250 The Dog Book 



cock shooting he uses the term cock shooting almost entirely, such as: 

 ^'Good questing spaniels are the only dogs for cock shooting." "Here 

 lies the difficulty of cock shooting." 



We by no means hold that these extracts are at all conclusive and 

 beyond a reasonable doubt, but we do hold that there was no distinct line 

 as to small dogs being kept for woodcocks and large dogs for other covert 

 work. In the brief description of the Clumber spaniel, then known as the 

 Duke of Newcastle's or Mansell's breed, which appeared in the Sporting 

 Magazine in 1807, even this, the largest of all the spaniels, was styled 

 cock flusher; while in one of our pointer illustrations will be seen some 

 small spaniels used for hawking. 



We have .already shown that the field spaniel was very much mixed 

 with cocker, or small spaniel strains up to the close of the seventies, and 

 into the next decade to a smaller extent, and it is not necessary to attempt 

 any tracing of lines previous to 1880 when the improvement in spaniels 

 began in this country. At that time there were probably not a dozen 

 spaniels in America that could get a highly commended card at New York 

 among present-day cockers. George D. MacDougal, of Toronto, brought 

 down to New York in 1881 a nice little lot, showing much more character 

 than the most of the American entry. We then became associated with 

 him in what he called the Lachine Kennels, and worked up sufficient 

 interest among breeders to establish the American Spaniel Club at the next 

 New York reunion. A black cocker sent out to us with the field spaniel Bene- 

 dict from Mr. Jacobs's kennel was about the best of the cockers section, but 

 did not get the cup, the judge explaining that he thought we had won enough, 

 and, having the field-spaniel cup and sundry first prizes, it was only fair to 

 let someone else get the other cup. Such was dog-show practice in those days. 

 With the establishment of the Spaniel Club the breed boomed, and as 

 the great authority for dog men, Stonehenge, had praised the spaniel Brush, 

 some breeders made a rush for Brush stock. Mr. Pitcher and Mr. Cum- 

 mings, of New Hampshire, imported some of this blood from the Easton 

 Kennel, as did the Hornell Club, but these were a mixed lot. Doctor 

 Niven got the best cocker of all the Brush line in his Black Bess; a very 

 good bitch, nice size, good head and particularly good in coat. Doctor 

 Niven also got her daughter Bene, who was by Bob III., the fighting field 

 spaniel referred to in the previous chapter. Bene was also a nicely feathered 

 bitch, and some preferred her to her dam. 



