn Peggy, almost waterproof coat, the sporting in- 

 and Our Chance, all good typical Irish Water stincts of a true son of Erin, and, above all, 

 Spaniels, and most of them of his own breed- a disposition full of good sense ; he is high- 

 ing. Mrs. Mitchell's list includes the fol- couraged, and at the same time adapt- 

 lowing names, all very well 

 known as prize-winners : Kate 

 O'Shane, Kempston Tessa, 

 Kempston Connaught, Kemps- 

 ton Shannon, Kempston Kath- 

 leen Mavourneen, and Kemps- 

 ton Eileen II. ; while Mr. 

 Conley has made history with 

 his Poor Pat ; and Sir Hugo 

 FitzHerbert's Tissington, and 

 Mr. Jelly Dudley's Meshacke, 

 Donna, and Shamus O'Flynn 

 have done quite their share 

 in keeping up the reputation 

 of the breed. 



There is no member of the 

 whole canine family which has 

 a more distinctive personal ap- 

 pearance 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 able to the highest degree of perfection in 

 claim beauty, in the aesthetic sense, for training. His detractors often accuse him 

 him ; but I know no dog more attractive of being hard-mouthed, but, so far as my 

 in a quaint way peculiarly his own, or opinion goes, I do not consider this charge 



35 



MR. J. J. HOLGATE'S CH. YOUNG PATSEY 



BY CH. PATSEY BOYLE IRISH DOLLY. 



Photograph by Chancellor, Dublin. 



BOYLE 



