200 The Dog Book 
Both the Gordons, Regent and Crop, were wavy-coated. The sire of Beau 
was even more curly-coated than his son, and Mr. Brown of Melton Mow- 
bray, who bred both, tells me that he took after Mr. Coke’s breed, in coat— 
which, though curly, was as soft as floss silk—as well as in make, character 
and goodness in the field, and it would be difficult to find a better.” 
Tur Duxe Not CoNnsERVATIVE AS TO CoLouR 
Mr. John Fisher of Leeds tells of how the Duke used to send down to 
Major Bower of Welham for greyhounds to run at the Scotch meetings: 
“After Belle had won the Malton Cup I handed her and a setter dog 
over to His Grace’s trainer, who was sent from Scotland expressly for them. 
The setter came from Ebberstone Lodge—whether from Mr. Osbaldestone’s 
own kennel or not I cannot say, but he was brought to Welham by Mr. 
Inman, his gamekeeper. This dog was black and white, no tan, with long 
thin feather; not less than twenty-six inches at the shoulder; rather lathy 
looking, with a grand head and stern, and had the appearance of great 
courage. 
“His Grace’s setters of that day were said to be black; but as John’s 
specialty was greyhounds rather than setters, it is quite possible they may 
have been black and tan, and that he overlooked the latter. I believe 
that His Grace was too thoroughly a sportsman to confine himself to shades 
of colour or fancy markings even in his setters; and if on trial the Ebberstone 
Lodge dog was found to be as good as his looks, he would not hesitate to 
breed from him; and I think it not improbable that the white still found in 
some of the pure Gordons may be the result of this very cross, for he was 
a very likely dog to leave his mark in more respects than one.” Mr. Adye, 
in commenting on this statement, wrote that Mr. Brown had been told by 
Mr. Coke himself that he often sent dogs to the Duke of Gordon and 
received others in exchange, in order now and then to obtain fresh blood. 
Mr. Fisher might well have given the date of the transaction. “ After 
Belle had won the Malton Cup” is decidedly indefinite, even in England, 
and is of course meaningless to Americans. But fortunately our library 
contains Thomas Goodlake’s “Coursing Manual,” published in 1828, just 
late enough to contain the entry of Major Bowers’s black and white bitch 
Belle as having run second for the cup at Malton in 1827 and getting a 
goblet therefor. Whether this is the “win” referred to by Mr. Fisher 
