160 The Dog Book 
ber of trials, but the very great majority of these successes were attained 
at minor trials or in stakes of a restricted character, which precluded the 
wins taking rank with those obtained by English setters and pointers at 
important trials in competition open to all. 
In England the Irish setters run in competition with other breeds and 
meet with a very fair share of success, and if they were taken hold of here 
in the same way that the at-one-time discarded pointer was, by men having 
influence as well as the means to carry out their determination, the Irish 
setter would stand a chance of regaining favour outside of the sportsmen 
who still believe in the value of the reds as a useful shooting dog. 
The history of the Irish setter prior to the nineteenth century is little 
more than a tradition. The first reference we have come across is that 
quoted in the article on the spaniel family prefacing the chapter on the Eng- 
lish setter. This is from “A Treatise on Field Diversions,” published 
originally in 1776, and written by the Reverend Mr. Simons, whose name 
is not given on the title page, in its place being “ By a Gentleman of Suffolk, 
a Staunch Sportsman.” In speaking of the setter, then only the setting 
spaniel for use with the net, he says: “None can have any just claim, 
however, to the appellation [of setter] but what is emphatically called by 
way of eminence the English spaniel. The Irish insist—theirs are the true 
English spaniel; the Welsh contend—theirs are the aborigines.” 
Some readers might think this a mere figure of speech, but a little far- 
ther on there is this remark: ‘A gentleman who resided some time in 
Wales tells me this is a true description of their finest setters.” It is per- 
fectly proper to assume therefore that at that period there was a variety 
known as Irish, or at least a variety in Ireland which differed in some 
respect from the dog in vogue in England and in Wales. We have sub- 
stantial evidence that the Welsh variety was white, or white and black, and 
Mr. Simons goes on to say, “Be that as it may, whatever mixtures may 
have been since made, there were, fifty years ago [that would be about 1725], 
two distinct tribes—the black-tanned, and the orange or lemon and white.” 
There has never been any suggestion that the setter of Ireland was anything 
but red or red and white, and we may conclude that the variety specified 
by Mr. Simons was of that colour. 
Dalziel in “British Dogs” quotes, from a work we have never seen, 
entitled, “A Correct Delineation of the Canine Race,” published in 1803 
by “A Veteran Sportsman,” a remark to the effect that setters were more 
