218 The Dog Book 
of the noblemen referred to; secondly, that Noailles is the correct spelling 
of the name, and finally that the gift was made to Henry Clinton, the duke 
who succeeded to the title in 1768. The gift was presumably made before 
he attained the title, for the Duc de Noailles died in 1766. There was after 
him a Marshal Philipe de Noailles, but his title was Duc de Mouchy, and he 
was one of the victims of the Reign of Terror. We find him mentioned 
in a brief account in the Sporting Magazine for 1793, of the King of France 
going shooting at Versailles, ‘“‘attendant by a physician, surgeon, the Mare- 
chal de Noailles and a few other persons of rank.” 
“TIdstone” stated that there was an article in the Sporting Magazine for 
the year 1807, and if he had only taken the trouble to read what was there 
said he would have saved a lot of speculation and on the part of his followers. 
The brief article in question accompanied an engraving of a copy of part of 
the painting by Wheatly, which we give in full. The part copied is that 
of the figure of the tall man standing and the three spaniels in front of 
him. This is William Mansell, and the accompanying article is as follows: 
“The annexed engraving is the portrait of William Mansell, game- 
keeper to His Grace, Henry Clinton, Duke of Newcastle, and taken from 
the picture painted by F. Wheatly, Esq., R. A., now in the Duke’s possession, 
at Clumber House, Nottinghamshire. The group of Springers, or Cock- 
flushers, by which the gamekeeper is so tastefully surrounded in the picture, 
was a gift to Duke Henry, when in France, from the Duke de Noailles, 
and William Mansell, during a uniform attention to the duties of his office 
(near thirty years), has, above other things, studied to increase, unmixed, 
this peculiar race of flushers. 
“The Duke’s (or Mansell’s) breed is still held in higher estimation 
than any other of the spaniel kind; that justly celebrated painter, P. Rei- 
nagle, Esq., has made Mansell’s breed of Cock-springers his peculiar study, 
and wherever we trace in that gentleman’s productions the resemblance of 
his favourites we find them to possess the master touch in the highest degree 
of excellence.” 
The late Mr. Mercer of Ottawa was a great Clumber enthusiast, and 
had he been in England would probably have gone to the bottom of things, 
but he relied on English writers when in 1901 he wrote his article on the 
Clumber. He, however, adds a little to the original “TIdstone” and says: 
“In Daniel’s ‘Rural Sports’ we learn that the immediate ancestors,” etc. 
As an illustration of how an enthusiast will tone things at times we will 
