175 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE LONDON FANCY CANARY. 



In endeavouring to propound a possible and probably correct theory as to the origin of this 

 remarkable Canary, we must admit at the outset that we have little else than conjecture to guide 

 us in lifting the somewhat obscure veil which shrouds its early history. That it is, as we stated 

 in the opening of the previous chapter, very closely allied to the Lizard there can be little doubt, 

 and we think we shall be able to show how circumstances seem to point to its being an offshoot 

 from, if not really simply nothing more than a modified form of that bird. In so far as regards 

 reliable published historical data, the London Fancy can certainly point to its name in the 

 registers of a century back, and say to any other Canary, " Here is evidence that a hundred 

 years ago I was, and that at a time when, in the absence of proof to the contrary, I assume you 

 were not." That, however, might arise from the fact of its admirers being better organised and 

 banded together under stringent laws, which have been handed down to us, for the purpose 

 of developing this then neiv fancy from something older ; and it may be; and probably is, quite 

 true that the London Fancy is the oldest "fancy" development and the first Canary which, 

 singled out from many other varieties, made for itself a name among its nameless contemporaries, 

 who may not have been known by any special designation or distinguished by other than general 

 terms more or less characteristic of some peculiar feature ; e.g., " The Fine Spangled Sort, com- 

 monly called, French Canary Birds .... the Best to Breed with, for Those, who are very 

 Curious." (See page 154.) 



The historical relation between the two may only be very slight, but we think it more than 

 probable that the " fine spangled sort, commonly called French Canary birds," would form part 

 of the penates of the Protestant refugees, chiefly silk-weavers and workers of other textile 

 fabrics, who found shelter here from the persecutions in France and the Low Countries a 

 century before we hear of any form of that "fine spangled sort" being known by the special 

 name identifying it with the locality in which it was cultivated ; and it is a fact worthy of note 

 that the " fine spangled sort," now known as the Lizard, is now, as then, the pet bird of the 

 same class of handicraftsmen, whether the community be planted in Nottingham, long the 

 centre of the Lizard fancy, or in Lancashire, where certain known strains descend as heirlooms 

 in families. 



But, whence evolved, is the problem we have to solve, and. Is the London Fancy originally 

 from the loins of the Lizard t the direct question we have to answer. We are of opinion that it 

 is. The general tendency of the whole domesticated Canary family is to struggle out of darkness 

 into light, and we think it more in accordance with this natural law that the dark, spangled 

 body should develop into a clear form than that the clear should grow dark. This is, in brief, 

 our position, though, as in many other cases of disputed title, we know the difficulty of settling 

 any such question conclusively. It may be said that there is no necessity to raise the question : 

 here is the bird ; make the best you can of it, and never mind where it came from. That is all 

 very well ; but the two birds are so singularly alike at one period of their lives, so unlike at 



