for them must have been well on to seventy years ago. At that time, and for long after, the pedigrees of dogs were of little value, and, so long as the strain was good for work, and not bad to look at, people did not care a jot what the blood was. Mr. Laverack, however, had found that he could, by a few generations of judicious crossing, breed setters more true to type than others had done.

He was a sportsman, spent most of his time in shooting and in sub-letting shootings, travelled much in Scotland and the North of England, and so became acquainted with the various strains of setters then extant. Two or three years before his death the present writer repeatedly met Mr. Laverack, and a mutual admiration of the dog led to a considerable interchange of ideas on the subject, and on setters in particular. Although he would never acknowledge any cross from the original Old Moll and Ponto, which he had obtained from Mr. Harrison in 1825, I am not quite certain such was not tried. There were strains in the North of England that he valued highly, and which, no doubt, he would find useful for the purpose of putting vigour and size into his puppies, for it is a little against nature to produce in so short a time such good dogs as he owned by breeding from brothers and sisters, as he did with Dash I. and Belle-the one a black and white, the

other an orange and white. However, the pedigrees of Dash II. and Moll III.—the latter black, white, and tan, both great, great grandchildren of the original brace-are fully set out in his book, and, of course, cannot be gainsaid. It is, however, strange that the black, tan, and whites, and the liver and whites, of the same "pure" strains did not come out until the later generations, nor, until actually pressed upon the point, did he acknowledge that a liver and white puppy was the genuine article.

His friend Rothwell, who had the use of the best Laveracks for breeding purposes, wrote him that one of his puppies was liver and white. To this a reply came to the effect that it was all right, and that the colour came back from a strain of the "Edmond Castle" breed, Cumberland, which he had introduced about thirty years before! Rather a peculiar period for a cross to remain in abeyance before it came out, and which no scientist would believe possible. It is extremely likely that, up to a comparatively late date, Mr. Laverack crossed with the Cumberland and Northumberland dogs, most of which were liver and white; and so we have that colour in the setter to this day, and there it will remain. Fifteen years or more ago I saw several of these liver and white dogs that had more than a tendency to the top knot, which was a

prevailing feature with the Naworth Castle strain, and in another which Major Cowen keeps at Blaydon Burn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Whatever crosses may have been used by Mr. Laverack, or by his friends, there is no doubt that such proved extremely useful, and have been the means of fully establishing the strain on a sound and substantial basis. In his own kennel, towards the close of his career, Mr. Laverack was not fortunate in rearing his puppies, and at the time of his death there were but five setters in his actual possession. These were Blue Prince, Blue Rock, Cora (lemon and white), Blue Belle, and Nellie or Blue Cora. The two latter were own sisters, and Mr. Laverack's housekeeper sold Prince, Belle, and another to Mr. T. B. Bowers for about 100/. The remaining brace ultimately went to Mr. J. R. Robinson, of Sunderland, who held a sort of partnership with the late Mr. Laverack, and had laid claim to the whole of the kennel; but the three dogs Mr. Bowers bought were sold even before poor Laverack was laid in his grave near the quiet little church at Ash, not far from Whitchurch. The Kennel Club Stud Books tell us how the blood of these setters has been disseminated since that time.

Mr. Laverack claimed for his dogs excellence all round in the field, and unusual stamina; indeed,

he talked to me of working them ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day for a fortnight. That they were good dogs goes without saying; but "Stonehenge" did not care about their work in the early days of Field Trials, for he said they had not good noses, carried their heads low, and were lacking that fine tail action that he so much valued either in pointer

or setter.

As a show dog, Mr. Laverack's Dash II., better known, perhaps, as old Blue Dash, was a typical specimen; and, about 1869 to 1872, was about the best setter appearing on the bench. He had size, bone, coat, and general symmetry to commend him, though his shoulders were rather upright and his neck not quite of the best, and his appearance would certainly have been smarter had he been cleaner cut under the throat. He was good enough to win at Birmingham, the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere, and in looks was far the best dog that I ever saw in his owner's possession. Another beautiful setter of Laverack's early strain was Mr. Dickon's Belle, and, it was said, both excellent in the field as well as in the show ring. So far as field trial dogs are concerned, Mr. Laverack mentions Mr. Garth's Daisy and Mr. Purcell Llewellin's Countess as the best; but, although both were fast, very fast, the one had but a mode

rate nose and the other was said to be somewhat addicted to false pointing. Both were alluded to in the reports of the trials where they competed as faults, which Mr. J. H. Walsh considered to arise from in-breeding.

Allusion must be made to Mr. Llewellin's Dan, Novel, Bondhu, Dash III., Count Wind'em Mr. Field's Bruce, and Lord Downe's Sam, who also went into the Llewellin kennels; Armstrong's Old Kate was extremely useful as a brood bitch to that family of skilled dog trainers; to Mr. S. E. Shirley's Rock, who, when tried, and subsequently perhaps, won more bench prizes than any other setter; to Mr. Barclay Field's Duke, a great field trial winner in 1866 and 1867; to Mr. T. B. Bowers' Frank, the handsomest orange and white setter of that time; to Mr. Armstrong's Dash, sold to Mr. Brewis. Mr. G. Lowes's Tam o' Shanter; Mr. Cunnington's Sir Alister; and many other celebrities in their day might likewise be mentioned.

Some of these improved Laveracks are not now so successful at the field trial meetings as they ought to be; but whether this arises rather from the lack of opportunity or from other causes it is difficult to say. As a fact, those persons who own the handsome dogs, mostly of the Laverack strain, that win on the show bench, do not, as