This section is from the book "Dog Shows And Doggy People", by Charles H. Lane. Also available from Amazon: Dog Shows And Doggy People.
An Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs was held at Maidstone on May 9th, 10th, nth, and 12th, 1876, with an entry of 676, and Mr. G. H. Nutt as secretary.
The following long list of judges appeared: Deer-hounds, Greyhounds, and Sporting Puppies, Lord St. Leonards; Pointers, Sir T. B. Lennard, Bart.; Setters, Mr. H. W. Evans; Retrievers, Sheepdogs, Bull-terriers and Smooth Terriers, Mr. S. E. Shirley, M.P.; Blood-hounds, Fox-hounds, Harriers, Spaniels, and St. Bernards, Mr. W. Lort; Newfoundlands, Dr. Gordon Stables, R.N. (1 think the first time this well-known fancier and author acted as a judge at a large show); Mastiffs, Terriers, Beagles, Dachshunds, Pugs, and Non-Sporting Puppies, Mr. E. Sandell, jun.; Fox and Wire-haired Terriers, Mr. Theo. Bassett; Bull-dogs, Mr. J. Ashburn (in absence of Mr. J. W. Berrie); Skyes, Dandies, Pomeranians, Maltese, and others not mentioned, Mr. Hugh Dalziel; Performing Dogs, in and out of water, Messrs. Dalziel, Sandell, E. Durrant, and C. Marshall.
Blood-hounds, Dachshunds, Fox-hounds, Harriers, and Beagles all had one class each, and met with very moderate entries. St. Bernards were good, owing to the principal winners, Messrs. J. H. Murchison, F. Gresham, Macdona, and Pratchett. Mastiffs were well supported by Messrs. C. T. Harris, Stuart, Portier, E. Brough, Hichens, Fitzherbert, and Broomhall. Newfoundlands were just fair, supplied by Messrs. Evans, Freeman, Tassell, and Pullbrook. Greyhounds divided the prizes between Messrs. Waddell, Cross, and J. R. Whittle. Pointers, over and under 50 lb., had the chief winners amongst Messrs. Noake, Kenyon, Greenwood, E. Bishop, Ineson, and Thorpe-Bartram. Retrievers were a respectable lot, owing to the entries of Messrs. How, Staples-Browne, Rudge, and Captain Gardiner, which absorbed all the money. Setters were represented by Messrs. Barclay-Field, Sims, Frewen, Halse, Sam, and Holman. Messrs. Langdale, Spurgin, Saxby, and Mallinson had it all their own way in the several Spaniel Classes.
Sheep-dogs were not very numerous, but contained some very noted dogs (then and afterwards), such as Messrs. Skinner's Vero, Jubb's Mec, Simpson's Hero, Ashwin's Glen, W. W. Thomson's Bess, and Captain Digby's Katty, who were all in the prize list for Roughs; and probably the best three Smooths ever seen at one show, Messrs. Mapplebeck's Fan, Dalziel's (afterwards Thomson's) Yarrow, and Thomson's Guelt winning in their class. Some rare old Bull-dogs turned up here, Mr. Harding Cox's (so well known since amongst the staunch patrons of all things sporting, and doggy things in particular) Bumble, Fagin, and Betsy Prig, and Messrs. Harry Layton's Master Gully, Rodgers's Nell and Nell Gwynne, Raper's Prince, and Joe Hadley's Young Sir Anthony. My old Bull-dog friends will remember all these and their owners. Fox-terriers, too, had some rare specimens, and some good fanciers with them, amongst others the late Mr. Fred. Burbidge, a keen sportsman and enthusiastic supporter of the variety (with Bitters, Dorcas, Spicey, and Nip), and Messrs. J. R. Whittle (with Yorick), Thackrey (with Jester II.), J. H. Murchison (with Natty); others were Messrs. Abbott, Skinner, Nickall, Pryor, Hulse, and Ross. Wire-haired Terriers contained Messrs. W. Carrick's Venture, Lindsay Hogg's Topper, and Maynard's Risk in the prize list. In Bull-terriers Messrs. Vero Shaw (with Tarquin) and J. W. Gurney (with Dick II. and Cricket) took the best of the prizes. Dandies were a small but choice lot, supplied by Rev. Tennison-Mosse and Messrs. Locke, Haywood, Wilson, and Hazlehurst. Mr. W. K. Taunton was one of the winners in Broken-haired Terrier Class. Mr. James Pratt and Captain Villiers Hatton took all the prizes offered for Skyes. The various Puppy Classes filled well, Messrs. Murchison and Gresham taking those for St. Bernard's, and Mr. Mark Beaufoy, such a regular exhibitor for years afterwards, here, making his first appearance at a large show as a winner with a Mastiff Puppy. Rev. G. F. Lovell took most of the money in the Dachshund Classes. Miss Alderson was to the front in Toy Terriers; and Mrs. Forder shared with Mr. Collier the Toy Spaniel prizes, her entry being the well-known Young Jumbo. Any of my older readers will see what a good show this was, although nowadays it would be thought very small.
The next important show was held in the Grain Market, Belfast, on May 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 1876, with 463 entries, and Mr. G. H. Adams as secretary.
The judges selected were: Messrs. W. Lort, E. Sandell, Captain Kerr, Messrs. Samuel Handley and J. Walker.
Blood-hounds, Harriers, Otter-hounds, Mastiffs, St. Bernards, and Newfoundlands had one class each, and poor entries. Greyhounds were good, the chief winners being Messrs. Waddington, Davies, Clement, Pott, Cullen, Watson, Erwin, Owen, Craig, Rea, and McAuley. Pointers were fairly typical, represented in prize list by Messrs. Morton, McClelland, Ferguson, Lindsay, Lyons, Erwin, and McGildowney. Setters were the largest entry in the show, the winners in English classes being Messrs. Morton, Coate, Fisher, Waddington, and Richardson; in Gordons Messrs. W. J. Smyth, Richardson, Adair, Gage, and Lloyd; and in Irish Messrs. Hilliard, Waddington, Erwin, Richardson, Darling, Coote, Moore, Alexander, McGage, Trench, and Dr. Stone. Retrievers, mostly Curlies, were shown by Messrs. Owen, Despard, Hewson, McDowell, and Adams. Irish Water-spaniels were a grand entry from Messrs. Blair, Morton, Whitla, Costello, and Glover, who shared all the money amongst them. Other Varieties of Spaniels had one class and a small entry.
Sheep-dogs had fair support from Messrs. Cunningham, Kingscote, Richardson, Smyth, Adams, and Macaulay. Bull-terriers, over and under 20 lb., were represented by Messrs. J. McLeish, R. Erskine, W. Murray, and J. Davis. Fox-terriers came up well, the principal winners being Messrs. J. J. Pim, Waddington, Astbury, Johnston, Roocroft, Burke, Smyth, Greig, Murray, Jeeves, and Neill. English Terriers, under and over 14 lb., were a decent entry, the chief winners being owned by Messrs. Zurhorst, Virgin, Frazer, McComb, Waddington, and Woodall. The only other well-filled class was for Irish Terriers, in which four or five prizes were taken by Mr. G. Jamieson with his Rattler, Banshee, Fly, and Badger, other winners being Messrs. Montgomery, Cunningham, Roberts, and Agnew. The rest of the show calls for no mention, the entries being small and unimportant.
 
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