ore from the
injudicious fads and crazes of those showmen who are not sportsmen
also. At one time among a certain class of judges, length and lowness
was everything, and soundness, activity, and symmetry simply did not
count. As happens to all absurd crazes of this kind when carried to
exaggeration, public opinion has proved too much for it, but not
before a great deal of harm has been done to a breed which is
certainly ornamental, and can be most useful as well. Most of the
prize-winners of the present day are sound, useful dogs capable of
work, and it is to be hoped that judges will combine to keep them
so.

The coloured Field Spaniel has now almost invariably at the principal
shows special classes allotted to him, and does not have to compete
against his black brother, as used to be the case in former years.

The systematic attempt to breed Spaniels of various colours, with a
groundwork of white, does not date back much more than a quarter of
a century, and the greater part of the credit for producing this
variety may be given to three gentlemen, Mr. F. E. Schofield, Dr.
J. H. Spurgin, and Mr. J. W. Robinson. In the early days of breeding
blacks, when the bitches were mated either with Sussex or liver and
white Springers or Norfolk Spaniels, many parti-coloured puppies
necessarily occurred, which most breeders destroyed; but it occurred
to some of these gentlemen that a handsome and distinct variety might
be obtained by careful selection, and they have certainly succeeded
to a very great extent. The most famous names among the early sires
are Dr. Spurgin's Alonzo and his son Fop, and Mr. Robinson's Alva
Dash, from one or other of whom nearly all the modern celebrities
derive their descent.

Those who have been, and are, interested in promoting and breeding
these variety Spaniels deserve a large amount of credit for their
perseverance, which has been attended with the greatest success so
far as producing colour goes. No doubt there is a very great
fascination in breeding for colour, and in doing so there is no royal
road to success, which can only be attained by the exercise of the
greatest skill and the nicest discrimination in the selection of
breeding stock. At the same time colour is not everything, and type
and working qualities should never be sacrificed to it. This has too
often been done in the case of coloured Field Spaniels. There are
plenty of beautiful blue roans, red roans, and tricolours, whether
bl