730 The Dog Book 



corresponds. Still there is the long ear, and the silky coat, and the beautiful 

 colour of the hair, and for these the dealers do not scruple to ask twenty, 

 thirty and even fifty guineas. " When a writer holds such an opinion as is 

 here expressed regarding the domed skull he would not have passed the 

 Blenheim, as he then called it, if it had possessed the same exag- 

 geration. 



The best description of what the Blenheim or Marlborough spaniel was 

 about 1840 is given by "Idstone" in "The Dog" "Thirty years ago the 

 Blenheim was very fashionable, and in Oxford and the neighbourhood scores 

 of specimens could be obtained. A sour old portress at Blenheim bred 

 numbers of them, but purchasers must be content to accept her choice, not 

 theirs, her system being to dispose of the worst first. The cottagers around 

 Woodstock also bred for the market, and the London dealers used to re- 

 plenish their stock from the little villages under the shadows of the palace, 

 obtaining good and occasionally exquisite specimens at a few pounds, or 

 even a few shillings each. 



"As a rule the Blenheims thus procured were leggy, and the Londoners 

 soon defied competition, producing spaniels, small, compact, with good ear 

 and colour, and improved nose and skull, but they lost the spot or lozenge 

 on the forehead, which ought to mark every Blenheim." 



Idstone was of the opinion that the Blenheim owed its origin to the 

 Japanese and stated that it had been known as the Blenheim for more than 

 one hundred and fifty years (1700), adding that Van Dyck painted it, 

 "although the colours are somewhat subdued." If it came from Japan 

 it must have reached England about the time of Van Dyck and any introduc- 

 tion of the Jap, would have produced a very different dog from those shown 

 with the children of Charles I. This chapter on the Blenheim is one of 

 the strongest in "The Dog," as the author was thoroughly conversant with 

 his subject and knew the Blenheims at their home, before they became the 

 show dog. He was also a dog show exhibitor as well as a judge and could 

 make allowances for fancy, although he did not approve altogether of the 

 improved dog. He says on this subject: "Thirty years ago (1840) the 

 breed was more refined than in these days. The nose has been shortened 

 until it is deformed, and the broad mouth and protruding tongue of many 

 specimens are revolting and untrue to the type of the genuine Blenheim 

 spaniel, which, when in any degree approaching perfection is one of the 

 most beautiful of our parlour pets. 



