The Gordon Setter 213 



The Gordon setter is not distinguishable by colour alone from the 

 English and Irish, no matter what one may have read about resem- 

 blances or as to incorrect formation for utility. A Gordon that resembles 

 either of the other branches of the setter family is not right, nor is an English 

 setter of Gordon formation, nor an Irish setter with the heaviness of the 

 Gordon the correct thing. The Gordon is larger and bulkier, is heavier 

 in head and has not so much feather as the English setter. The quality 

 of coat may be somewhat stifFer, but it does not want to look any different, 

 except in being not so plentiful as that on the English setter. From the 

 Irish setter the Gordon differs most materially in his stoutness of build; 

 somewhat in the texture of coat but not much in the amount of feather. 

 There is also a marked difference in the length of the stern, which is not so 

 long in the Gordon, with heavier bone to start with, and it tapers more 

 quickly, thus adding to the appearance of being somewhat short. 



The fact is the Gordon setter can hardly be treated seriously as a dog 

 for the gun. We do not of course deny the right of any man to buy a 

 Gordon setter for shooting purposes, any more than his buying a toy terrier 

 or a pug for killing rats, but we think he is making a mistake and would 

 find it to his advantage to get one of the other two breeds of setters, or a 

 pointer over which to shoot, as he would buy a Scottish, Irish or Welsh 

 terrier for rats. 



The Gordon setter has neither the speed nor possibly the staying 

 ability of the other breeds and his colour is a drawback; even the dark red 

 of the Irish setter renders him hard to keep track of in our shooting as com- 

 pared to a dog with white enough about his coat to render him easy to catch 

 sight of as he slips through the rank growths which cover so much of the 

 shooting grounds in this country. That such a statement will draw out oppo- 

 sition claims is to be expected, but we can point to the records and ask 

 how many of the Gordons we know are field dogs and how many exhibitors 

 are of the class that shoot over their own dogs. 



Perhaps we might have kept this idea dormant, but on looking 

 through a portion of Lee's "Modern Dogs" which we had hitherto over- 

 looked we came across the following, the opening sentence of which referred 

 to some old strains kept at Cawdor and Beaufort Castles, some of which 

 were tricolours: "Although these old breeds have been kept as nearly 

 pure as possible, and may be found useful in crossing with the ordinary 

 English setter, especially when work more than actual beauty is required, 



