THE SPORTING SPANIEL. 



275 



of hair, except for the first couple of inches next 

 the buttocks, whiplike or stinglike (a most im- 

 portant point), and carried low, not like a hound's. 



14. Coat. The coat composed entirely of short 

 crisp curls, not woolly like a Poodle's, and very 

 dense. If left to itself, this coat mats or cords, 

 but this is not permissible in show dogs. The 

 hair on the muzzle, and forehead below the top- 

 knot is quite short and smooth, as well as that on 

 the stern. 



15. General Appearance. Is not remarkable for 

 symmetry, but is quaint and intelligent looking. 



1 6. Height. The height 

 should be between 21 and 

 23 inches. 



good picture ol this dog, after P. Reinagle, 

 appears both in " The Sportsman's Cabinet " 

 and " The Sportsman's Repository." 



Mr. Rawdon Lee, in his valuable " Modern 

 Dogs," "assumes the identity of the old 

 " Water-Dogge " and the English Water 

 Spaniel, but in so doing his opinion con- 

 flicts with that expressed by most other 

 writers. In the two works mentioned above 

 another illustration, also after Reinagle, 



III. The English 

 Water Spaniel. In the 



Kennel Club's Register of 

 Breeds no place is allot- 

 ted to this variety, all 

 Water Spaniels other 

 than Irish being classed 

 together. Despite this 

 absence of official recog- 

 nition, which I think 

 is a mistake, there is 

 abundant evidence that 

 a breed of Spaniels legit- 

 imately entitled to the 

 designation of English 

 Water Spaniels has been 

 in existence for many 

 years. Its precise origin 

 is not definitely known, and even "Stone- 

 henge " has admitted his inability to trace 

 it back to the fountain head ; but the 

 writings of the earliest authorities leave 

 no room for doubt that there have ex- 

 isted for centuries one or more breeds of 

 dogs used for working in water and wild- 

 fowling in those parts of England which 

 abound in fens and marshes. In all prob- 

 ability the earliest breed used for this pur- 

 pose was not a Spaniel at all, but what 

 Markham describes as the " Water-Dogge," 

 an animal closely resembling the French 

 " Barbet," the ancestor of the modern 

 Poodle. They were even trimmed at times 

 much in the same way as a Poodle is nowa- 

 days, as Markham gives precise directions 

 for " the cutting or shearing him from the 

 nauill downeward or backeward." A very 



THE ENGLISH WATER SPANIEL. 



From " The Sportsman's Cabinet " (1803). By P. Reinagle, R.A. 



of the Water Spaniel is given, and the differ- 

 ence between the two animals portrayed 

 is very striking, the Water Spaniel in the 

 engraving differing but little from the 

 Springer of the day except in his curly 

 coat. The opinion expressed by the writer 

 of " The Sportsman's Cabinet " is that the 

 breed originated from a cross between the 

 large water dog and the Springing Spaniel, 

 and this is probably correct, though Youatt, 

 a notable authority, thinks that the cross 

 was with an English Setter. Possibly some 

 strains may have been established in this 

 way, and not differ very much in make and 

 shape from those obtained from the cross 

 with the Spaniel, as it is well known that 

 Setters and Spaniels have a common origin. 

 Considering the good character given to 

 these dogs by the writers of a century ago, 



