November, 1915 
25 
There 
the 
for 
little 
Gallic, as his fellow-countryman, 
the poodle, but he is a cheerful, 
wide-awake little dog. 
Nevertheless, in spite of all 
their differences in looks and in 
disposition, the two bulldogs are 
kinsmen, and so their histories, 
though bound together mainly by 
bitter controversies, are intimately 
interwoven. To the outsider, their 
family quarrels seem ludicrously 
like those deep philosophical ques¬ 
tions “When is a door not a 
door?” and “Why does a chicken 
cross the road?” for, when, 
twenty years ago, the French bull¬ 
dog appeared suddenly, like Pallas 
Athene, full grown and well 
armed, the votaries of the English 
dog exclaimed that such a thing 
as a French bulldog could not pos¬ 
sibly be a bulldog at all, and if he 
was, when, pray, did he cross the 
sacred Channel? They succeeded 
very effectively in barring the 
stranger for a number of years from that 
pantheon of thoroughbred dogs, the Eng¬ 
lish Stud Book. 
There was good reason, if no good ex¬ 
cuse, for their cold reception of the 
French variety. The English are avow¬ 
edly the greatest animal breeders in the 
world, and the whole great army of Eng¬ 
lish dog fanciers, from the King to the 
second groom in the stables, regarded the 
English bulldog as their national breed. 
The very idea that any other people 
should breed a bulldog — Gad, sir! it’s 
preposterous! The very name of the 
thing, French bulldog, 
was a perfect paradox, a 
contradicto in adjecto. 
You might just as well 
talk of a Babylonian hy¬ 
droplane or a Cuban ice¬ 
berg. Such things simply 
do not exist, and yet—the 
little French bulldog is 
very much alive to-day, 
as his English friends 
know. 
The Bull Baiter’s 
FIistory 
Like all dogs who have 
any ancient history at all, 
is never a question as to which is the better: choose 
French dog for companionship and the English type 
courage, fidelity and the heavyweight fight 
the English bulldog (to begin with 
the senior branch of the family) 
has an origin “wrapped in mys¬ 
tery.” ’Way back in B. C. days 
the ancient Britons rushed into 
battle accompanied by huge, sav¬ 
age dogs. The soldiers of the 
conquering legions were quick to 
appreciate the merits of these 
splendid animals, and they soon 
became the fashionable watchdog 
of the Roman Empire. They 
were sent all over the then known 
world, and Britain’s fame as the 
home of thoroughbred dogs was 
early established. It is the popu¬ 
lar 'theory to trace the English 
mastiff back to these war dogs of 
the Britons. From the mastiffs, 
which during the Middle Ages 
was a loose term for any big dog 
who was neither a terrier, a 
spaniel, a bird dog, nor a hound, 
has come the English bulldog. 
Another tradition says the family came 
over with William the Conqueror. Cer¬ 
tainly the Normans brought over great 
houndy dogs, something of the Great 
Dane stamp, but heavier, and like as not, 
these were crossed with the larger native 
varities. 
For many centuries bull baiting was a 
popular sport in England. Whether, as 
one apologist explains, it was introduced 
from Spain, where it long flourished and 
where, till quite recently, dogs tormented 
the bull to that blind rage worthy of the 
toreador’s skill, or whether, as an old 
^defender would have it, the beef of a 
baited bull surpasses in 
flavor the flesh of one 
quickly killed, and so the 
sport had its utilitarian as¬ 
pect, we do not know. It 
is certain, however, that 
the play of the cruel game 
changed, and that in this 
change the bulldog was 
developed. Originally, 
the bull was held by the 
ear, and this demanded a 
big dog, a dog of the true 
mastiff type. Later, the 
dogs were trained to hold 
(Continued on page 62.) 
Color is not so important in select¬ 
ing an English bull, though a 
dark brindle is preferable 
The Misses Lucile and Delight Walder with Ch. Nor- Ugly as a Chinese idol and strong as 
mandy and Normandy Celeste. Below, an English a pony, he is worshipped alike by 
puppy, showing a sturdy little chap with heavily boned peer and pauper 
legs 
