THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Welsh dogs and ground. This old breed is now practically extinct. The 
inroad of “driving,” and the introduction of more fashionable breeds, 
combined with want of care for them on the part of their owners, having 
brought about their downfall. At Beaufort Castle, Inverness, there was at 
one time an old breed of setter kept up for many years in the family of 
Lord Lovat, and the pedigrees were jealously guarded. The dogs were white, 
black and tan, and when the writer saw them were of moderate size, 
but strongly built. They were not, however, as taking in appearance as one 
might have wished, and were not as setter -like in looks or character as 
some setter families. They had thick, short heads, and were deficient in 
coat and feather. No doubt inbreeding had gone far enough. Since the 
shooting on this estate has been let to American sportsmen, and “driving ” 
has superseded the old method of shooting the moors over the setters, the 
kennel has gone down, and has by this time probably become extinct. A 
somewhat similar kennel of setters was kept at Cawdor Castle, Nairn. 
These also were white, black and tan, but were better looking, and with 
more setter character than the Lovat dogs. They were lighter built, and 
more active, and much better in head and coat. The blight of “driving,” 
that has given the death-blow to so many fine old breeds, has, without 
doubt, extinguished this one also, as for many years no specimen of them 
has been heard of. 
There was a breed of setter talked of a good deal some years ago, but 
which has seemingly been lost sight of for a considerable time, i.e. the 
Russian setter, so styled. That such a dog existed, and not only so but 
possessed high qualities of working ability and value, is evident without 
going further than the evidence of such practical men as General Hutchin- 
son and Mr Joseph Lang, the noted sportsman and gunmaker. The latter 
particularly speaks of them in the highest terms, and his experience 
of them places them very high in comparison with English setters which 
he has used, and since in his day setters were far more generally used 
than at the present day by shooters, and that Mr Lang has vast shooting 
experience, his estimate of them may be relied upon. He relates an instance, 
when he took down into Norfolk a very superior brace of young English 
setters, which had previously given great satisfaction, and for which 
he had been, not long before, offered and refused a big sum. He 
states that the weather was very hot and dry, and the English setters 
failed to find the birds. A brace of Russian setters, however, belonging to 
his host, having excellent noses, and carrying high heads, completely 
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