THE SPORTING SPANIEL. 



279 



rived their origin, and apparently we are 

 destined to owe them another debt of grati- 

 tude, on their recent dispersal, for setting 

 free a lot of valuable old blood of a care- 

 full}- bred strain which has not been for 

 many years past available to outside breed- 

 ers. Nearly all the most famous show 

 winners of early days were descended from 

 ^Ir. Foljambe's dogs, and his Beau may 

 perhaps be considered one of the most im- 

 portant " pillars of the stud," as he was 

 the sire of Nabob, a great prize-winner, and 

 considered one of the best of his 

 day, who belonged at \-arious times 

 during his career to such famous 

 showmen as Messrs. Phineas Bullock, 

 ^Ir. Fletcher, Mr. Rawdon Lee, and 

 Mr. G. Oliver. Other notable dogs 

 of this period were Duke, Trimbush, 

 Belle, Lapis, Psycho, Looby, and 

 Baron, besides Bruce, who won no 

 end of prizes, and was selected by 

 "Stonehenge" to illustrate the breed 

 in his " Dogs of the British Islands." 

 To the modern generation of Clum- 

 ber fanciers the name of Mr. H. H. 

 Holmes is well known, and probably 

 no owner has ever possessed so man}* "^^ 

 first-rate specimens. The dog which ^'^ 

 first brought his name into promi- 

 nence was not bred by him, but by Mr. 

 Foljambe. I allude to his John o' Gaunt 

 (K.c.s.B. 11,610), a dog who must have 

 been an almost absolute model of perfection 

 if we are to believe all that has been recently 

 written about him. A reference, however, 

 to the contemporary stud books and other 

 records shows that the judges of the day 

 were not unanimous in this opinion, as he 

 suffered defeat on more than one occasion, 

 though there can be no question that he 

 was possessed of exceptional merit. Other 

 giants of the show ring owned by Mr. 

 Holmes were Tower, Hotpot, and Holmes's 

 Hermit, the latter of whom was shown in 

 Mr. McKenna's name as late as 1895. 

 This gentleman was also the possessor of 

 many fine specimens, with whom he won 

 many prizes, the best being Moston Beau, 

 Moston Duke, Pomfret Mac, and the beau- 

 tiful bitch, Wvcombe Rattle. He also 



owmed for some time Holmes's Hermit, 

 Friar Bob, and Nora Friar. The distin- 

 guishing affix or prefix of " Friar," so well 

 known in the late 'eighties and early 'nine- 

 ties, belonged to Mr. Thorpe Hincks, a 

 great devotee of the breed, who was the 

 breeder and owner of many celebrated 

 animals, including, besides those mentioned 

 above. Friar John, Friar Boss, and Di 

 Friar. 



There has been a great deal of lamenta- 

 tion lately among old breeders and ex- 



W. M. MANGINS l;H. HKtbrUN SHOT 

 BEECHGROVE TOMMY TRIGGER 



liibitors about the decadence of the breed 

 and the loss of the true old type possessed 

 by these dogs which I have mentioned above. 

 But, despite all they can say to the con- 

 trary, the breed is now in a more flourish- 

 ing state than it ever has been ; and al- 

 though perhaps we have not now, nor have 

 had for the last decade, a John o' Gaunt or 

 a Tower, there have been a large number 

 of dogs shown during that time who pos- 

 sessed considerable merit and would prob- 

 ably have held their own even in the da\'s of 

 these bygone heroes. Some of the most 

 notable have been Baillie Friar, Beechgrove 

 Donally, Goring of Auchentorlie, Hempsted 

 Toby, and Preston Shot, who all earned the 

 coveted title of Champion. The best of 

 this quintette, to my mind, was Goring of 

 Auchentorlie, who was picked up for a 

 small sum at a provincial show in Scotland 

 by Mr. C. A. Phillips and subsequently sold 



