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CHAPTER LVIII. 
GUN-DOGS AND TERRIERS. 
“Bon chien chasse de race.” 
N 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 progeny 
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. 
OLD FRENCH PROVERB. 
Yet in Spain, in France, in Germany and 
Russia, varieties of game-finding dogs are 
retained which are still unknown in Great 
Britain, and for the information of English 
readers it is necessary to notice some of the 
more important and distinct. 
SETTERS. 
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 Epagneul ; 
but the Epagneul de Picardie, or Epagineul 
soir 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 Frangais, 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 shown in M. J. Baussart’s Médor 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. 
