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them, obtained the name of Comforters; moreover, a vulgar superstition prevailed that if these little dogs were carried about the person of anyone suffering from disease, the disorder became transferred from the individual to the dog, which usually died in consequence!

Some writers have said that the King Charles spaniel was originally brown and white in colour, but I have not been able to find anything to establish the truthfulness of such a statement; still I have no doubt that the original toy spaniel was much more like a little cocker spaniel than it is at present, and in addition to being used as a "comforter," was occasionally trained to hunt the coverts, beating out the pheasants and woodcocks, stirring up the hares and the rabbits just as the rustic biped with the long stick does at the present day.

Writers on canine matters at the early part of this century have little to tell about the King Charles and the Blenheim spaniels, excepting as to their value and sagacity. Sir William Jardine, as late as 1843, in his "Naturalist's Library," says of the King Charles that it is "a beautiful breed, in general black and white, and presumed to be the parent of the cocker;" but in 1820 John Scott wrote in the Sportsman's Repository" that "the very delicate and small carpet spaniels have excellent noses and

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will hunt truly and pleasantly, but are neither fit for a long day or for a thorny covert. The "Sportsman's Cabinet" (1803) has little more to give about the King Charles spaniel, but mentions one that in 1792 belonged to a gentleman, in De Vere-street, Clare Market. This gentleman went with his family to Drury Lane theatre, about 5.30 in the afternoon, leaving the little dog locked up in the dining-room. At eight o'clock the door was opened, the dog escaped, found its way to the theatre, and although the house was crowded at the time, ferreted out its master, who was sitting in the centre of the pit. I am afraid none of our modern toy spaniels could perform such a feat as this.

The Dukes of Norfolk at one time had an exceptional strain of spaniels, which were valued highly, so much so that when a friend of one of the dukes asked as a favour for a puppy, his Grace haughtily replied, "Which of my estates would you like, sir?" Indeed, of this Howard, who bore no good name, it was said he valued these " trumpery little dogs more than he did his tenants, and, rather than present any of them with a puppy, either destroyed those for which he had not room, or fed his hawks with them."

Richardson, in a little handbook about dogs which he wrote in 1845, says that "in London the King

Charles and Blenheims are bred with great care and to the highest perfection. The Blenheim is frequently crossed with the Charles, so that the variety of colour, on which the difference in nomenclature depends, often appears in the same litter." After writing a lot of nonsense as to this cross, Richardson goes on to say that "Several' Spaniel Clubs' have been formed to promote the careful breeding of these dogs, and of some of these His Royal Highness Prince Albert is patron, both Her Majesty and the Prince being enthusiastic admirers of these beautiful little creatures. His Royal Highness has, at no sparing outlay, erected a superb kennel for them at Windsor."

"The members of these spaniel clubs subscribe a small sum each, and with the amount contributed a handsome collar of silver, with gold entablature, is purchased; a particular day is then named, and judges are appointed, when each member brings to the club-room a dog of his own rearing, and that dog adjudged to possess the greatest number of good points attains the collar as a prize. King Charles and Blenheims have been known in London to fetch the price from 150 to 200 guineas."

The above extracts are particularly interesting, as they give a clue to the early inter-breeding of two breeds from which we now obtain two other

varieties, and the reference to the early establishment of dog clubs is likewise useful. Possibly some of the handsome collars won at these early club shows are still to be found, and I am certain they would compare more than favourably with the

valueless silver medals some of the modern champions have to be contented with, as provided by show committees, although our popular Toy Spaniel Club appears to be unusually liberal in the prizes it provides for its own members.

No doubt from continual in-breeding, the peculiarly short faces and round skulls so much admired in the modern type of toy spaniel are procured, and not from any cross with the still shorter faced Japanese spaniel, which has been with us for a considerable number of years, nor with the pug dog, as has been suggested in some quarters. So far as I can make out there are not the remotest grounds for such statements. Our toy spaniel has been bred within its own variety, and possesses attributes distinct from those of the pug and of any other strain, with which an out cross would no doubt have interfered.

As I have said, the present King Charles spaniel must be black and tan, deep in black, and rich in tan, and the Blenheim is an orange and white marked dog, which ought to have an evenly coloured face, with a white blaze up the centre, widening

towards the top of the skull, upon which should be an orange spot or mark called the "lozenge or "spot." Several of our modern Blenheims are without this spot, but it is an old fancy, difficult to produce, and, although not of the slightest use, I do not care about seeing Blenheims devoid of it—a beauty mark, in fact.

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One recent writer, alluding to the Blenheim spaniel, says: 'Strange as it may seem to those who only know the Blenheim spaniel as the tiny lap dog with its retroussé nose, goggle eyes, and abnormally prominent brows, which properties are so admired by their lady owners, that animal was originally a sporting dog, and I have reason to believe that there is a family connection, of remote. period, between the Blenheim and the old fashioned liver and white spaniels that are to be found in the eastern counties. I am borne out in this opinion by the fact that, hung over the mantelpiece in the library at Elsenham Hall, the seat of Sir Walter Gilbey, is a portrait of one of the late Duke of Marlborough's spaniels, painted by Stubbs. This dog is represented to be curly-coated, with a long nose, and probably weighed upwards of 30lb. This was no doubt the type of Blenheim spaniel that was known as a sporting dog, and has now been entirely lost sight of." However, such Blenheims as have

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