Page:EB1911 - Volume 08.djvu/395

 Kennel Club in the autumn of 1905, and at the representative exhibition of America held under the management of the Westminster Kennel Club in the following spring the classification was substantially the same, additional breeds, however, being Boston terriers—practically unknown in England,—Chesapeake Bay dogs, Chihuahuas, Papillons and Roseneath terriers. The latter were only recently introduced into the United States, though well known in Great Britain as the West Highland or Poltalloch terrier; an application which was made (1900) by some of their admirers for separate classification was refused by the Kennel Club, but afterwards it was granted, the breed being classified as the West Highland white terrier.

The establishment of shows at Newcastle-on-Tyne in June 1859 secured for dogs attention which had been denied them up to that time, although sportsmen had appreciated their value for centuries and there had been public coursing meetings since the reign of Charles I. Lord Orford, however, established the first club at Marham Smeeth near Swaffham, where coursing is still carried on, in 1776. The members were in number confined to that of the letters in the alphabet; and when any vacancy happened it was filled up by ballot. On the decease of the founder of the club, the members agreed to purchase a silver cup to be run for annually, and it was intended to pass from one to the other, like the whip at Newmarket, but before starting for it, in the year 1792, it was decided that the winner of the cup should keep it and that one should be annually purchased to be run for in November. At the formation of the club each member assumed a colour, and also a letter, which he used as the initial of his dog’s name. The Newcastle dog show of 1859 was promoted by Mr Pape—a local sporting gunmaker—and Mr Shorthose, and although only pointers and setters were entered for in two classes immense interest was taken in the show. But neither the promoters nor the sportsmen who supported it could have had the faintest idea as to how popular dog shows would become. The judges at that historic gathering were: Messrs J. Jobling (Morpeth), T. Robson (Newcastle-on-Tyne) and J. H. Walsh (London) for pointers, and E. Foulger (Alnwick), R. Brailsford (Knowsley) and J. H. Walsh for the setters. Sixty dogs were shown, and it was said that such a collection had not been seen together before; while so even was the quality that the judges had great difficulty in making their awards. The prizes were sporting guns made by Mr Pape and presented by him to the promoters of the show. So great a success was scored that other shows were held in the same year at Birmingham and Edinburgh; while the Cleveland Agricultural Society also established a show of foxhounds at Redcar, the latter being the forerunner of that very fine show of hounds which is now held at Peterborough every summer and is looked upon as the out-of-season society gathering of hunting men and women.

Mr Brailsford was the secretary of the show at Birmingham, and he had classes for pointers, English and Irish setters, retrievers and Clumber spaniels. Another big success was scored, and the National Dog Show Society was established for the purpose of holding a show of sporting dogs in Birmingham every winter. Three years later proposals were made in The Field to promote public trials of pointers and setters over game, but it was not until the 18th of April 1865 that a further step was taken in the recognition of the value of the dog by the promotion of working trials. They were held at Southill, near Bedford, on the estate of S. Whitbread, M.P., and they attracted great interest. The order of procedure at the early field trials was similar to what it is to-day, only the awards were given in accordance with a scale of points as follows: nose, 40; pace and range, 30; temperament, 10; staunchness before, 10; behind, 10. Style of working was also taken into consideration. In 1865 a show was held in Paris, and after the National Dog Club—not the Birmingham society—had failed, as the result of a disastrous show at the Crystal Palace, a further exhibition was arranged to be held in June 1870 under the management of G. Nutt and a very strong committee, among whom were many of the most noted owners of sporting dogs of that time. The details of the show were arranged by S. E. Shirley and J. H. Murchison, but the exhibition, although a most interesting one, was a failure, and the guarantors had to face a heavy loss. A second venture proved to be a little more encouraging, although again there was a loss; but in April 1873, the Kennel Club, which is now the governing body of the canine world, was founded by S. E. Shirley, who, after acting as its chairman for many years, was elected the president, and occupied that position until his death in March 1904. His successor was the duke of Connaught and Strathearn; the vice-presidents including the duke of Portland, Lord Algernon Gordon Lennox, J. H. Salter and H. Richards. The progress of the club has been remarkable, and that its formation did much to improve the conditions of the various breeds of dogs, to encourage their use in the field by the promotion of working trials, and to check abuses which were common with regard to the registration of pedigrees, &c., cannot be denied. The abolition of the cropping of the ears of Great Danes, bull terriers, black and tan terriers, white English terriers, Irish terriers and toy terriers, in 1889 gained the approval of all humane lovers of dogs, and although attempts have been made to induce the club to modify the rule which prohibits the exhibition of cropped dogs, the practice has not been revived; it is declared, however, that the toy terriers and white English terriers have lost such smartness by the retention of the ears that they are becoming extinct. The club has control over all the shows held in the United Kingdom, no fewer than 519 being held in 1905, the actual number of dogs which were entered at the leading fixtures being: Kennel Club show 1789, Cruft’s 1768, Ladies’ Kennel Association 1306, Manchester 1190, Edinburgh 896 and Birmingham 892. In 1906, however, no fewer than 1956 dogs were entered at the show of the Westminster Kennel Club, held in Madison Square Garden, New York; a fact proving that the show is as popular in America as it is in the United Kingdom, the home of the movement. The enormous sum of £1500 has been paid for a collie, and 1000 guineas for a bulldog, both show dogs pure and simple; while £500 is no uncommon price for a fox terrier. Excepting for greyhounds, however, high prices are rarely offered for sporting dogs, 300 guineas for the pointer “Coronation” and 200 guineas for the retriever “High Legh Blarney” being the best reported prices for gun dogs during the last few years.

The foreign and colonial clubs which are affiliated to the Kennel Club are: the Guernsey Dog Club, the Italian Kennel Club, the Jersey Dog Club, La Société Centrale (Paris), Moscow Gun Club of the Emperor Alexander II., New South Wales Kennel Club, Nimrod Club (Amsterdam), Northern Indian Kennel Association, Royal St Hubert’s Society (Brussels) and the South African Kennel Club (Cape Town). Its ramifications therefore extend to all parts of the world; while its rules are the basis of those adopted by the American Kennel Club, the governing body of the “fancy” in the United States. A joint conference between representatives of the two bodies, held in London in 1900, did much towards securing the uniformity of ideas which is so essential between associations having interests in common.

Most of the leading breeds have clubs or societies, which have been founded by admirers with a view to furthering the interests of their favourites; and such combinations as the Bulldog Club (incorporated), the London Bulldog Society, the British Bulldog Club, the Fox Terrier Club, the Association of Bloodhound Breeders—under whose management the first man-hunting trials were held,—the Bloodhound Hunt Club, the Collie Club, the Dachshund Club, the Dandie Dinmont Terrier Club, the English Setter Club, the Gamekeepers’ Association of the United Kingdom, the International Gun Dog League, the Irish Terrier Club, the Irish Wolfhound Club, the St Bernard Club, the National Terrier Club, the Pomeranian Club, the Spaniel Club, the Scottish Terrier Club and the Toy Bulldog Club have done good work in keeping the claims of the breeds they represent before the dog-owning public and encouraging the breeding of dogs to type. Each club has a standard of points; some hold their own shows; while others issue club gazettes. All this has been brought about by the establishment of a show for sporting dogs at Newcastle-on-Tyne in the summer of 1859.

America can claim a list of over twenty specialist clubs, and in both countries women exhibitors have their independent