The above extracts are particularly interesting, as they give a clue to the early inter-breeding of two breeds from which we now obtain two other varieties, and the reference to the early establishment of dog clubs is likewise useful. Possibly some of the handsome collars won at these early club shows are still to be found, and I am certain they would compare more than favourably with the valueless silver medals some of the modern champions have to be contented with, as provided by show committees, although our popular Toy Spaniel Club appears to be unusually liberal in the prizes it provides for its own members.

No doubt from continual in-breeding, the peculiarly short faces and round skulls so much admired in the modern type of toy spaniel are procured, and not from any cross with the still shorter faced Japanese spaniel, which has been with us for a considerable number of years, nor with the pug dog, as has been suggested in some quarters. So far as I can make out there are not the remotest grounds for such statements. Our toy spaniel has been bred within its own variety, and possesses attributes distinct from those of the pug and of any other strain, with which an out cross would no doubt have interfered.

As I have said, the present King Charles spaniel must be black and tan, deep in black, and rich in tan, and the Blenheim is an orange and white marked dog, which ought to have an evenly coloured face, with a white blaze up the centre, widening towards the top of the skull, upon which should be an orange spot or mark called the "lozenge" or "spot." Several of our modern Blenheims are without this spot, but it is an old fancy, difficult to produce, and, although not of the slightest use, I do not care about seeing Blenheims devoid of it - a beauty mark, in fact.

One recent writer, alluding to the Blenheim spaniel, says: "Strange as it may seem to those who only know the Blenheim spaniel as the tiny lap dog with its retrousse nose, goggle eyes, and abnormally prominent brows, which properties are so admired by their lady owners, that animal was originally a sporting dog, and I have reason to believe that there is a family connection, of remote period, between the Blenheim and the old fashioned liver and white spaniels that are to be found in the eastern counties. I am borne out in this opinion by the fact that, hung over the mantelpiece in the library at Elsenham Hall, the seat of Sir Walter Gilbey, is a portrait of one of the late Duke of Marlborough's spaniels, painted by Stubbs. This dog is represented to be curly-coated, with a long nose, and probably weighed upwards of 3olb. This was no doubt the type of Blenheim spaniel that was known as a sporting dog, and has now been entirely lost sight of." However, such Blenheims as have recently been at Woodstock are pretty much the toys now admired, though by no means first-rate specimens from the modern point of view. The Duchess of Marlborough sent four to the Birmingham show in 1882, but they were larger than the winners, and neither so short in face or round in the skull as they. Still, these Marlborough Blenheims were active, well formed little dogs, the biggest certainly not less than fourteen pounds weight.

A word or two may not be out of place here as to the earlier open dog shows, such as took place in London at Ashburnham Hall, Chelsea, and elsewhere, in the sixties. Divisions for King Charles and Blenheims were provided at all of them, and the former were usually well filled, the Blenheims not being so numerous. The King Charles were for the most part divided according to size, sometimes for dogs and bitches over 71b. weight, and for such under 71b. Then the division was for King Charles not exceeding 12lb. and under 71b., and in all cases the classes for the little dogs were best filled, there being as a rule approaching twenty entries or more. For the most part these divisions were supported by the London fancy already alluded to, and the best specimens came from Mr. Garwood, Mr. McDonald, Mr. W. Tupper, Mr. R. Mandeville, and Mr. J. W. Guppy.

Of late years, in addition to the above two varieties, there have been classified the Prince Charles, which are black, tan, and white, and the Rubies, which are entirely red. Although at the present time these are rarer than the original strains, no doubt in a few years they will be equally popular. As a fact, the tri-colours are older than either the black and tans or the orange and whites; but it is only since the establishment of the Toy Spaniel Club in 1885 that they have obtained the distinguishing name of Prince Charles. Still, Landseer had immortalised them on his canvases long before, and his "Cavalier's Pets" and the "Lady and Spaniels" convey an excellent idea of the dog of which 1 write. The reds are the rarest and choicest of all the varieties, and although specimens were occasionally cropping up in litters of black and tans, such were not valued by the fancier, and attracted little attention. However, two or three particularly choice specimens were exhibited, and again the Toy Spaniel Club came to the rescue, named them aptly, and obtained them inclusion in the "Kennel Club Stud Book," where they were first classified in 1892. Long before then, special prizes had been given for both tri-colours and Rubies, and at the Kennel Club Show held at the Crystal Palace in 1886, several nice specimens of both varieties were shown by Mr. R. T. Linton, Mrs. Beavan, and Mrs. H. E. Jenkins. In November, the year previous, the first exhibition of the Toy Spaniel Club took place at the Westminster Aquarium, where there were eighty-four entries, and classes for King Charles, Blenheims, Prince Charles, Rubies, and "Toy Spaniels," were included in the schedule. The latter was for specimens not more than 7lb. in weight, and the first prize was won by the red Ruby Princess, second by Mr. Lindsay Hogg's Japanese Ching Mhow.