"Idstone," who was a great admirer of the Irish Setter, says, writing in 1872: "They have been jealously protected from any mongrel crosses for many years by their native breeders." On the other hand, Mr. Edward Laverack, writing in the same year, says : "So highly do I value the true blood belonging to the Irish, that I have visited Ireland four times for the express purpose of ascertaining where the true blood was to be found, with a view to crossing them with my Beltons. I very much regret to say that, after all my trouble and efforts, I found that this magnificent old breed has degenerated, owing to the carelessness and negligence of the Irish in not having kept it pure."

Mr. Laverack must have been singularly unfortunate, for certainly the "magnificent old breed" has been kept practically pure, though not so detailed in tabulated pedigrees, which were not a requisite of dog-breeding success in pre-show days. The excessive value placed on pedigrees now may easily lead to degeneration, if not corrected by other and yet more weighty considerations. The wiry form, the endurance, coupled with general smartness and stoutness of constitution, which have hitherto characterised the Irish Setter, and so largely contributed to make it a favourite with sportsmen, may be easily lost by a blind confidence in pedigree and the honours of championship in the show-ring.

That "blood will tell" is, however, undeniable, and most of our present-day winners, like those of the past, owe much of their excellence to the old kennels, wherein stud books were rarely kept. The blood of the celebrated Palmerston is strong in many of our best dogs to-day, and perhaps the most typical, and certainly the most beautiful, of his numerous progeny was the late Mr. J. J. Giltrap's Champion Garryowen (Fig. 62), whose pedigree is given to show what a short distance even the most celebrated dogs go back.

For the uses to which he is generally put the Irish Setter is admirably adapted. On the mountains where grouse are scarce, and unfortunately getting scarcer yearly, his speed and persistent keenness lead him to cover an immense amount of ground, where the slower and more mechanical Pointer would fall far short of his number of finds at the end of a day's work.

An amusing confirmation of this occurred at the field trials in Ireland several years ago. The Irish Setter Puppy and All-aged Stakes were first run off, and occupied three whole days, when on the fourth day the All Comers Stakes were opened. The first brace put down were very fine and celebrated Pointers, who quartered their ground in good style, but in rather limited beats. A well-known writer on sporting dogs happened to be present in his capacity as reporter, and remarked, with a sigh of relief: "Now that is what I call proper going. My eyes are sore watching those red devils like flashes of lightning over the mountains for the past three days." The Pointers were taken up after an extended trial, in which they found once.

Again, on snipe the Irish Setter is perfectly at home, and it is really wonderful to see the dog, who a moment before was galloping at full speed over the moor, when he comes to a marsh or a patch of likely rushes, slow down and adopt a pace more like a cat creeping on a mouse than anything else, and when this has been thoroughly searched, resume, no doubt what to some would appear, his wild career over the heather.

The "Veteran Sportsman" quoted at the beginning of this article goes on to say, comparing the Irish Setter with the Pointer, that "they are certainly more difficult to break, and when broke are most apt to run wild and unsteady if not frequently hunted." This was written a hundred years ago, and has become a sort of stereotyped opinion of the character of the dog, for which probably his environment was more to blame than his temperament. Most certainly, if not hunted regularly and with due attention to'the correction of faults, the same remark is applicable to all breeds. All sportsmen and writers on sporting dogs are well aware that one day's careless handling may undo the training of months; and, for some inexplicable reason, Irish gamekeepers are notoriously bad breakers and handlers. Now, if to bad handling be added scarcity of birds, and consequently fewer opportunities of teaching and fixing the lessons taught, an explanation at once appears of the very few really highly trained dogs seen, which would reasonably enough give rise to the idea that they were apt to run wild and unsteady if not frequently hunted.

With proper preliminary handling when young, chiefly for discipline, a well-bred Irish Setter, after three or four days on a mountain, will have learned his work so well as to be entitled to his place with the regular team; and after a couple of seasons appears to know when he is out with the gun for business or out on a walk for pleasure, in the latter case frequently transgressing the most ordinary rules, but with the gun settling down to his work at once, as if he had never known what it was to go wrong.

Although there are unquestionably many first-rate dogs in Ireland who have never appeared at field trials, still, on their public form they are judged, and among those who have been most successful may be mentioned Mr. J. G. Hawkes (though his dogs of recent years do not come up to the form of his famous Signal and Miss Signal), Major Milner (with such dogs as Spalpeen, Airnie, etc.), Mr. W. Hill Cooper (with Wrestler, Isinglass, and others); while Mr. G. H. Cheetham's wonderful little bitch Honeysuckle, and Mr. Mclvor's Ballycolman with his two sons Strabane Pam and Ranger, as being the most recent field winners, must not be forgotten. The blood of that celebrated dog Major Hutchinson's Bob told on Mr. Hawkes's kennels when at their best. Mr. Hill Cooper's dogs run up through such well-known ones as Muskerry, Champions Hector and Kate to Palmerston on both sides; and Major Milner on the one side traces from the same ancestor, with another good one in Cocksure on the other; while Ballycolman, through his sire Champion Donal MacSwine, traces from Champions Garryowen and Palmerston, and that truly remarkable bitch of her day Mac's Little Nell.