154 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM

where it should be short. There should be no topknot like that of the Irish Water Spaniel.

IV. THE CLUMBER SPANIEL is in high favour in the Spaniel world, both with shooting men and exhibitors, and the breed well deserves from both points of view the position which it occupies in the public esteem. No other variety is better equipped mentally and physically for the work it is called upon to do in aid of the gun ; and few, certainly none of the Spaniels, surpass or even equal it in appearance.

As a sporting dog, the Clumber is possessed of the very best of noses, a natural inclination both to hunt his game and retrieve it when killed, great keenness and perseverance wonderful endurance and activity considering his massive build, and as a rule is very easy to train, being highly intelligent and more docile and " biddable." The man who owns a good dog of this breed, whether he uses it as a retriever for driven birds, works it in a team, or uses it as his sole companion when he goes gunning, possesses a treasure. The great success of these Spaniels in the Field Trials promoted by both the societies which foster those most useful institutions is enough to prove this, and more convincing still is the tenacity with which the fortunate possessors of old strains, mostly residents in the immediate neighbourhood of the original home of the breed, have held on to them and continued to breed and use them year after year for many generations.

As a show dog, his massive frame, powerful limbs, pure white coat, with its pale lemon markings and frecklings, and, above all, his solemn and majestic aspect, mark him out as a true aristocrat, with all the beauty of refinement which comes from a long line of cultured ancestors.

All research so far has failed to carry their history back any further than the last quarter of the eighteenth century. About that time the Duc de Noailles presented some Spaniels, probably his whole kennel, which he brought from France, to the second Duke of Newcastle,

from whose place, Clumber Park, the breed has taken its name. Beyond this it seems impossible to go : indeed, the Clumber seems to be generally looked upon as a purely English breed.

From Clumber Park specimens found their way to most of the other great houses in the neighbourhood, notably to Althorp Park, Welbeck Abbey, Birdsall House, Thoresby Hall, and Osberton Hall. It is from the kennels at the lastnamed place, owned by Mr. Foljambe, that most of the progenitors of the Clumbers which have earned notoriety derived their origin. Nearly all the most famous show winners of early days were descended from Mr. Foljambe's dogs, and his Beau may perhaps be considered one of the most important " pillars of the stud," as lie was the sire of Nabob, a great prize-winner, and considered one of the best of his day, who belonged at various times during his career to such famous showmen as Messrs. Phineas Bullock, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Rawdon Lee, and Mr. G. Oliver.

There has been a great deal of lamentation lately among old breeders and exhibitors about the decadence of the breed and the loss of the true old type possessed by these dogs. But, despite all they can say to the contrary, the Clumber is now in a more flourishing state than it ever has been ; and although perhaps we have not now, nor have had for the last decade, a John o' Gaunt or a Tower, there have been a. large number of dogs shown during that time who possessed considerable merit and would probably have held their own even in the days of these bygone heroes. Some of the most notable have been Baillie Friar, Beechgrove Donally, Goring of Auchentorlie, Hempstead Toby, and Preston Shot, who all earned the coveted title of Champion.

The Field Trials have, no doubt, had a great deal to do with the largely augmented popularity of the breed and the great increase in the number of those who own Clumbers. For the first two or three years after these were truly established no other breed seemed to have a chance with them ; and even now, though both English and Welsh Springers have done

THE SPORTING SPANIEL

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