With regard to the appearance of the Irish Setter, the Red Setter Club has published a description, by which it holds these dogs should be judged, the various points being set out as follows: -

Head

Should be long and lean. The skull oval (from ear to ear), having plenty of brain room, and with well-defined occipital protuberance. Brows raised, showing stop. The muzzle moderately deep, and fairly square at end. From the stop to the point of the nose should be long, the nostrils wide, and the jaws of nearly equal length, flews not to be pendulous The colour of the nose dark mahogany or dark walnut, and that of the eyes (which ought not to be too large) rich hazel or brown. The ears to be of moderate size, fine in texture, set on low, well back, and hanging in a neat fold close to head.

Neck

Should be moderately long, very muscular, but not too thick, slightly arched, free from all tendency to throatiness.

Body

Should be long. Shoulders fine at the points, deep, and sloping well back. The chest as deep as possible, rather narrow in front. The ribs well sprung, leaving plenty of lung room. Loins muscular and slightly arched. The hindquarters wide and powerful.

Legs And Feet

The hind legs from hip to hock should be long and muscular; from hock to heel, short and strong. The stifle and hock joints well bent, and not inclined either in or out. The fore legs should be straight and sinewy, having plenty of bone, with elbows free, well let down, and, like the hocks, not inclined either in or out. The feet small, very firm; toes strong, close together and arched.

Tail

Should be of moderate length, set on rather low, strong at root, and tapering to a fine point; to be carried as nearly as possible on a level with or below the back.

Coat

On the head, front of legs, and tips of ears, should be short and fine; but on all other parts of the body and legs it ought to be of moderate length, flat, and as free as possible from curl or waves.

Feathering

The feather on the upper portion of the ears should be long and silky ; on the back of the fore and hind legs long and fine; a fair amount of hair on the belly, forming a nice fringe, which may extend on chest and throat. Feet to be well feathered between toes. Tail to have a nice fringe of moderately long hair, decreasing in length as it approaches the point. All feathering to be as straight and as flat as possible.

Colour And Markings

The colour should be a rich golden chestnut, with no trace whatever of black; white on chest, throat, or toes, or a small star on the forehead, or a narrow streak or blaze on the nose or face not to disqualify

There is little to take exception to in this description, but the proportion of marks allotted to various points might with advantage be altered. For instance, 24 per cent, is allotted for head and neck, while only 20 per cent, goes to legs and feet, a surely more important matter in an animal wanted above all things to go. The fourteen points allowed for size, style, and general appearance might well be increased to twenty, this being the indefinable something, the combination of all the parts into a typical whole, whose ultimate result is the perfect Irish Setter - a form once seen not easily forgotten. Even the trained eye, however, is frequently led astray from the true form by the undeniably handsome animals exhibited at most shows; but from the show standpoint alone, it would be better if judges relied more on the above description than on the experience gained from observation of recent winners, who in many cases have departed sadly from a better type.

Perhaps in no individual points is this departure more accentuated than in the head and colour. The head and muzzle should be long and clean, carrying a certain amount of squareness right to the nostril, giving a general idea of size without heaviness. The colour should be exactly as in the Club's description, " A rich golden chestnut, with no trace whatever of black"; yet hardly one of the present-day celebrities conform to these two simple but indisputable points of an Irish Setter. The frequent bench wins and consequent publicity of the late Major Jameson's Ponto led many people to breed from him, and the curious black tinge in his coat and that of his progeny, which for years in England appeared to be considered the proper thing, and even still is written up by some reporters of dog shows, has left a stain which is not yet eradicated. Indeed, this dull dark mahogany-red is a colour which never appears in a litter of pure-bred Irish Setters, although in almost every litter one, if not more, will have coats too light in colour, while it is said that occasionally a pure black pup appears.

It will be observed that the above description is that of the Irish Red Setter; but there is also another Irish Setter, red and white, of which now there are but few kennels left, those of the Marquis of Conyngham and Captain Stewart being best known. These dogs are highly spoken of by their breeders, who state that they have all the characteristics of the red dog, with the additional advantage of being more readily distinguishable on the moor. At Strabane Show a special class was formerly provided for them, and a very sporting dog they looked; but they are now seldom seen at any show, and have never been represented at a field trial. The present red dog is in all probability the specialised descendant of the red-and-white. Even now few litters are born that will not have one or two among them with more white than would comply with the standard of the Red Setter Club, and one can easily imagine that with indiscriminate breeding, or at least selection, it would not be difficult, were it desirable, to again establish a Red-and-white Setter as a distinct breed.

For some reason or other not now to be ascertained, Red and Red-and-white Setters were cultivated at an early day in Ireland ; but how, whether by some cross between the setting dog and another breed or by selection, cannot be absolutely determined. The latter is the more probable means by which the breed became established. Red or liver is a common colour in the Spaniel, and it varies very much in shade; and as the Spaniel is the breed the Setter was made from, selection - and possibly both climate and breeding influences - first affected, and afterwards fixed, the hue.

Fig. 62. - The Irish Red Setter Champion Garryowen.

The history of the race cannot be a very long one, but the life of the dog is short, and his powers of reproduction are great; so that it is only necessary to suppose the existence of one or more dogs of a deep red colour, distinguished by superior excellence, to see a reasonable foundation of the breed. The best dogs would undoubtedly be selected by sportsmen for the stud; and the accident of the best at any one period in the early history of the breed being red would cause that colour to rapidly stamp itself on a large preponderance of the progeny, and soon the colour would become an accepted indication of high breeding, and a sign of probable excellence.