174 MANUAL FOR YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 
Chance—which was as curly about the ears and poll as 
an ordinary water-spaniel. 
I do not know the pedigree of this animal, and it is 
possible, though barely so, that he might have a cross of 
water-spaniel in his blood. It is not, however, probable, 
for the water spaniel is an exceedingly rare dog in the 
United States, so much so that in a residence of five and 
twenty years, I have not seen half a dozen of the race. 
His character and conduct showed nothing of the spaniel, 
which is the most riotous and hard to break of all sporting 
dogs, for he was singularly docile, cool-headed, and, though 
the best retriever I ever saw, was almost, if not quite, the 
stanchest setter, both at the point, and the down charge. 
The chief cause of the question which has arisen con- 
cerning the origin of this beautiful and sagacious animal, 
it appears to me, is simply the new name, which with the 
improvement of field-sports, the subdivisions which have 
been introduced, and the nicer distinctions which have 
been of consequence required, has come into use, it would 
seem, within the last century. 
I find it variously stated, that the spaniel was first 
taught to set in the reign of Edward II., and that he is 
mentioned in a MS. treatise by the grand huntsman of 
that monarch, so long ago as 1307—and, again, that 
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland in 1335, first systemati- 
cally broke in setting dogs. 
One objection, and a very material one, to the latter 
version, being the fact that Robert Dudley was not Earl, 
much less Duke, of Northumberland in 1335, but Henry 
Percy. 
