Probably no one has ever ventured to call the subject of this article handsome. For this lack of praise those who have been most prominent as exhibitors of Irish Spaniels are chiefly responsible, for it has till lately been a constant practice to show them with portions of the previous .season's coat sticking in uncarded locks among the new hair, which has given the dog somewhat the appearance of an old ewe whose fleece has escaped the last year's shearing. Why it should be thought desirable to have lumps of dead hair mixed with the growing coat is not obvious. The practice has nothing to commend it, and it must have been a hindrance to the advance of the breed in popular favour, for it gives a ragged, disreputable appearance to the dog, and the rusty lumps of dead hair render him malodorous as well as unsightly.

It has been suggested that the decline of the wildfowler's art has to do with the scanty number of Irish Spaniels now met with; but there are probably now more wildfowl shooters than ever there were. The fact is, most of these men are content with a dog of any kind that will do the work required, and cannot afford or do not care to give the high and quite artificial prices asked for dogs of show renown, or those bred from such. In addition to which, the sporting reputation of the Irish Water Spaniel is at present, rightly or wrongly, under a cloud. Most of the practical sportsmen of to-day will laugh at the mere suggestion of their taking to this dog for work, and many will at once commence to preach about his hardness of mouth, and the absence in him of the natural instinct and intelligence possessed by others of his tribe. The writer regards this antipathy as mainly arising from prejudice; he himself knew an Irish Spaniel bitch, owned by a personal friend, which was a very fair worker, and certainly was perfectly tender in the mouth. Still, the breed, much to the detriment of its sporting value, has unfortunately fallen into the clutches of the fancier, who naturally could not resist a dog with such contradictory fascinations as a whip-tail and a topknot!

Now, therefore, or never is the opportunity for the Irish Spaniel Club to disprove these ill-defined but prevalent suspicions of their favourites, by holding those trials, rumours of which have already been too long floating about! Now is the right time for showing the sporting world that the Irish Spaniel is still capable of doing his work! Trials for Water Spaniels might require some ingenuity to design, but the difficulties are not so serious as those that have been overcome in the case of Retriever trials; and one such trial, successfully carried out, would do more to popularise and resuscitate the breed than the best of "special classifications" at the dog shows with challenge cups and championships galore.

Mr. J. S. Skidmore, once at the head of successful breeders of this variety, and whose opinion is well entitled to respect, contributed to the First Edition of this work the following remarks on the breed, which are fair, free, and full, with just the right flavour of favouritism towards a dog he had made his special hobby: -

"To a sportsman of limited means, or one who has not accommodation to keep a team, the Irish Water Spaniel is the most useful dog he can have, inasmuch as he can be made to perform the duties of Pointer, Setter, Retriever, and Spaniel; but, as his name implies, he is peculiarly fitted by temperament and by a water-resisting coat for the arduous duties required by a sportsman whose proclivities lie in the direction of wildfowl shooting. In this branch of sporting these dogs have no equal, being able to stand any amount of hardship; this, combined with an indomitable spirit, leads them into deeds of daring from which many dogs would shrink. Many are the feats recorded of their pluck, sagacity, and intelligence. To a well-bred and trained specimen no sea is too rough, no pier too high, and no water too cold - even if they have to break the ice at every step they are not daunted, and day after day they will follow up such work, being of the 'cut-and-come-again' sort. As companions for a lady or a gentleman they have no equal, whilst a well-behaved dog of the breed is worth a whole kennel of toys to the children : he will allow the little ones to pull him about by the ears, will roll over and over with them, fetch their balls as often as thrown for him, and act as their guard in times of danger.

When I first commenced to keep Irish Water Spaniels, many years ago, there were three strains, or rather varieties. One was known as the Tweed Spaniel, having its origin in the neighbourhood of the river of that name. They were very light liver colour, so close in curl as to give me the idea that they had originally been a cross from a smooth-haired dog; they were long in tail, ears heavy in flesh and hard like a Hound's, but only slightly feathered; fore legs feathered behind, hind legs smooth; head conical; lips more pendulous than M'Carthy's strain. The one I owned, which was considered to be one of the best of them, I bred from twice, and in each litter several of the puppies were liver-and-tan, being tanned from the knees downward, and under the tail. I came to the conclusion that she, at any rate, had been crossed with the Bloodhound.

In Ireland, too, there exist two totally distinct varieties, which are now known as the North and the M'Carthy strains. The former are in appearance like a third-rate specimen of their southern relation, but are generally much smaller, have less feathering on legs, ears, and head, often a feathered tail, and oftener still are inclined to be crooked on their fore legs. The M'Carthy strain are very much more aristocratic-looking animals than either of the aforementioned, and are now found in greater perfection on this side the Channel than on their native soil. Captain E. Montresor, the Rev. A. L. Willett, Mr. Robson, and the writer, are the oldest English breeders; and in later years Mr. Lindoe and the Rev. W. J. Mellor went into the breed for a short time. Mr. Engelbach and Lieut-Colonel Verner should also be classed amongst the older breeders.