Irish Water Spaniel 276 
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“is a very distinct one,” and that is just what the variety is to-day and 
has been since he has been known, or was resurrected, in 1859. It is 
to be noted that no mention is made of the variety, which Captain Brown 
thus describes, as being restricted to any portion of the Kingdom, nor that 
it was in any sense an Irish dog; yet with the exception of the white markings 
his description tallies with that of the Irish water spaniel, and neither 
book nor illustration issued before the time of his: description mentions or 
shows any such dog as being an English dog. 
It is possible that Mr. McCarthy, by judicious breeding, got rid of the 
white and at last secured the whole-coloured dog. The Irish fancy seemed 
to run to all-red dogs, for we have the blood-red setter, this spaniel and the 
red or red wheaten terrier, the three dogs of Ireland, for the wolfhound is a 
made breed. 
That the breed was thoroughly established at the time Mr. McCarthy 
described it is beyond dispute, and we regret to say he is not as prominent 
at the present time as was the case twenty years ago. At that time there 
were in England and America many excellent dogs, the like of which it is 
hard to find to-day in either country. He seems to have lost the popularity 
in which he was held at that time, and in America at least he is but little 
used. One or two specimens are shown at the Eastern and Middle States 
shows, but they are anything but common. About Ottawa and Kingston 
there are more than anywhere else that we know of, except on the northern 
Pacific coast, where they are used for wild-fowl shooting, as are also the 
Chesapeake Bay dogs. The moist climate of that country suits the coats 
of both of these dogs, and we were agreeably surprised to see such a nice 
exhibit of both breeds when at Seattle in 1904. 
At the time Mr. C. H. Mason and Mr. Skidmore were showing in 
England there was no lack of good Irish water spaniels, and many of them 
were brought to this country at that time. Those who can recall the number 
and excellence of the dogs owned at Chicago and Milwaukee at the time 
we refer to will bear us out in our statement regarding the quality of the 
dogs of that period compared with the paucity of competition and compara- 
tive inferiority of the exhibits of late years. 
Of those who did good service for the breed we may mention Mr. W. H. 
Holabird, of Valparaiso, Ind.; Mr. John D. Olcott and Mr. H. D. Gardner, 
of Milwaukee; Mr. J. H. Whitman, of Chicago;.Mr. T. Donoghue, of 
La Salle, Ill.; Mr. C. B. Rodes, of Moberly, Mo.; and Doctor Daniels, of 
