Since the first publication of the articles on the various breeds of dogs in the Field, during the years 1865-6, the strain of English setters known by the name of "Laverack," from the gentleman who bred them, has carried all before it, both on the show bench and in the public field trials which have been annually held. For this high character it is greatly indebted to the celebrated Countess, who was certainly an extraordinary animal, both in appearance and at work; for until she came out the only Laverack which had shone to advantage was Sir R. Garth's Daisy, a good average bitch. Though small, Countess was possessed of extraordinary pace,. not perhaps quite equal to that of the still more celebrated pointer Drake, but approaching so closely to it that his superiority would be disputed by many of her admirers. On referring to her portrait accompanying this chapter, it will be seen that her frame, though on short legs, is full of elegance, and her beautiful head and neck are absolutely perfect.

With her high pace she combined great power of endurance, and her chief fault was that she never could be fully depended on; for, when fresh enough to display her speed and style to the full, she would break away from her master and defy his whistle until she had taken her fling over a thousand acres or so. On a good scenting day it was a high treat to see her at work; but, like most other fast gallopers, she would sometimes flush her game on a bad scenting day, and then she would be wild with shame. An instance of this occurred at the Bala field trials of 1872, when, on her appearance in the stake for braces with her sister Nellie, both of these bitches were utterly beyond the control of Mr. Buckell, who worked them, Nellie even chasing a bird like a raw puppy. To get rid of this wildness, they were worked hard in the day which intervened between their appearance in the braces and Countess's trial in the Rhiwlas Stakes, when she came out as stale as a poster, and was only placed third to Banger and Belle. Still, though manifestly beaten, she evidently was so from bad judgment alone on the part of those who managed her; and she only injured the character of the stock to which she belongs so far as to show that, like most high-couraged setters, they require a certain amount of work to keep them steady, which it appears she had not had.

Nellie (the sister) was of the same size, but not so fast nor so elegant; still she was good enough to beat the crack on one occasion at Vaynol in 1872, but on most days she would have stood no chance against Countess. She served to show that Countess was not wholly exceptional, as was sometimes alleged by the detractors of the "Laverack"; and these two bitches, together with Sir R. Garth's Daisy, may fairly be adduced as indicating that at all events these Laverack bitches were quite first-class. No, dog, however, of the pure breed has yet put in an appearance at any field trial with any pretension to high form, but several winners have appeared half or quarter bred of that strain. For example, Mr. Statter's Bruce, by Dash (Laverack) out of owner's Rhoebe, and his Rob Roy, by Fred II. (also Laverack) out of the same bitch, may be adduced; but Dick and Dan, by Duke (of the Corbet and Graham strain) out of Rhoebe, were far superior to these dogs, and serve to show that, at all events as crosses for other breeds, the Laveracks are not to be so highly recommended as Mr. Lort and other disciples of the "Laverack" school would lead us to believe.

The cross which has been most successful is that with Mr. Lort's, Sir R. Garth's, and Mr. Paul Hackett's blood, culminating in the third remove from the Laverack kennel in Mr. Macdona's Ranger. This dog was fully as fast as Countess, with, a keener nose and far better temperament, being, when in form, as steady and dependable as a steam locomotive. Mr. Macdona's favourite may be classed A 1 among the field trial winners in a quintet including Drake, Countess, Dash II., and Belle; the Irish setter, Plunket, approaching them very nearly, but not quite reaching their level. Roll and Frank, who won several prizes on the show bench, are of the same cross as the grandsire of Banger, all being out of Lort's Dip by a Laverack dog, and these last being all the same blood, as I shall presently show, though their sires are respectively named Bock and Fred II. Boll was a grand dog in shape, with the exception of his loin, in which a certain amount of slackness was displayed when a little out of condition, as he generally was when shown, being a shy feeder. I am told by Mr. Lort, who shot over him for some time, that he was as good in the field as on the bench, but when I tried him he had no nose whatever.

His pace was very great, with the usual Laverack quiet trail of flag; and the spaniel-like character peculiar to the Laverack dogs is also quite lost in him by the cross with the Anglesea bitch Dip. Next to this cross comes that with the Corbet and Graham strains as shown in Mr. Brewis's Dash II., who this year (1877) has beaten Banger in two out of three stakes at Shrewsbury and Horseheath, and whose portrait I have selected, with that of Countess, to illustrate this breed as excellent specimens of the high-bred English setter, though the dog is still, in my opinion, a little too spaniel-like in the shape of the body. He and his sister, Daisy, also a field trial winner, are by Laverack's Blue Prince, out of Armstrong's Old Kate. This bitch is by Laverack's old Blue Dash, out of E. Armstrong's Kate, sister to his Duke, the sire of Dan, about whose stock a great deal has been written in the highest terms by "Percival" and "Setter" in the Field and elsewhere, and by Mr. Purcell Llewellyn, who has used him as a stud dog almost exclusively to cross with his Laverack bitches, after purchasing him at a very high price, together with his brother Dick, from Mr. Statter at the Shrewsbury meeting of 1871. The opinions expressed by these gentlemen must be taken cum grano salis, as they are manifestly interested in the breed, which they style as par excellence "the field trial breed" from the successes obtained by its component parts at these trials.

I shall therefore confine myself in my remarks on it to their public performances as observed by myself and others, disregarding all private opinions in this as in all other cases, from my experience of the little reliance to be placed upon them.