248 The Dog Book 
was closely related to the English water spaniel, and stated that some of 
the strongest of the cockers were found in Sussex and called Sussex spaniels, - 
and that another and smaller variety was the Duke of Marlborough’s. 
Also that the term cocker was taken from their being used for woodcock | 
shooting. 
That is the only attempted distinction we have found written about. - - 
that time, and all other spaniel information tends to show that there was 
little discrimination in spaniel names. In the Rev. Mr. Simons’s useful little 
book previously referred to regarding English and Irish setters he begins a 
chapter headed “The Springing Spaniel” by saying: “The cocking or 
gun spaniel of true, perfect breed.” It is quite true that he only describes 
what we know nowadays as the cocker—“back broad and short, legs short 
with breeches behind”—which does not fit a large dog at all, besides which, 
he first places the “black and tan, commonly called the King Charles” 
breed. On the other hand, he describes no large spaniel at all, and yet 
uses the words springing spaniel to cover the entire group. Mr. Simons 
covers the ground from 1725 to 1775. We then take Daniel; 1801-13 
are the dates of the editions of his “Rural Sports.” Throughout the entire 
work, of the editions we have seen, he never uses any word but spaniel, 
no matter what the sport may be under consideration in which they are 
used, except in one instance when he italicises springing spaniels in con- 
nection with shooting some red-legged partridges in turnips which always 
ran from pointers. It almost looks as if he meant to say that they were 
not setting spaniels. Vincent’s poem, “Fowling,” is also drawn blank, 
spaniel being the only word he uses, and on one occasion he might well 
have used either “springing” or “cocking” when he writes, “The questing 
spaniel some prefer,” in his description of pheasant shooting. Again, in 
Scott’s “Field Sports” of the same period we find but the one word, “span- 
iel.” On the other hand, we have in Bewick’s “History of Quadrupeds” 
an illustration and description of “the springer, or cocker,” in which he 
includes the King Charles and the Pyrame Dog, Buffon’s name for the 
Blenheim. But here we must take into consideration that Daniel, W. H. 
Scott and Vincent were experts with a thorough knowledge of the correct 
‘terms in usage and Bewick was not. 
When we come to the next group of writers we find J. Scott, in the 
“Sportsman’s Repository,” publishing an illustration by Reinagle of 
a large, leggy spaniel springing a woodcock, with the title “springer,” 
