THE SETTER. 145 



and by carefully selecting dogs with a strong tendency to natural 

 point, his breed showed the same condition of the nervous system, 

 and would, like the Frenchman's pointer, fall into attitude at 

 the " toho." Unfortunately this close breeding produced a great 

 many idiots and delicate constitutions, but if only a Laverack 

 puppy had his senses, his limbs of good formation, and escaped 

 the ills of teething, distemper, &c.,.he was sure to be a good dog 

 in the field when well broken, but he required a deal of this, being 

 naturally wild and headstrong. 



Since the introduction of field trials the Laverack setter has 

 attained a very high reputation, chiefly founded on the perform- 

 ances of " Countess " and her sister " Nellie," aided to some extent 

 by the result of the cross between the Laverack blood and the 

 strains of Mr. Paul Hackett of Newcastle, Mr. W. Lort (the well- 

 known judge), Mr. Wittington, Sir Bellingham Graham, and Mr. 

 Statter. Mr. Purcell Llewellyn has spent a great deal of time 

 and money in carrying on the " selection of the fittest " for 

 breeding purposes, and has produced a strain which he calls 

 the " field trial " breed, composed of lines from all the above 

 sources, and which has been fairly successful in this country as 

 well as in America. Commencing with Laverack bitches pur- 

 chased at various times, he crossed them with Mr. Statter's "Dan," 

 which dog he purchased at the Shrewsbury field trials of 1871, 

 together with his brother "Dick," after performing there mar- 

 vellously well in the stake for the best brace. On the whole, it 

 may be said that the Laverack setter has attained a higher 

 reputation during the last fifteen years than any other English 

 setter ; but I very much question whether it was equal to some 

 other breeds, such as Sir Bellingham Graham's, Sir Vincent 

 Corbett's, Mr. "Wittington's, Mr. Paul Hackett's, Mr. W. Lort's, 

 and some others whose names escape my memory. I have 



