Our  Canaries 
237 
CHAPTER  XV. 
THE   LANCASHIRE  CANARY. 
WHENCE   CAME  IT? 
ANOTHER  of  our  ancient  breeds  whose  earliest  history  will  probably  always 
remain  a  sealed  book  is  the  Lancashire  Canary.  Its  relationship  with  the 
old  Continental  varieties  as  the  Belgian  and  Dutch  scarcely  admits  of  a  doubt ; 
and  although  actual  records  of  its  evolution  from,  or  connection  with,  these  breeds 
are  wanting,  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  the  usual  classification  at  shows 
half  a  century  and  more  ago  affords  a  certain  amount  of  circumstantial  evidence 
that  this  was  known  and  recognised  by  the  fanciers  of  those  days.  For  we  have 
it  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  A.  Hamer,  whose  association  with  the  breed  extends 
over  a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years,  that  in  his  early  days  only  six  classes  were 
provided  at  local  shows  in  the  County  Palatine,  viz. : — Clear-capped  Gold 
Lizards,  Clear-capped  Silver  Lizards,  Clear  Yellow  Coppy,  Clear  Buff  Coppy, 
Clear  Yellow  Plainhead  and  Half-bred  Belgian,  and  Clear  Buff  Plainhead  and 
Half-bred  Belgian.  In  all  probability  these  Half-bred  Belgians  were  the 
Lancashire-Belgian  cross,  as  we  know  from  the  oldest  records  we  possess  of  the 
breed  that  the  Belgian  was  frequently  adorned  with  a  coppy,  or  toppin  as  the 
tuft  of  feathers  on  the  head  was  termed  in  those  days. 
The  old  Dutch  Canary,  from  which  the  Lancashire  most  probably  originated, 
is  now  a  scarce  variety,  closely  allied  with  the  Dutch  Frill  as  we  now  know  it  but 
bred  comparatively  free  from  curls,  but  is  still  to  be  met  with  in  some  parts  of 
Holland.  Specimens  of  this  variety  were  doubtless  brought  over  here  by  the 
Huguenot  refugees,  who  settled  in  various  parts  of  the  country  and  introduced 
their  hobby  of  Canary-rearing  among  English  people.  Indeed,  it  seems  most 
probable  that  the  Huguenots  fleeing  from  the  persecutions  of  their  native  land 
became  the  real  pioneers  of  the  peaceful  hobby  of  Canary-breeding,  and  added 
much  to  horticultural  pastimes,  as  well  as  the  more  important  additions  to  our 
textile  industries.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Hamer's  reminiscences  of  the  Fancy  trace 
the  Lancashire  back  over  200  years,  and  as  an  exhibition  bird  for  over  100  years, 
is  sufficient  proof  of  its  ancient  lineage. 
COPPY  AND  PLAINHEAD. 
In  the  Lancashire  we  have  the  Crested  and  the  non-Crested  birds  bearing 
exactly  the  same  relationship  with  each  other  as  the  modern  Crest  and  Crest-bred 
varieties.  The  term  "  coppy  "  being  the  old  English  designation  of  a  bird  with  a 
crest  or  tuft  of  feathers  on  its  head  is  still  retained  in  the  nomenclature  of  this 
breed,  and  it  therefore  follows  that  the  Lancashire  Coppy  is  the  Lancashire 
Canary  with  a  crest,  the  Lancashire  Plainhead  being  its  non-crested  ally.  Both 
varieties  are  bred  intimately,  a  Coppy  being  mated  with  a  plain-headed  bird  of 
