288 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



not infrequently done by the owners of 

 strong kennels. I will only quote the 

 names of those dogs of his which have 

 attained the rank of full champion, though 

 there have been a good many others of 

 almost equal merit: Bridford Perfection, 

 Shah, Brilliant, Tommy, Gipsy, Jappy, 

 Duke, and Boy. Of these I consider 

 BriUiant to have been the best dog of the 

 breed I have ever seen, and Gipsy the best 

 bitch. Both were full of quality and free 

 from all exaggerations, being each beau- 



MRS. E C, ROUSE'S BLUE ROAN 



TRUMPINGTON ROGER 



BY WELSH ROGER LAMBTON LASS. 



tifully proportioned and very symmetrical. 

 Jappy was very little inferior to Gipsy all 

 round, and, indeed, beat her in legs and 

 feet. Mr. Woolland's blood was also re- 

 sponsible for the success of many other 

 kennels, among them my own, and m a 

 large measure Mr. H. E. Gray's, which 

 now seems to hold the premier position. 

 His best dogs have been Lord Dunnohoo 

 (who was decidedly unlucky not to have 

 been numbered among the champions), 

 Magellan, Magician, Druid, and Juanita. 

 The blacks from this kennel have also 

 competed with a fair amount of credit 

 to themselves at the Field Trials. 



If Black Spaniels are not quite so popular 

 at present as they were some years ago, 

 the fault lies with those breeders, exhibitors, 

 and judges (the latter being most to blame) 

 who encouraged the absurd craze for ex- 

 cessive length of body and shortness of 

 leg which not very long ago threatened 

 to transform the whole breed into a race 

 of cripples, and to bring it into contempt 

 and derision among all practical men. No 

 breed or variety of dog has suffered more 

 from the injudicious fads and crazes of 

 those showmen who are not sportsmen 

 also. At one time among a certain class 

 of judges at, I am glad to say, principally 

 minor shows, length and lowness was every- 

 thing, and soundness, activity and sym- 

 metry simply did not count. As happens 

 to all absurd crazes of this kind when 

 carried to exaggeration, public opinion has 

 proved too much for it, but not before a 

 great deal of harm has been done to a 

 breed which is certainly ornamental, and 

 can be, in my experience, most useful as 

 well. I\Iost of the prize-winners of the pre- 

 sent day are sound, useful dogs capable of 

 work, and it is to be hoped that judges 

 will combine to keep them so. 



The coloured Field Spaniel has now 

 almost invariably at the principal shows 

 special classes allotted to him, and does 

 not have to compete against his black 

 brother, as used to be the case in former 

 years. 



The systematic attempt to breed Spaniels 

 of various colours, with a groundwork of 

 white, does not date back much more 

 than a quarter of a century, and the greater 

 part of the credit for producing this variety 

 may be given to three gentlemen, Mr. F. E. 

 Schofield, Dr. J. H. Spurgin, and Mr. J. W. 

 Robinson, although the following breeders 

 may be said to have contributed not a 

 little towards establishing it : :\Iajor Willett, 

 Messrs. Hopcroft, H. P. Green, T. Harring- 

 ton, C. C. Lawrence, P. E. Le Gros, and 

 J. Smith. In the early days of breeding 

 blacks, when the bitches were mated either 

 with Sussex or liver and white Springers 

 or Norfolk Spaniels, many parti-coloured 

 puppies necessarily occurred, which most 



