The pointing dog was first introduced into England about two hundred years ago This seems clear; because before the eighteenth century no trace of him can be found in either the pictures or books on sport, the first record of him in this country being a picture of the Duke of Kingston, with his kennel of Pointers, dated 1725. Now, these dogs are of the same elegant Franco-Italian type as the pointing dogs painted by Oudry and Desportes for the French kings at the end of the seventeenth century; so that, in spite of this picture by Tillemans being the earliest British representation, it cannot be supposed to depict the absolute pioneers of the breed; for the name "Pointer," derived from the Spanish punta, implies that the first ancestors of the breed must have come from Spain, probably brought back by our returning army after the Peace of Utrecht in 1712. And it must have been by judiciously blending the blood of the heavy Spaniard with that of the racing-like French dog, that the Duke of Kingston and enthusiasts of a similar stamp first created that monarch of his race, the English Pointer.

The forms of the dogs portrayed in this Tillemans picture completely demolish the vulgarly received idea that the cross with the Foxhound was necessary to give the Pointer quality or speed. In fact, this cross was most probably an experiment arising from the superstitious belief of some that the Foxhound was so superior an animal, that any other breed whatever must derive benefit from an admixture of his blood.

Colonel Thornton, in the dying years of the eighteenth century, seems, from the unanimous voice of his contemporaries, to have been the first to try this disastrous misalliance; and no doubt his immediate success in producing in this way such an animal as his celebrated Dash (sold for about £350), has induced many others since then to imitate his pernicious example.

In the earlier decades of the nineteenth century, sporting literature began to develop very rapidly; but, imbued with the true spirit of sport as most of it is, details as to individual dogs and registers of pedigrees were still wanting, until the era of shows and field trials made their value, and the necessity of more accuracy on such matters, apparent. Good strains of Pointers existed in many kennels, and systematic breeding for improvement was taken in hand by Mattingley and others. Many of our great families owned kennels of distinct strains, and those of Earl Derby, at Knowsley, and Earl Sefton, have pretty largely contributed to produce the excellence of our existing Pointers. The Edge strain obtained merited fame, and when the kennels were broken up, after the death of Webb Edge, there were eager buyers at the sale at Strelley, some of the Pointers going to Prince Albert, and others to Mr. Statter, to Mr. Brailsford, of the Knowsley Kennels, and to Mr. George Moore, of Appleby.

Mr. Garth's celebrated Drake, whose pedigree is given very fully in the Kennel Club Stud Book, takes us back about half a century, with an almost unbroken lineage; and since Drake's time (he was whelped 1867) most of our Pointers have had their pedigrees minutely kept.

Mr. Lort, writing in 1887, says : -

"Great improvements have been made, within the last ten or twelve years, in 'many of our now numerous Pointer kennels, insomuch that far better-looking dogs are now to be seen competing and winning at field trials ; and many of our chief field-trial winners have figured in the prize lists of the leading shows, notably Prince Solms's Naso of Kippen, Mr. F. Lowe's Bang Bang and Duke of Hessen, Colonel Cotes's Carlo, Mr. Shield's Gladsome, and Mr. Salter's Osborne Ale, with many others. Some that have not been fortunate enough to win at field trials have shown themselves to be not only handsome but really good dogs at work.

On the show-bench, since the days of Hamlet, Wagg, and Ponto, the leading places have been successfully held by Mr. George Pilkington's Faust, Mr. Luck's Bang II., Mr. Norrish's Graphic, and last, but by no means least or worst, Mr. C. H. Beck's Naso of Upton. Amongst the opposite sex, the late Major Vaughan Lee's Maggie, Mr. Grant's Maggie, Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price's Bow Bells, Mr. Heywood Lonsdale's Peach, Mr. Beck's Nan, Mr. S. Price's Belle of Bow, and a host of others, have gained high positions.

We find the blood of old Champion Bang running strongly through the list of field-trial winners, Priam, Scamp, Bang Bang, Laurel, Lingo, Hero, and others, having done much to bring the good old blood into high repute; whilst Mr. Salter has been especially fortunate in producing such animals as Malt, Romp's Baby, Paris, and Osborne Ale, by crosses from Bang, on the Salter strain. My Naso (as good a dog as ever ran) earned a reputation, not only in this country, but also on the Continent, where many of the strain have been in the hands of Prince Solms, among which Naso II., Duke of Hessen, and Naso of Kippen, all field-trial winners, come from the Prince's kennel; whilst Naso of Kippen, who has lately been exported at a long price, leaves behind him, in this country, three good sons in Mr. Beck's Naso of Upton and Rapid Ben (winner of the Field Trial Derby last year), and the Rev. W. J. Richardson's Rex of Milton. Mr. J. E. Lloyd Lloyd has also shown some very beautiful bitches in Daphne, Zasme, Ilma, and Lady Jane; but these have not appeared at field trials. Mr. Norrish's name, too, has been well known to the public through Graphic, Beryl, Glee, Revel, Revel III., Beau Ideal, and others. Sir Thomas Lennard, Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price, Mr. George Pilkington, Mr. J. H. Whitehouse, Mr. Barclay Field, and Mr. Heywood Lonsdale, have all done much to make the modern Pointer the most fashionable of sporting dogs."

The views of Mr. G. Thorpe Bartram, given in a contribution to the First Edition of "British Dogs," and since revised by him, are interesting. As a breeder, an exhibitor, and one devoted to the field sports in which dogs are employed, his remarks are well worthy of attention. Mr. Bartram says: -