495 



CHAPTER LVIII. 



GUN-DOGS AND TERRIERS. 



"Bon chien chasse de race." 



Old French Proverb. 



IN referring to foreign gun-dogs it must 

 at the outset be understood — as it is 

 generally acknowledged by the sports- 

 men of other lands than our own — that the 

 British breeds used in the process of fowling 

 are far superior to their foreign relatives. 

 In all parts of Europe and America, where 

 dogs are engaged for finding game and 

 retrieving it when killed, there the English 

 Pointer and Setter hold the highest favour. 

 Pointers have been sent abroad from all 

 our best working kennels ; and the Llewellyn 

 Setter has established a reputation for 

 adroit work in the United States, which will 

 not be effaced for many generations. The 

 demand for both breeds has been so great 

 in foreign lands that in some instances we 

 have been obliged to bring back the progany 

 of our exported dogs to keep up the standard 

 at home. In Russia English Pointers and 

 Setters are more esteemed than perhaps in 

 any other part of the world, and at the 

 competitive shows of the Imperial Gun 

 Club at Moscow more Gordon Setters may 

 be seen than are to be found all over England. 

 In France the black-and-tan and the Irish 

 Setters are regarded with almost as great 

 favour as the Belton, and the display of 

 all three varieties in the Tuileries Gardens 

 is comparable only with the display at 

 Birmingham and the Crystal Palace. 



It is only fair to our fellow sportsmen on 

 the Continent, however, to remember that 

 our Setters, our Pointers, our Spaniels and 

 Retrievers, have all been derived from 

 strains imported into these islands from 

 abroad. France contributed the original 

 stock of our Clumbers ; we got our Field 

 Spaniels from Flanders, our Springers from 

 Spain. Our Retriever came from far Lab- 

 rador, our Pointer from Andalusia, and our 

 Setter from the same generous source. 



Yet in Spain, in France, in Germany and 

 Russia, varieties of game-finding dogs are 

 retained which are stiU unknown in Great 

 Britain, and for the information of English 

 readers it is necessary to notice some of the 

 more important and distinct. 



Our improved and perfected British Set- 

 ters are so successful in Continental coun- 

 tries, where they are systematically bred, 

 that there is little need to increase the native 

 stock of setting dogs, which are few and not 

 of great account, and where the Setter is not 

 employed, his work is commonly performed 

 by the Braque. The native Setter where it 

 occurs in France is still called the Epagncul ; 

 but the Epagneul de Piceu-die, or Epagncul 

 noir du Nord, as it is sometimes designated, 

 is actually a Setter in all essential respects. 

 It is often entirely black, sometimes black 

 and tan, or brown and grizzle, and in size 

 and shape it resembles the Gordon. There 

 is another variety usually classed merely as 

 the Epagneul Fran<;ais, a strong, imposing 

 dog, of true Setter character, with a thick, 

 but not very long, coat of dull white with 

 chestnut patches. A typical example of the 

 breed is showTi in M. J. Baussart's Medor de 

 Sanvic. This may possibly be the same 

 variety which is classed at the dog shows in 

 France as Epagneul Ecossais, and is of 

 identical appearance, even to the orange 

 patches. In Great Britain we do not 

 recognise a Scottish Setter apart from the 

 familiar black and tan, but an orange and 

 white Setter was met with in Ireland before 

 the golden red Irish variety became such a 

 popular favourite, and it is conceivable that 

 this Irish variety has been resuscitated in 

 France. 



