The Modern English Setter

By J. C. Higgins

 

          While the pointer is known to have come originally from Spain , the setter cannot be proved other than of English origin.  “ Stonehenge ” speaks of it as the most national of British dogs and as having certainly existed four centuries. 

          Edward Laverack, while claiming general deterioration through careless and injudicious breeding, in 1872 named a few kennels of choice blood that had been carefully guarded.  Three of the sorts he commended have contributed to the blood of the recent importations—the “Gordon,” the “Southesk,” and his own, the “Laverack.”  He did not mention Sir Frederic Graham’s, but it has proved one of the most useful of them all.

          American sportsmen had imported English dogs as opportunity offered; but this was not often; and such as came had only the prestige of foreign birth, or perhaps of being from the kennel of a nobleman.  Nearly all were without pedigrees with lines of noted ancestry.  Without such, breeding is experimental—a slow, tentative process which few men have either interest or patience to develop.  The change from an era of carelessness to one of such intense interest that it has often been styled a “dog craze,” may be sketched as follows:

“Bench shows” and “field trials” in England , and the formation of the English Kennel Club, which published a book describing winning dogs and their breeding, were the means by which competition was developed and the results registered.

Correspondents gave in detail every item that could instruct the readers of our journals devoted to field sports.

Mr. Edward Laverack’s breed became known through the bench winnings of his old Blue Dash and Fred. IV., and by the field-trial winnings of “Countess,” “Nellie,” and “Daisy”—full sisters.

Countess and Nellie belonged to R. Llewellen Purcell Llewellen, Esquire.

Daisy belonged to Richard Garth, Esquire, Q.C., now Chief Justice of India.

The possession of such dogs by Mr. Llewellen, and the ability with which they were handled by his coadjutor, Mr. G. T. Teasdale Buckell, at the trials, disclosed a purpose and readiness to strike for the leadership of English setter-breeders.  These gentlemen have for thirteen years bred the dogs that have been most largely exported to this country—now known as the Llewellin setter.

Mr. Laverack sent over Pride of the Border, Fairy, Fairy II., and others.  Mr Statter, of Manchester , gave us Rob Roy.  Mr Macdona contributed Ranger II. And Kirby.  But while all these and others have been most usefully employed by American breeders, the Llewellin setter probably outnumbers all others ten to one.  Besides Countess and Nellie, Mr. Llewellin had Prince and Lill II., both pure Laveracks.  From them he bred Phantom, Petrel. Princess, and Puzzle, all bench-show champions.

With this array of the best Laveracks Mr Llewellin mated Dan, and the offspring are what “ Stonehenge ” calls the “Dan-Laveracks.”

Dan, black, white, and tan, bred by Mr. Statter, was a son of Duke and Rhoebe.  He came of noted ancestry, and won the Stafford field trials of 1871, in such brilliant manner that Mr. Llewellin at once bought him for one hundred and fifty pounds, a great price at that time.  He was an imperial-looking dog, with every desirable setter quality.  The sire of Dan was Mr. Barclay Field’s Duke, black and white.  Duke had won four field trials, and his sister Kate was also a dog of note.  Duke and Kate were bred by Sir Vincent Corbet—their sire being Sir Frederic Graham’s Duke.  Their dam was a cross between Sir Frederic Graham’s sort and that of the Earl of Beaudesert.

The dam of Dan was owned by Mr. Statter; she was a cross of Gordon with Southesk.  Seven of her immediate offspring won at field trials.

From Dan and Lill zd, Countess, Nellie, Phantom, and Petrel have come the Llewellin setters of greatest note and in largest number.  “ Stonehenge ” admitted that they had carried all before them at field trials; and these winning animals now number six consecutive generations.

Kate, the sister to Duke (sire of Dan), was also crossed with the Laverack, and from them we have Dash II., to which dog Mr. Llewellin resorted for an intercross.  He is the ancestor of the dogs whose names have the prefix “Dashing,” as “Dashing Bondhu,” “Dashing Berwyn.”  He also used Dora, sister to Dan, as a reverse cross with the Laverack, and this, the “Prince-Dora,” sort came to America among the earliest and best.

The “Llewellin setter” has been defined to be dogs or their descendants bred by the gentleman whose name they bear, from a union of the blood of Duke-Rhoebe, the Laverack or of either two of these breeds.

While fine dogs have been sent here, the best were kept at home.  Those next to the best came here to avoid use in England (if sold there) against their breeders’ interests and wishes.

But the slight shades of difference in individual dogs are not always observable in their offspring.  Like not only begets like, but almost as often the likeness of an ancestor; hence our stock of imported dogs was practically not inferior to the best in England.  Many persons in America have been breeding this setter for ten years.  Only Mr. Llewellin had bred it in England , but his is probably the best single kennel of setters in the world.

The dogs of to-day are intelligent, affectionate, beautiful, and highly endowed with the field qualities of speed, style, staunchness, and delicacy of olfactory to detect the lurking quarry.  Dog and gun are helping to make us a nation of good shots, of hearty, stalwart manhood, never more at home than when camping upon an open prairie or walking with steady stride from morning until night over valleys and wooded hills, where grouse and quail abound.   (The Century, a popular quarterly, Vol. 31, issue #1, November 1885)