1874 (continued): Shows at Crystal Palace, Manchester, Bedford, Darlington, Nottingham, Hull, Dublin, and Birmingham

On June 9th, 10th, nth, and 12th, 1874, at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, was held what was called a National Dog Show, under the management of Mr. John Douglas, with Mr. George Lowe as secretary.

The entry was the substantial number of 1,187, and the list of judges comprised the following: Blood-hounds and Mastiffs, Rev. T. Pearce; St. Bernards, Rev. J. Cumming Macdona; Deer-hounds, Rev. G. F. Hodson; Pointers, Viscount Combermere, Messrs. R. Lloyd Price and J. Sykes; Setters (English and Irish), Rev. J. Sergeantson and Mr. F. R. Bevan; Retrievers, Messrs. W. Lort and R. B. Moore; Greyhounds, Mr. R. B. Carruthers; Spaniels, Mr. \V. Lort and Rev. G. F. Hodson; Fox-terriers and Wire-haired Terriers, the Hon. T. W. Fitzwilliam and Rev. Jack Russell (quite a name to conjure with in the West of England, and a dear friend of one of my clerical brothers); Beagles, Mr. W. Lort; Sheep-dogs, Messrs. S. Handley and W. Lort; Gordon Setters, Mr. F. R. Bevan and Rev. J. Sergeantson; Dalmatians and Bull-dogs, Messrs. R. Lloyd Price and S. Handley; Harriers, Rev. Jack Russell and Lieut.-Colonel Barlow; Bull-terriers and Smooth-haired English Terriers, Messrs. Handley and Percival; Bedlingtons, Mr. S. Handley; Skyes, Rev. J. C. Macdona; Foreign Dogs and Dachshunds, Baron Schroder; Dandies, Mr. J. Dart; Broken-haired Terriers, Pomeranians, Toy Spaniels, Toy Terriers, Pugs, and Italian Greyhounds, Messrs. J. Percival and Handley; Puppies, Messrs. W. Lort and S. Handjey.

Sporting Dogs mustered well, with grand entries of Pointers (amongst the winners being Mr. S. Price with his Bang, and Mr. J. H. Whitehouse with a host of entries "in the money"), Setters (particularly English and Gordon, with Mr. Laverack and Major Allison taking the cream, and Mr. Purcell-Llewellin well "in the money" in Irish Setters also), Retrievers (with Mr. J. W. Morris fairly smothering the Curly-coated classes, Mr. J. D. Gorse also being "there," and Mr. S. E. Shirley, M.P., in front rank in the Wavy-coated), and Spaniels (with Messrs. J. Fletcher, J. S. Skidmore, T. B. Bowers, P. Bullock, Captain the Hon. W. Arbuthnot, Messrs. W. Boulton and J. Holmes taking most of the honours); Mr. J. C. Carrick taking all the prizes in Otter-hounds. There were large entries of Harriers from Messrs. Lewis, Chesshyres, Saxby, Steyning, Lionel Patton, and Everett; and a good lot of Fox-terriers, with J. Fletcher, H. Gibson, J. H. Shaw, J. Shepherd (with Buffett), and others in front rank.

Amongst Non-Sporting, Sheep-dogs, with Mr. S. E. Shirley's Trefoil and Mr. H. Lacy's Mec first and second, were a fair lot. Bull-dogs were a large entry, with such names as Messrs. G. A. Dawes, F. Adcock, Captain Holdsworth (with his Sir Anthony), Messrs. W. W. Rodgers, R. Fulton, and Harry Layton; Bull-terriers, Messrs. S. E. Shirley, M.P. (with his Dick and Malice), Godfree, and others. In Black-and-tan Terriers Mr. H. Lacy took most of the money; Skyes had, I think, Her Majesty Queen Alexandra (then Princess of Wales) figuring for the first time in the prize list; there were a fair lot of Dandies, the prizes mostly going to Messrs. Dorchester and Hazlehurst. There were a good many Toy Terriers, with Mrs. M. A. Foster and the late Mrs. Monck well "in the money"; but small entries of all the others, except Dachshunds, which were here divided into Red and Other than Red. Mr. T. Wootton took all the prizes in Wire-haired Terriers. The prize for Best-looking Pointer Dog was taken by Mr. S. Price's renowned Bang, and that for Best-looking Setter Dog by Mr. F. R. Hemming's Ginx's Baby.

On July 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1874, was held what was called the First Dog Show, in the Pomona Palace, Manchester, with 618 entries.

The judges appointed were: for Mastiffs, St. Bernards, Newfoundlands, Sheep-dogs, Pomeranians, and Dalmatians, Mr. S. Handley; for Pointers, Setters, and Spaniels, Messrs. S. E. Shirley, M.P., and W. Lort; Retrievers, Dr. Bond Moore; Fox-terriers, Mr. W. Cropper; Non-Sporting Dogs, not named above, Messrs. R. Lloyd Price and J. Percival.

Blood-hounds, Deer-hounds, and Harriers had small entries. Pointers filled well, most of the best prizes going to Mr. J. H. Whitehouse. Setters, except Irish, were good classes, the winners being mostly owned by Major Cowen and Messrs. J. Shorthose, T. B.

Bowers, and C. W. Brierley. Mr. J. W. Morris took several prizes amongst the Retrievers. In Spaniels the chief winners were Messrs. J. Fletcher, P. Bullock, W. S. Holmes, Skidmore, and W. W. Boulton; and in Fox-terriers the entries of Messrs. Fletcher, Astbury, J. Shepherd, and J. Terry carried off most of the spoil.

In Non-Sporting Breeds the best entries were in Mastiffs, Bull-terriers, Black-and-tan, White English, and Broken-haired (here called "or Yorkshire") Terriers, there being small but representative entries of all the rest, but rather better than usual, perhaps owing to the sexes being divided in Pugs and Dandie Dinmont Terriers; but there was not much support in the Toy classes.

On July 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1874, was held at Bedford, under distinguished patronage, an Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs, with an entry of 384, when Mr. J. S. Muddeman acted as secretary.

The following were the officiating judges: for Sporting Classes, Mons. le Prince J. de Vismes et de Ponthieu and Mr. J. Walker (Halifax); for Non-Sporting Classes, Messrs. P. Pigott and J. Walker.

Blood-hounds, Deer-hounds, Greyhounds, Pointers, and Spaniels were poor classes in numbers, though fairly good in quality. Retrievers were good, and Setters just decent. Fox-terriers were good (and here I first notice a name we have often seen since in connection with this variety - Mr. Francis Redmond - amongst the prize winners); Messrs. H. Gibson, Astbury, and Bradbury seemed to be most amongst the victors. Mr. F. Gresham took all the prizes in St. Bernards, as he would be expected to do on his native soil. There were a small lot of Mastiffs, and not many Sheep-dogs; but amongst their owners "W. Thomson" is credited with first in bitches with Shep, and I think this is not unlikely to be one of the first appearances as an exhibitor of Sheep-dogs of our popular friend (referred to elsewhere in this book) Mr. W. W. Thomson. Bulldogs, Black-and-tan Terriers, and variety classes over and under 18 lb. were the best of all the rest; with small entries in Toys and fancy breeds.