Part 13

Washington Irving tells the following story of a greyhound's affection for his master. "An officer named St. Leger, who was imprisoned in Vincennes (near Paris) during the wars of St. Bartholomew, wished to keep with him a greyhound that he had brought up, and which was much attached to him; but they harshly refused him this innocent pleasure, and sent away the greyhound to his house in the Rue des Lions Saint Paul. The next day the greyhound returned alone to Vincennes, and began to bark under the windows of the tower, where the officer was confined. St. Leger approached, looked through the bars, and was delighted again to see his faithful hound, who began to jump and play a thousand gambols to show her joy. He threw a piece of bread to the animal, who ate it with great good will; and, in spite of the immense wall which separated them, they breakfasted together like two friends. This friendly visit was not the last. Abandoned by his relations, who believed him dead, the unfortunate prisoner received the visits of his greyhound only, during four years' confinement. Whatever weather it might be, in spite of rain or snow, the faithful animal did not fail a single day to pay her accustomed visit. Six months after his release from prison St. Leger died. The faithful greyhound would no longer remain in the house; but on the day after the funeral returned to the castle of Vincennes, and it is supposed she was actuated by a motive of gratitude. A jailor of the outer court had always shown great kindness to this dog, which was as handsome as affectionate. Contrary to the custom of people of that class, this man had been touched by her attachment and beauty, so that he facilitated her approach to see her master, and also insured her a safe retreat. Penetrated with gratitude for this service, the greyhound remained the rest of her life near the benevolent jailor. It was remarked, that even while testifying her zeal and gratitude for her second master, one could easily see that her heart was with the first. Like those who, having lost a parent, a brother, or a friend, come from afar to seek consolation by viewing the place which they inhabited, this affectionate animal repaired frequently to the tower where St. Leger had been imprisoned, and would contemplate for hours together the gloomy window from which her dear master had so often smiled to her, and where they had so frequently breakfasted together."

The Lurcher.

"The rough, large-boned, ill-looking Lurcher," says Mrs. Bowdich, "is said to have descended from the rough greyhound and the shepherd's dog. It is now rare; but there are some of its sinister-looking mongrel progeny still to be seen. They always bear the reputation of being poachers' dogs, and are deeply attached to their owners. They have a fine scent; and a man confessed to Mr. Bewick, that he could, with a pair of lurchers, procure as many rabbits as he pleased. They never give tongue, but set about their work silently and cautiously, and hunt hares and partridges, driving the latter into the nets of the unlawful sportsmen." He is a dog to whom a bad name has been given, and who has found a bad name but one step from hanging.

The Bloodhound.

The Bloodhound (_Canis Sanguinarius_) whether because less needed now than formerly or not, is less cultivated and is therefore more rare. Mr. Bell's description of the breed is as follows:--"They stand twenty-eight inches high at the shoulder; the muzzle broad and full; the upper lip large and pendulous; the vertex of the head protuberant; the expression stern, thoughtful, and noble; the breast broad; the limbs strong and muscular; and the original colour a deep tan, with large black clouds. They are silent when following their scent; and in this respect differ from other hounds, who are generally gifted with fine deep voices. Numbers, under the name of sleuth-hounds, used to be kept on the Borders; and kings and troopers, perhaps equally marauders, have in olden times found it difficult to evade them. The noble Bruce had several narrow escapes from them; and the only sure way to destroy their scent was to spill blood upon the track. In all the common routine of life they are good-natured and intelligent, and make excellent watch-dogs. A story is related of a nobleman, who, to make a trial whether a young hound was well instructed, desired one of his servants to walk to a town four miles off, and then to a market town three miles from thence. The dog, without seeing the man he was to pursue, followed him by the scent to the above-mentioned places, notwithstanding the multitude of market-people that went along the same road, and of travellers that had occasion to come; and when the bloodhound came to the market town, he passed through the streets without taking notice of any of the people there, and ceased not till he had gone to the house where the man he sought rested himself, and where he found him in an upper room, to the wonder of those who had accompanied him in this pursuit."

The Scent of the Bloodhound.

A strong characteristic of the Bloodhound is of course his remarkable scent for blood.

"Bloodhounds," says Bingley, "were formerly used in certain districts lying between England and Scotland, that were much infested by robbers and murderers; and a tax was laid on the inhabitants for keeping and maintaining a certain number of these animals. Some few are yet kept in the northern parts of the kingdom, and in the lodges of the royal forests, where they are used in pursuit of deer that have been previously wounded. They are also sometimes employed in discovering deer-stealers, whom they infallibly trace by the blood that issues from the wounds of their victims. A very extraordinary instance of this occurred in the New Forest, in the year 1810, and was related to me by the Right Hon. G. H. Rose. A person, in getting over a stile into a field near the Forest, remarked that there was blood upon it. Immediately afterwards he recollected that some deer had been killed, and several sheep stolen in the neighbourhood; and that this might possibly be the blood of one that had been killed in the preceding night. The man went to the nearest lodge to give information; but the keeper being from home, he was under the necessity of going to Rhinefield Lodge, which was at a considerable distance. Toomer, the under-keeper, went with him to the place, accompanied by a bloodhound. The dog, when brought to the spot, was laid on the scent; and after following for about a mile the track which the depredator had taken, he came at last to a heap of furze fagots belonging to the family of a cottager. The woman of the house attempted to drive the dog away, but was prevented; and on the fagots being removed a hole was discovered in the ground, which contained the body of a sheep that had recently been killed, and also a considerable quantity of salted meat. The circumstance which renders this account the more remarkable is, that the dog was not brought to the scent until more than sixteen hours had elapsed after the man had carried away the sheep."

The Stag-Hound.

"The stag hound," says Colonel Smith, "was a large stately animal, equal or little less than the blood hound, and originally, like that race, slow, sure, cautious and steady." "The modern hound is perhaps still handsomer, though somewhat smaller; and the breed having been crossed with the fox hound is now much faster." The stag hunt having declined in public favour they have ceased to be bred in packs for hunting purposes.

A Stag-Hunt.

"Many years since," says Captain Brown, "a very large stag was turned out of Whinfield Park in the county of Westmoreland, and was pursued by the hounds till, by accident or fatigue, the whole pack was thrown out with the exception of two dogs which continued the chase. Its length is uncertain, but the chase was seen at Red Kirk near Annan in Scotland, distant by the post road about forty-six miles. The stag returned to the park from which he had set out, so that considering the circuitous route which it pursued, it is supposed to have run over not less than one hundred and twenty miles. It was its greatest and last achievement, for it leapt the wall of the park and immediately expired; the hounds were also found dead at no great distance from the wall which they had been unable to leap. An inscription was placed on a tree in the park, in memory of the animals, and the horns of the stag, the largest ever seen in that part of the country, were placed over it."

The Fox-Hound.

"In giving a description of the various breeds of dogs," says Mr. Jesse, "everyone must be aware, that by crossing and recrossing them many of those we now see have but little claim to originality. The fox-hound, the old Irish wolf-dog, and the Colley or shepherd's dog, may perhaps be considered as possessing the greatest purity of blood." Mr. Jesse then refers to a picture of a pack of hounds in Wilkinson's "Manners and Customs of the Egyptians," a picture which was copied from a painting found in one of the tombs of the Pharaohs, in which "every individual hound is characteristic of the present breed." If this be so, as Mr. Jesse says, "this breed must be considered of a much more ancient date than is generally supposed." The Fox-hound is described by Colonel Smith as "somewhat lower at the shoulders and more slenderly built" than the stag-hound. His colour is "white, but commonly marked with larger clouds of black and tan, one on each side the head, covering the ears, the same on each flank and one at the root of the tail." The Fox-hound has great strength and endurance, and will run ten hours in pursuit of the fox.

The Fox-hound's Tenacity.

Many extraordinary stories are told of the Fox-hound's ardour for sport. According to Mr. Jesse, a bitch was on one occasion taken in labour while in the hunting field, and after giving birth to a pup took it in its mouth and pursued the chase. Another bitch, whose eye had been struck from the socket accidentally by the lash of the whipper-in who did not believe her challenge, pursued the fox alone for a great distance with her eye pendant, until the rest of the pack came up and the fox was killed. Perhaps one of the most remarkable instances of tenacity of purpose in an animal is that quoted by Mr. Jesse from the supplement to Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports." "The circumstance took place in the year 1808, in the counties of Inverness and Perth, and perhaps surpasses any length of pursuit known in the annals of hunting. On the 8th of June in that year, a fox and hound were seen near Dunkeld in Perthshire, on the high road, proceeding at a slow trotting pace. The dog was about fifty yards behind the fox, and each was so fatigued as not to gain on the other. A countryman very easily caught the fox, and both it and the dog were taken to a gentleman's house in the neighbourhood, where the fox died. It was afterwards ascertained that the hound belonged to the Duke of Gordon, and that the fox was started on the morning of the 4th of June, on the top of those hills called Monaliadh, which separate Badenoch from Fort Augustus. From this it appeared that the chase lasted four days, and that the distance traversed from the place where the fox was unkennelled to the spot where it was caught, without making any allowances for doubles, crosses, etc., and as the crow flies, exceeded seventy miles."

The Harrier.

"The Harrier," says Colonel Smith, "so called from being usually applied to hare hunting is smaller than the fox-hound, not exceeding eighteen inches at the shoulder. It is entirely an artificial breed and is often confounded with the beagle."

The Beagle.

The Beagle is called by Mr. Jesse, "a Fox-hound in miniature," and he adds nothing can well be more perfect than the shape of these small dogs. "In Queen Elizabeth's reign," says Colonel Smith, "the fanciers bred a race so small, that a complete cry of them could be carried out to the field in a pair of panniers. That princess had little singing beagles which could be placed in a man's glove! At present they are about twelve or fourteen inches at the shoulders, stout and compact in make, with long ears, and either marked with a bright streak or spot of white about the neck on a dark brown coat, or white with spots like a harrier, of black and red. They are slow but persevering, and are sufficiently sure of killing their game."

The Dalmatian Dog.

Colonel Smith places the Dalmatian dog with the hounds on the ground of similarity of general structure. Elegant in form and beautiful in making it is said to be less keen in scent and less sagacious than other dogs. Sagacious or not, it was one of these dogs that Lord Maynard found awaiting him at his house in England after having lost him in France.

The Turnspit.

"The Turnspit," says Captain Brown, "derived its name from the service in which it was engaged before the invention of machinery to do the same work, and, what is remarkable, now that the office is extinct, so also has nearly become the species which used to perform it." "I have now in my kitchen," said the Duke de Laincourt, to M. Descartes, "two turnspits which take their turns regularly every other day in the wheel: one of them, not liking his employment, hid himself on the day he should have wrought, when his companion was forced to mount the wheel in his stead; but crying and wagging his tail, he intimated that those in attendance should first follow him. He immediately conducted them to a garret, where he dislodged the idle dog, and killed him immediately." Another instance is recorded by Captain Brown as follows: "When the cook had prepared the meat for roasting, he found that the dog which should have wrought the spit had disappeared. He attempted to employ another, but it bit his leg and fled. Soon after, however, the refractory dog entered the kitchen driving before him the truant turnspit, which immediately of its own accord went into the wheel." It is easy to see from these stories that the occupation was not a popular one and it is well that it is no longer a necessary one.

The Pointer.

The pointer (_Canis avicularis_) as resembling the race of hounds, more than any other of the shooting or gun dogs is placed next to them in the classification of Colonel Smith, who says: "In their present qualities of standing fixed and pointing to game, we see the result of a long course of severe training; and it is a curious fact, that by a succession of generations having been constantly educated to this purpose, it has become almost innate, and young dogs of the true breed point with scarcely any instruction: this habit is so firm in some that the late Mr. Gilpin is reported to have painted a brace of pointers while in the act, and that they stood an hour and a quarter without moving." A smooth dog, resembling the fox-hound in his markings, though sometimes entirely black, the pointer is used by sportsmen to point them to the spot where the game is to be found. "It ranges the fields," says Mr. Wood, "until it scents the hare or partridge lying close on the ground. It then remains still as if carved in stone, every limb fixed, and the tail pointing straight behind it. In this attitude it remains until the gun is discharged, reloaded, and the sportsman has reached the place where the bird sprang."

The Pointer as a Sportsman.

The pointer is a keen sportsman and will "point" without tiring while worthily supported by the gun, but many stories are told of his disgust at a bad shot and his refusal to "point" for unskilful sportsmen. The following amusing story is told by Captain Brown and is quoted as follows by Mr. Jesse: "A gentleman, on his requesting the loan of a pointer-dog from a friend, was informed by him that the dog would behave very well so long as he could kill his birds; but if he frequently missed them, it would run home and leave him. The dog was sent, and the following day was fixed for trial; but, unfortunately, his new master was a remarkably bad shot. Bird after bird rose and was fired at, but still pursued its flight untouched, till, at last, the pointer became careless, and often missed his game. As if seemingly willing, however, to give one chance more, he made a dead stop at a fern-bush, with his nose pointed downward, the fore-foot bent, and his tail straight and steady. In this position he remained firm till the sportsman was close to him, with both barrels cocked, then moving steadily forward for a few paces, he at last stood still near a bunch of heather, the tail expressing the anxiety of the mind by moving regularly backwards and forwards. At last out sprang a fine old blackcock. Bang, bang, went both barrels, but the bird escaped unhurt. The patience of the dog was now quite exhausted; and, instead of dropping to charge, he turned boldly round, placed his tail between his legs, gave one howl, long and loud, and set off as fast as he could to his own home." The pointer has been known to lie down without bidding beside game which has been dropped from a bag, after a long day's shooting, and watch it faithfully until relieved on the following day, when the missing birds were searched for and found.

The Setter.

The Setter (_Canis Index_) divides with the pointer the duty of attending the sportsman on his shooting expeditions. According to Captain Brown he was "originally derived from a cross between the Spanish pointer and the large water spaniel and was justly celebrated for his fine scent." Many crossings have considerably varied the breed, of which the Irish is now considered purer than the English and Scotch breeds. "In figure," says Colonel Smith, "they participate of the pointer and the Spaniel, though larger than the latter. In England they are white, or white with black or brown marks." They are intelligent, affectionate and docile, and often show great sagacity outside the domain of sport.

The Scent of the Setter.

Col. Hutchinson says, "I was partridge-shooting the season before last with an intimate friend. The air was soft, and there was a good breeze. We came upon a large turnip-field, deeply trenched on account of its damp situation. A white setter, that habitually carried a lofty head, drew for awhile, and then came to a point. We got up to her. She led us across some ridges, when her companion, a jealous dog (a pointer), which had at first backed correctly, most improperly pushed on in front, but, not being able to acknowledge the scent, went off, clearly imagining the bitch was in error. She, however, held on, and in beautiful style brought us up direct to a covey. My friend and I agreed that she must have been but little, if at all, less than one hundred yards off when she first winded the birds; and it was clear to us that they could not have been running, for the breeze came directly across the furrows, and she had led us in the wind's eye. We thought the point the more remarkable, as it is generally supposed that the strong smell of turnips diminishes a dog's power of scenting birds."

The Setter's Sagacity.

Mr. Huet tells the following story of the sagacity of the setter. "The gamekeeper had, on one of the short days of December, shot at and wounded a deer. Hoping to run him down before night, he instantly put the dog upon the track, which followed it at full speed, and soon was out of sight. At length it grew dark, and the gamekeeper returned home, thinking he should find the setter arrived there before him; but he was disappointed, and became apprehensive that his dog might have lost himself, or fallen a prey to some ravenous animal. The next morning, however, we were all greatly rejoiced to see him come running into the yard, whence he directly hastened to the door of my apartment, and, on being admitted, ran, with gestures expressive of solicitude and eagerness, to a corner of the room where guns were placed. We understood the hint, and, taking the guns, followed him. He led us not by the road which he himself had taken out of the wood, but by beaten paths half round it, and then by several wood-cutters' tracks in different directions, to a thicket, where, following him a few paces, we found the deer which he had killed. The dog seems to have rightly judged that we should have been obliged to make our way with much difficulty through almost the whole length of the wood, in order to come to the deer in a straight direction, and he therefore led us a circuitous but open and convenient road. Between the legs of the deer, which he had guarded during the night against the beasts of prey that might otherwise have seized upon it, he had scratched a hole in the snow, and filled it with dry leaves for his bed. The extraordinary sagacity which he had displayed upon this occasion rendered him doubly valuable to us, and it therefore caused us very serious regret when, in the ensuing summer, the poor animal went mad, possibly in consequence of his exposure to the severe frost of that night, and it became necessary for the gamekeeper to shoot him, which he could not do without shedding tears. He said he would willingly have given his best cow to save him; and I confess myself that I would not have hesitated to part with my best horse upon the same terms."

The Spaniel.

There are many varieties of the Spaniel of which the Water Spaniel, the King Charles Spaniel, the Blenheim and the Maltese Spaniels are the best known. The Water Spaniels figure on some of the later monuments of Rome and so prove their antiquity. Colonel Smith describes the Spaniel as a small setter, with silky hair and fine long villous ears; black, brown pied, liver coloured, white and black-and-white, the water spaniel differing from the other species chiefly in his readiness to hunt and swim in the water and the hair being somewhat harder to the touch. The spaniel has a great affection for his master and is never tired of testifying his appreciation of his kindness. Colonel Smith mentions a dog allied to the spaniel race, who at the time of his writing (April 1840) had been lying on the grave of his mistress for three days, refusing all food, and was on that day being forcibly removed. Spaniels are often very intelligent, displaying the same sagacity as other and larger dogs and in the same way. Mr. Jesse mentions a King Charles spaniel who was locked by his master in a room in Vere St. Clare Market, one afternoon about half past five, while he went with his family to Drury Lane theatre. About eight o'clock in the evening the dog escaped his confinement and found his way to the theatre where he discovered his master in the midst of the pit, though it was crowded at the time. The Blenheim spaniel is similar to the King Charles breed, though somewhat different in its markings, fuller about the muzzle and shorter in the back. Blenheims have been known to show great intelligence and affection. A story is told of one who upon being attacked by two cats, obtained the assistance of a third cat, waylaid his enemies one at a time and, with the assistance of his friend, taught them better manners. The Maltese dog is another favourite species, much admired and petted by ladies.

The Sagacity of the Water Spaniel.

Captain Brown gives the following from a letter written by a gentleman at Dijon in France, to his friend in London, dated August 15, 1764: