he was rather too long in his face and skull; still a dog with but one fault must needs be almost perfection. Mr. J. F. Smith had also Save, an extraordinarily good dog, about this period; Bayard, who had also become his property, a grand dog in his day, was now in the sere and yellow; Mr. J. Royle had another excellent specimen in Duke of Marlborough; the giant Rector, Mr. S. W. Smith's, had gone to America, but equally good or better than any of them remained at home.

At the time Plinlimmon reigned in the longcoated division, a short-haired prototype of his held sway in the section to which he belonged. This was the brindled and white Guide-which Mr. H. I. Betterton had imported from Switzerland where the dog had been bred by M. H. H. Dür-by Leon from Belline. From the time of the importation of Guide and his half-sister Sans Peur, also bred by M. H. H. Dür, may be traced the great improvement made amongst smooth-coated St. Bernards in this country. In the Stud Book Sans Peur's pedigree is given as unknown, but she was by M. Siegenthaler's Barry from Belline, who was by Burki's Barry II.-M. Gurtner's Lola, by M. Egger's Barry A.-Diana A.

Mr. J. F. Smith, of Sheffield, owned an extraordinary collection of smooth-coated dogs, and his

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namesake-not relative-Mr. S. W. Smith, at Leeds, was almost equally strong in the rough-coated division, as he is at the time I write. Other admirers. were likewise coming to the front, if they had not already done so. Mr. Norris-Elye, Mr. DuerdinDutton, Mr. L. Oppenheim, Mr. Hedley Chapman, Mr. H. I. Betterton, Mr. G. W. Marsden, jun., Mr. A. J. Gosling, Mr. J. W. Rutherglen, Mr. HughesHughes, Miss Campbell, Rev. R. T. Thornton, Mr. W. R. Reid, Mr. Marshall, Mr. T. Thorburn, Mr. H. G. Sweet, Dr. Inman, &c., but it was not to one of them we were to be indebted for the next wonder in canine form.

In 1887 Mr. T. H. Green, who then resided at Wallasey, near Birkenhead, not far removed from where Mr. Macdona's champions had, twenty years before, rolled on the sands and dabbled in the sea round about Hilbre Rectory, introduced a dog called Sir Bedivere, who was by Nero III. -Bena. Standing as high as Plinlimmon, equally heavy and quite as good in body, legs, feet, and general character, Sir Bedivere possessed a perfect head, so for the two years that he remained with us he took all before him whenever he competed in the show ring. His markings and his colour were superb, and although other good dogs have been brought out since, I fancy that Sir Bedivere's equal

will not be found in a hurry. He was never defeated, and won the Club challenge cup on several occasions. Mr. Green repeatedly refused large offers for his favourite dog, but in the end was tempted, and, for a consideration of it is said. £1300, Sir Bedivere went across the Atlantic, into the kennels of Mr. E. B. Sears, of Melrose, U.S.A., who eventually sold him to Mr. W. C. Reick, of New York, in whose kennels he continued his successes, although one of the American judges placed him below Princess Florence at the New York Show in the spring of 1893. The same year Sir Bedivere was sold to Mr. C. A. Pratt, Arkansas.

Following him came Watch, a dog Mr. Betterton bred by mating Guide with Sans Peur, also an importation from Switzerland. Almost equally as heavy a dog, Watch did not look so big as Sir Bedivere, nor was he generally so well made in his body, nor so perfect on both fore and hind legs, nor in colour. Watch, however, was as near perfection as possible in head and expression, and in this respect was equally as good as his more handsomely marked opponent. Watch, too, was destined for America, for, after becoming the property of Mr. J. F. Smith, he was sent over to the States for about 5000 dollars.

As a fact, our American cousins have spent large