May 24, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
653 
The Irish Setter 
By WALTER H. DEARING 
T he history of the Irish setter, like that of 
the terrier, appears to be shrouded in a 
misty haze, out of which a number of con¬ 
flicting theories have been advanced. 
That he springs from the same origin as his 
cousin, the English setter, and that both breeds 
are offsprings of the spaniel, is conceded by most 
authorities, but even accepting this hypothesis at 
its face value, we are still left in the dark as 
to what other breeds were used in developing 
him to his present standard. 
It has been stated by some that the Spanish 
pointer has probably played an important part 
in the inter-breeding which finally produced the 
setter dog, and it cannot be denied that many 
of the chief characteristics possessed by the 
breed are essentially the same as those of the 
old Spanish pointer. The Spanish pointer was 
noted for its extremely delicate scent, and drew 
up to its game in much the same manner as the 
setter. If the Irish terrier speaks of the com¬ 
bativeness of the Irish race, the setter speaks 
with equal force of its poetry. The psychology 
of the dog may not always show a connection^ 
with that of the inhabitants of the country and 
clime in which it has been raised, but Irish dogs 
unmistakably bear the stamp of Erin, and 
the Irish setter is no exception to the rule. 
Watching his graceful movements, whether at 
work in the field or at home, calls to mind the 
aspirations of the Irish race. Instinctively as 
one looks at his beautiful form and observes the 
noble aspect of his raised head, he brings to 
the memories thoughts of the Irish bards and 
Irish statesmen. His every motion seems like a 
breath of fresh air from his native heath. He 
speaks of O’Connell and Emmet, of Shane O’Neil 
and Brian Boru, of Tom Moore and the Bard 
of Armagh. His poetry of looks and motion is 
distinctly characteristic of his country, and in 
him we see the airy lightness of the will-o’-the- 
wisp combined with a strength and endurance 
that is the more charming because of the deli¬ 
cacy of outline which lends such an aesthetic 
beauty to his outward appearance. 
Although the color of golden chestnut is 
recognized as the correct coat for the Irish set¬ 
ter, most people are apt to refer to it as light 
red, and like the tint of a person’s hair, it may 
be seriously questioned whether the words chest¬ 
nut, etc., are not used as much for their effect 
as for any other reason, and whether the various 
shades would not look just as pretty and sparkle 
in the sunlight with just as much brilliancy if 
they were referred to as light and dark red. 
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’’ 
and the young lady’s hair looked none the less 
beautiful to her ardent wooer when her father 
referred to its Titian tints as being “red as a 
fox’s tail.’’ 
It is said that the original Irish setter was 
usually red and white in color, and that the all 
red setter was a very rare specimen in the days 
when the breed was first known. The fact that 
the terrier, setter and spaniel of Ireland are all 
red dogs has given rise to the opinion among 
some writers that red may have been a favorite 
Milesian color, and that this accounts for the 
disappearance of the red and white-spotted dogs 
and the predominance of the dark red and 
golden chestnut of the present breeds. 
There seems to be good ground for the 
supposition that the red setter was considered 
the better dog for field work among the early 
Irish breeders, as references have been found 
which show that many of them thought the red 
dog superior to the spotted variety for this line 
of work. As this was of course the principal 
quality which was sought, it is reasonable to 
suppose the red dog gained ascendency through 
design rather than by accident. 
In the field the Irish setter worlcs along the 
same lines as the English setter, but his methods 
are too well known to call for any comment. 
Years ago, when the setter was approaching the 
game, it was his custom to drop flat on the 
ground, but the crouching position which he has 
since been taught to assume has evidently proved 
more advantageous to the huntsman, as the old 
style of setting seems to have been abandoned 
altogether. His method of approach is much 
more nearly like that of the pointer than in 
former years. 
It has sometimes been said of the Irish set¬ 
ter that he is too strong-headed, and cannot al¬ 
ways be depended upon because of this Hiber¬ 
nian characteristic, as he is apt to spoil his other¬ 
wise excellent work by sudden bursts of im¬ 
petuosity, but that the charge has never been 
proved to the satisfaction of Irish sportsmen is 
evidenced in the fact that he is used in Ireland 
to the exclusion of most all other varieties of 
the breed. While this may be largely due to a 
feeling of patriotic loyalty on the part of the 
Irish hunting fraternity, it is not probable that 
the native dog would be so extensively used if 
he had not shown himself at least the equal of 
other sporting dogs. Sportsmen are sportsmen 
the world over, and few of them would be 
willing to jeopardize their chances of a success¬ 
ful day’s hunting for the sake of having the 
home bred dog at their heels. 
As a matter of fact, the Irish setter has 
time and again successfully competed with the 
best bred and best trained dogs in the British 
Isles. They are proverbially speedy, and the 
neatness and dispatch with which they perform 
their work in field trials has called forth the 
unfeigned admiration of the best judges. 
Some authorities are of the opinion that the 
Spanish pointer, which found great favor with 
English sportsmen during the end of the seven¬ 
teenth century, largely because of his compara¬ 
tive sluggishness which made it possible for the 
huntsman to use his old-fashioned flint-lock 
gun in harmony with the dog’s slow movements, 
was crossed with the foxhound when the im¬ 
provements in guns made the field work much 
faster. It would seem to be a possibility if we 
accept this theory, that the strain of the fox¬ 
hound may have been inherited more strongly 
in the Irish setter than in the other setter dogs. 
providing of course that the descent of the set¬ 
ter from the Spanish pointer be taken for 
granted. This would account for the impetu¬ 
osity which some sportsmen have claimed is his 
worst fault, as the foxhound is naturally one 
of the most impetuous of dogs. There are no 
records to prove the truth of this hypothesis, 
however. It is merely advanced as a possible 
explanation of the dog’s supposed tendency to¬ 
ward an occasional display of bullheadedness. 
Indeed, any apology on this score would seem 
almost out of place, and when his splendid rec¬ 
ord is compared with that of other sporting 
dogs, it seems strange that he has not found 
more favor as a field worker outside of his 
native country. 
His remarkable stamina is one of the strong¬ 
est points in his favor, and some of the feats 
of endurance which he has performed would put 
to shame the efforts of a more powerful dog. 
One of the most notable exhibitions of endur¬ 
ance ever given by an Irish setter was that of 
MR. L. L. CAMPBELL’S IRISH SETTER FINGLASS, JR., (A. K.C. 31,189). 
