58 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



and the little toy oddities of Paris, bred and 

 reared by Lutetian bootmakers, and, lastly, 

 the English Bulldog. It is clear to me, as an 

 unprejudiced c\aiologist, entirely unaffected 

 by what previous authorities have said on 

 the subject, that the original home of the 

 breed was Spain, where the dog was ' made ' 

 for its special mission. The fair name of 

 Spain always was, and still is, associated 

 with sport in which the bull plays the lead- 

 ing role. The Spaniard fashioned a dog to 

 suit this sport, with a firm, strong body, 

 stout legs, and a short neck of powerful 

 muscle, a big head with wide mouth and 

 prominent upturned under jaw, so that 

 the dog could still breathe while retaining 

 his grip, and his weight would tire out the 

 bull, which was unable to fling him off. 

 From Spain dogs of this kind migrated to 

 France ; it is only a short excursion to 

 Bordeaux, where the services of the animals 

 were in demand for fighting and for dog and 

 donkey contests. Then they travelled up 

 to Paris, which has always had an eye for 

 the artistic, and where they bantamised the 

 breed into a semblance of the modern tov 

 Bulldog." 



Mr. W. J. Stubbs wrote a little booklet 

 in 1903 which was printed for private circula- 

 tion, entitled " The History of the French 

 Bulldog." He says as to origin, " There 

 appears to be no doubt that the French Bull- 

 dog originated in England, and is an offshoot 

 of the English Bulldog, not the Bulldog one 

 sees on the bench to-day, but of the tulip- 

 eared and short underjawed specimens which 

 were common in London, Nottingham, Bir- 

 mingham, and Sheffield in the early 'fifties." 

 As evidence of this, he goes on to relate how 

 this type of dog was exported to France in 

 the earh' 'fifties, giving the names of three 

 breeders or dealers who were known to 

 have been exporters. He also says, " There 

 v\-as a constant emigration of laceworkers 

 from Nottingliam to the coast towTis of 

 Normand}', where lace factories were spring- 

 ing into existence, and these immigrants fre- 

 quently took a Bulldog with tliem to the 

 land of their adoption." 



This is as may be, and is extremely useful 

 and interesting information ; but it requires 



careful consideration before it can be 

 accepted as proving that tlie French Bulldog 

 originated in England. As a matter of fact, 

 it only proves what all the French authori- 

 ties are perfectly willing to admit, namely, 

 that at different times within the last forty 

 years British Bulldogs have been imported 

 into France. The inference Mr. Stubbs 

 draws is that these imported dogs originated 

 the breed of French Bulldogs ; whereas the 

 contention of ■ the French and German 

 authorities is that these imported specimens 

 were used only as a cross, to introduce fresh 

 blood into the breed already in existence. 



The converse method was also adopted. 

 Prior to 1902 French Bulldogs were imported 

 into this country witii tlic object of resusci- 

 tating the strain of bantam Bulldogs, 

 which in course of years had been allowed 

 to dwindle in numbers, and were in danger 

 of becoming extinct. The small English 

 variety was then called, somewhat errone- 

 ously, '■ Toy Bulldogs," their weight limit 

 being 20 lbs. Dogs of this weight could 

 scarcely be called " toys." Eventually the 

 Kennel Club sensibly decided to rename 

 them the IMiniature Bulldog. 



It was this very question of weight which 

 brought about the parting of the ways of the 

 French Bulldog from the Toy English varie- 

 ties. Previous to 1902 some of the members of 

 the Toy Bulldog Club were of opinion that 

 the weight limit should be raised from 20 lb. 

 to 22 lbs., and Lady Lewis proposed this 

 alteration, but her motion was lost. 



On July loth, 1902, a meeting was called 

 at the house of the writer to consider the 

 whole position, when it was decided to form 

 a new Club with the sole object of promoting 

 the breeding and importation of pure 

 French Bulldogs, adopting practically iden- 

 tical weiglits and points with the French 

 Bulldog Clubs of France, Germany, Austria, 

 and America. The name chosen was " The 

 French Bulldog Club of England." The 

 founders were : Lady Lewis, President ; 

 Mrs. Romilly. Hon. Treasurer ; ]\Irs. F. W. 

 Cousens, Hon. Secretary ; Mrs. Charles 

 W'atcrlow, Mrs. F. Bromwich. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Walter Jefferies, Mrs. Townsend Green, and 

 Mr. F. W. Cousens. 



