call "modern improvements in the way of sport." But the introduction of dog shows gave him a fillip, and the establishment of field trials raised his social status higher than ever. When the great Daniel Lambert, great in more ways than in obesity, had a noted. strain of black pointers about 1840, he was contented to give a puppy away to a friend, or to sell one for a matter of five pounds or even less, and little more could he obtain for a fully grown dog. No one disputed the excellence of his kennel, yet, at its disposal on his death, six brace and a half of pointers realised but 256 guineas, the highest figure, 46 guineas, being obtained for lot 13, a dog called Bang, and said to be very good in the field. Swap and Snake, unbroken, from one of Webbe Edge's bitches called Bloom, who had been sold for 80 guineas at the Edge sale, realised 25 guineas each. The three latter not at all bad prices, when the period and other matters are taken into consideration.

Even so long ago as this, the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, had, and was obtaining, a kennel of good pointers; at Edenhall, in Cumberland, the Musgraves had some excellent dogs; so had Lord Mexborough, the late Marquis of Westminster, Lord Lichfield, Lord Henry Bentinck, Sir E. Antrobus, and last, but by no means least, Mr. Webbe Edge, of Stretley Hall, Nottingham.

Some of the oldest of our modern kennels have their foundation from the stock purchased at the Edge sale in 1845, and Mr. Thomas Statter, of Stand Hall, near Manchester, whose death occurred so recently as in 1891, was there, and bought a brace of dogs that did him great good in the future. The late Prince Consort was likewise a purchaser at the same sale, and so were the Duke of Portland, who bought Rake, and others; and Mr. George Moore, of Appleby, Lincolnshire, who, for a time, had a kennel of pointers as good as any man in the country possessed. Then, just prior to this period, Mr. Osbaldeston and Mr. Meynell, so great with foxhounds, had spent considerable time and expense in improving the pointer, but it may be said that their blood, with that of the Squire of Thornville Royal, all lapsed into the Knowsley and the Edge strains, and from these to others, such as the few dogs that Lang, the Cockspur Street gunmaker, sold for such high prices, Mr. Comberbach's, and Mr. Statham's, of Derby.

The Edge strain appears to have been pretty well distinct from the others, and has proved of infinite benefit to the admirers of the pointer who followed · him. His were medium-sized but particularly elegantly moulded dogs, dark liver and white in colour, with more than a tendency to a golden or

bronze shading on the cheeks. They carried their heads well in the field, and in work were quite equal to what they were in appearance.

More modern kennels were those of Sir R. Garth, Q.C., and Mr. J. H. Whitehouse, Ipsley Court, Redditch; and the latter must be taken as the connecting link between the present generation and the past one.

Mr. W. Brailsford informs me that, between 1830 and 1840 or so, the best pointers were certainly to be found in the Midlands. In addition to the kennels already named Mr. Gell, Hopton Hall, Wirksworth, had a choice lot of dogs. Mr. Statham, of Derby, alluded to before, owned some good looking, double-nosed dogs of the Spanish type; and perhaps his other pointers contained more crosses with those from Mr. Moore, of Appleby Hall, than any other kind. The double-nosed strain soon died out. Mr. Martin, at the Laxton kennels, had mostly black and white dogs, still there were some lemon and white amongst them. Mr. Edge had given his sole attention to the liver and white, and no doubt to him their popularity at the present day is attributable. Lord Chesterfield, at Gedling, whose kennel was under the charge of the father of my informant, also had some black and whites of great excellence.

Mr. Brailsford further says that two of the best dogs in the Edge kennels in 1841-2 were Rake and Romp, but the latter, having tan shadings on his liver-marked cheeks, was not much used for breeding purposes. Thus, even so far back as half a century ago, a purely fancy point was not sneered at by even the greatest of breeders. The Edge strain was in the first instance obtained by judicious crossing with dogs and bitches obtained from Captain White, Mr. Hurts, of Alderwasley, Mr. Mundy, Mr. G. Moore, Mr. Statham, Sir R. Goodrich, and others. All colours but liver and white were rigorously excluded, and the leading feature of the Edge strain lay in its general uniformity. The best specimens only were saved; the kennels were never overcrowded, and no more dogs than could be used and properly trained for the owner's own requirements were kept. The latter an excellent arrangement that does not, however, find favour now; and I fancy that already the market is well nigh glutted with pointers and setters, as recent sales at Aldridge's prove.

Mr. Garth's dogs were disposed of by auction at the Lillie Bridge running grounds in June, 1874, when eight brace of pointers realised 490 guineas. It may be noted that the plums of this sale were obtained by Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price, of Rhiwlas, and by Mr. G. Pilkington, of Widnes; and no doubt the

celebrity both these kennels obtained later on, was, in a great degree, owing to the discriminating purchases made at Mr. Garth's. Mr. Price took away four brace and Mr. Pilkington one brace, the latter giving 67 guineas and 55 guineas respectively for Major, by Drake-Mite, and for Doll by Major— Jill. Mr. Price's lots cost him more money, and £150 for the grand pointer Drake, then seven years old, was the highest figure the Welsh squire gave, and it was a high one for so old a dog.

The Earl of Sefton sold his pointers the same week, but the prices realised were not noteworthy.

The first Field Trial meeting ever held took place over Sir S. Whitbread's Bedfordshire estate at Southall, April, 1866, and at which "Idstone" and Mr. John Walker, of Halifax, were the judges-both, unfortunately, deceased. The day was by no means favourable for good work, being hot and windless; notwithstanding this, judging from the points awarded to the dogs, many of them were of the highest class. Two of them, Mr. R. Garth's Jill and Mr. Fleming's Dandy, made the highest number of points possible; and Mr. Brockton's Bounce, Mr. Whitehouse's Hamlet, and Mr. J. A. Handy's Moll had 90 points given them out of a possible hundred. Whilst alluding to the maximum of points obtained in a working trial by a pointer it would be an omission