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CHAPTER XXIII, 



SPANISH. 



The Spanish fowl is entitled to be regarded as one of our oldest-established breeds, and is even 

 now perhaps more generally known by report amongst the non-fancying portion of the English 

 public than any other. Talk to any man who does not himself keep fowls about your own 

 individual craze in that line, whatever it may be, and it is about ten chances to one he speedily 

 breaks in with the remark that "the Black Spanish is a fine fowl, sir" — that bird is his idea of 

 excellence in this direction. In the tenth case it will be the Dorking that is named, and these two 

 breeds represent all that is good in poultry to the average British mind ; the splendid large eggs of 

 the one, and the majestic trussed proportions of the other, appealing alike to his " finer feelings," 

 while their antiquity ministers to that respect for hereditary descent which is well known to be one 

 of his favourite weaknesses. 



Let it be so ; both are good fowls, and can stand under the weight of all the honours which 

 may be paid them. Long before the modern Cochin, or its congener the Brahma, had crossed the 

 waters of the Indian seas, both breeds were bred and valued by English poultry-keepers, though 

 poultry-shows in the present acceptation of the term were not even in existence. Still, however, 

 many private or "club" shows even then took place, being chiefly held in the large rooms of 

 taverns, and mostly confined to some one breed, of which the various amateurs in a neighbourhood 

 thus met to compare their respective achievements, and contend for the pre-eminence in friendly 

 rivalry. By such means the Spanish fowl was raised many years ago to a very high degree of 

 excellence, though differing in several important particulars from the present accepted standards. 

 London was by far the chief home of the Spanish "fancy" in those days; and it is singular to 

 observe how the immense preponderance of black fowls in and around the metropolis at the 

 present time still testifies to the extensive though quiet influence exerted by these unobtrusive 

 amateurs of by-gone days. 



With regard to the origin of Spanish fowls, they very probably did actually come to us from 

 Spain. The names of all the sub-varieties— Andalusians, Minorcas, Anconas— point to an origin 

 either Spanish or in the immediate neighbourhood ; and there can be little doubt, as Mr. Tegetmeier 

 has justly pointed out, that the cultivation of this breed by the Dutch followed, and was consequent 

 upon, the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries. All about the Mediterranean, in fact, a fowl 

 decidedly of the Spanish type is that indigenous to the country. Minor differences are observable, 

 the legs for instance being found black, white, or (as in the Leghorn) yellow ; and the colour of the 

 plumage varies too ; but the large comb, the sprightly shape and carriage, the large egg, and the 

 absence of the incubating instinct — those grand points which mark the Spanish type — are found in 

 nearly all, and prove that such well-defined characteristics, however derived, have an antiquity 

 beyond the reach of any attempt at investigation. Even in Algiers, Egypt, and, in fact, all 

 along the northern coast of Africa, the same type of bird extensively prevails, and points almost 

 conclusively to the " Great Sea" of the ancients as the native home of the Spanish fowl. 



