UC-NRLF 
 
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THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
 
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 T1^U ^ ' v-V-i 
 
 -.l.:J c/1 -j 6A /a* ' 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OK 
 
 THE MASTIFF. 
 
 

THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MASTIFF, 
 
 GATHERED FROM 
 
 SCULPTURE, POTTERY, CARVING, PAINTINGS, 
 
 AND ENGRAVINGS; 
 ALSO FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS, WITH 
 
 REMARKS ON THE SAME. 
 
 BY 
 
 M . B . W Y N N , 
 
 it 
 
 HONORARY SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF THE LATE MASTIFF CLUB. AND 
 BREEDER AND EXIIIRITOR OF MANY PRIZE MASTIFFS. 
 
 PELECTANDO PAKITERQUE MONEXDO. ' 
 
 gjelton 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM LOXLEY 
 MARKET PLACE. 
 
 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To whom should I dedicate this HISTORY OF THE MASTIFF rather thaii to 
 .thee. my friend Joax LYALL, thou worthy Scot of the City of Glasgow ; 
 you who have always urged me on to publish this work, and who have 
 furnished me with many useful notes from tune to time, as well as making 
 careful portraits of some of the best specimens of the breed that I have 
 possessed. It is to your amateur skill that I am beholden for the fine oil 
 portrait of Old Peeress, which occupies the mantle-piece of my study 
 like a guarding Lares. 
 
 I might have selected a noble, titled Patron to dedicate my efforts to, 
 but although I value old families and our nobility as much as any man, 
 it is nevertheless simply at their worth. 
 
 Instinctively the Pointer Puppy stands at game, and the Bulldog flies 
 at the head of its adversary ; so by the same law of nature, that of hered- 
 itary transmission of qualities, the nobleman is intuitively and naturally 
 gracious, and being free from the sordid influences of Merchandise, is as 
 a rule, far more free from the cursed love of gold and self gain, than 
 those connected with trade too often are. To several noblemen and 
 gentlemen I would here tender my thanks for the courteous manner in 
 which they have invariably answered my letters of inquiry on subjects 
 connected with the Mastiff, which I have required for this work. 
 
 I am also beholden to several antiquarians for various interesting par- 
 ticulars, and in return, should always be willing to give my opinion as a 
 canine fancier and judge (which perhaps it is not too boastful to say, is 
 based upon practical experience), on any antiquarian remains that may 
 be discovered in any way connected with the dog. 
 
 It behoves me to mention the courtesy I have met with when I have 
 had occasion to write to various noblemen and landed gentry, to whom I 
 fear at times, owing to my anxiety to obtain full and accurate information 
 I have been somewhat troublesome. But as Horace of old said of 
 Mo?cenas "It is the true spirit of the gentleman to be kind, courteous, 
 and obliging to a stranger/' Thus, while I tender my thanks to the many 
 who have helped me, I can with pleasure set it forth as a lesson to my 
 readers, to render willingly such little acts of courtesy as may be in their 
 power from time to time ; for by so doing, they not only engender a better 
 feeling among all classes, but also benefit mankind in general, through 
 , advancing knowledge. 
 
 M374695 
 
IV DEDICATION. 
 
 To those who may have amassed wealth through their own industry 
 and intellect, this may afford a lesson, not to treat disdainfully the literary 
 supplicant for information, as it is far easier for an author to lash with 
 satire and irony, (which often leaves a lasting and sometimes salutary 
 sting,) than to tender thanks gracefully, especially when he is sincere. 
 
 I feel, my friend, that I shall have no need to apologise to you for thus 
 turning the dedication of my work towards tendering my thanks to all 
 those who have helped me, for I feel sure nothing will give your unselfish 
 nature more pleasure than my acknowledging the assistance I have 
 received from those, who, like yourself, have helped really out of love for 
 the noble Mastiff. 
 
 Foremost among those to whom I am beholden for a few notes, is 
 W. ANDREWS,, ESQ., F.R.H.S., of the Literary Club, Hull, and any of my 
 readers wishing a fuller account of Bear-baiting, Bull-running, and Bull- 
 baiting, than I have iucidently given, should read that author's able 
 articles on these subjects in his Historic ^Romance, 
 
 Lastly, but not least, do I owe thanks and acknowledgement to my old 
 friend, former tutor, and fellow pupil, the REV. II. WATERS, of Bedford ; 
 to whose sound erudition I am beholden for material assistance. 
 
 M. B. WYNN. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A PREFACE to a work is perhaps now seldom perused, often to the readers 
 loss, nevertheless, to such of my readers who have the good grace to make 
 the exception I may say to gather the matter for this work I have drawn 
 from various authors, which for a short time I thought to quote in exact 
 chronological order, but I soon perceived to do so entirely, I should debar 
 myself of evidence tending to buttress the various statements and facts 
 advanced, und I fail to see why any author should shackle himself 
 with any arbitrary system, and if by following the plan of quoting more 
 recent writers to bear out and throw light on ancient statements ; I 
 have somewhat marred the system of my arrangement, I feel I have 
 strengthened the work, which is the feature I care more about, than for 
 any scholar like or customary system of book writing. 
 
 In defence of the plan I have followed, as La Motte says, " the preju- 
 dice for antiquity is itself very ancient. " I may fairly assume, that most 
 authors have gathered their ideas on historical subjects which have pre- 
 ceded them ; from the more ancient writings of their forebears. Thus 
 the immortal Shakespeare with all his keen perception and intuitive know- 
 ledge of the world, owed much of his historical information to authors 
 he had read. For as Chaucer has it. 
 
 ' For out of the olde fieldes, men saithe, 
 Cometh all this new corn fro yere to yere, 
 And out of olde bookes, ii> good faithe, 
 Cometh all this newe science that men here. " 
 
 The Assembly of Foul cs 
 
 And Cicero says, " The distinguishing property of man is to search for 
 and follow after truth, therefore when relaxed from our necessary cares 
 and concerns, we then covet to see, 'to hear, and to learn somewhat Cicero 
 Lib. 1. Ch. v. Virgil still more beautifully expresses this sentiment of 
 the love of knowledge in the Georgics Lib ii. line 490 " Happy is he who is 
 able to trace out the origin of things " and further Lord Bacon wrote on 
 the advancement of Learning Lib ii. " Oat of monuments, names, wordes, 
 proverbs, traditions, private records and evidences, fragments of stories, 
 passages of books and the like, we doe save and recover somewhat from 
 the deluge of time. " 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 I thought at first of illustrating this book somewhat after the manner 
 of Berjeaus work. " The varieties of Dogs as they are found in old Scujp- 
 tiires, "Pictures, Engravings, and Books " but I perceived that unless 1 
 could draw and engrave the blocks myself I could not be secure against 
 introduction and alteration on the artists part; which however slight, 
 would nevertheless be detrimental to the subject, for it is not easy to meet 
 with a copyist like the bright airy Gay depicts. 
 
 " So very like the painter drew, 
 That every eye the picture knew ; 
 He hit complexion, feature, air, 
 So just the life itself was there ; 
 He gave each muscle all its strength 
 The mouth the chin, the noses length ; 
 Plis honest pencil touch'd witli truth 
 And marked the date of age and youth.'' 
 
 While I cannot speak too highly of Berjeaus work, for the insight it 
 furnishes to Canine History, the text is very scant, and in places incor- 
 rect, it being palpable that Berjeau was no judge of dogs, he plainly could 
 not distinguish between the different breeds, for we find him terming 
 Boarhound like representations, Bloodhounds. 
 
 I write this impartially and simply to warn my readers, for when we 
 consider the time and trouble that he must have devoted to collect the 
 various examples he gives, it would be invidious not to acknowledge the 
 merits of his work. 
 
 Having pointed out their defects and difficulties it will readily be seen 
 why, (not personally possessing the artistic talent of a John Latham.) I 
 preferred relying on my discriptive powers for the various points, and re- 
 ferring my readers to the originals ; rather than availing myself of the 
 aid of the artists, however good a copyist I might have procured. 
 
 Poets and Painters are often the unintentional historians of their age 
 and the following pages will disclose that they have handed down to us 
 much history of the mastiff. The great Poet of the age, our Visionary 
 Laureate has been very silent about the English mastiff. To me this is 
 a little grief as with his powers of weaving semi-historical semi-mystical 
 romances, he could compose a poem on the breed that would eclipse what 
 Gay, Shakespeare and even Virgil have left us. 
 
 M. B. WYNN, 
 
 THE ELMS, 
 
 ROTHLEY, LEICESTERSHIRE. 
 JANUARY, 188G. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. ORIGIN QF THE DOG. 
 
 Pages 1 to 12. 
 
 Wolfish origin incorrect. Wild Originals. Early existence of estab 
 lished types. The necessity of several original stirps. Fossil remains of 
 the dog. 
 
 CHAPTER n. THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 Pages 13 to 34. 
 
 The head the most distinctive feature. The characteristics of the 
 mastiff. Self type of the European mastiffs. The Asiatic mastiff. Early 
 existence of the mastiff type. 
 
 CHAPTER III. THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 35 to 42. 
 
 Early existence of the mastiff in Britain. British dogs an article of 
 commerce. Mention of crossing British war-dogs. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 Pages 43 to 52. 
 
 The Alan an early English name for the mastiff. TheAlani. Descrip- 
 tion of the Alan dog. The early English Alan and the Spanish mastiff 
 almost identical. 
 
 CHAPTER V. THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 53 to 67. 
 
 Early uses of the British mastiff. Mastiffs depicted on early British 
 pottery. Type of the early British mastiff. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 68 to 76. 
 
 Bandog the Saxon term for the mastiff. Early mention of the bandog 
 Treatment of the bandog. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 77 to 82. 
 
 The word mastiff of Norman introduction. The mastiff mentioned in 
 the Forest Laws of Henry 3rd. The mastiff mentioned by Gyfford and 
 Twici. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. THE MASTIFF IN HENRY Yin's REIGN. 
 
 Pages 83 to 89. 
 
 Mastiffs at Agincourt. Particulars of the Lyme Hall mastiffs. 
 Etymology of the word mastiff. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. THE MASTIFF IN ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 Pages 90 to 104. 
 
 Book 011 the Dog by Dr. Cams. Characteristics of the mastiff. The 
 effects of food on conformation. Reason for the various terms for the 
 mastiff. Places in London where mastiffs were kept. Various authors 
 who mention the mastiff. 
 
 CHAPTER X. THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 Pages 105 to 122. 
 
 Baiting of animals probably of Roman introduction, Claudian's men- 
 tion of the aptitude of English dogs for baiting. Three mastiffs more 
 than a match for a bear. The mastiff trained for baiting. Various 
 accounts of bear baitings. The true form of the mastiff. 
 
 CHAPTER XL THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 Pages 123 to 132. 
 
 Paintings of the mastiff in the 16th century. The Stuart's partiality 
 for the mastiff. Prince Henry's speech. Bear baiting on Sunday 
 prohibited by James 1st. Type of the mastiff in Charles Ist's time. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. THE MASTIFF IN THE 18TH CENTURY. 
 
 Pages 133 to 141. 
 
 Various writers who mention the mastiff. Linnaeus' description cf 
 the mastiff. Albinoism due to consanguinity. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. THE MASTIFF IN THE 19'rn CENTURY. 
 
 Pages 142 to 155. 
 
 Cuvier's description of the mastiff. A description of the mastiff in 
 1800. The Lyme Hall breed of mastiffs. The Eirklees mastiffs. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. TYPE of the ENGLISH MASTIFF ABOUT 1800 
 
 Pages 15G to 158. 
 
 Absence of houndiness in the mastiff. The lips of the mastiff and 
 flews of the hound. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 159 *o 1G5 
 
 Type of the Alpine mastiff. Influence of the Alpine on the English 
 mastiff. The Alpine cross in the English mastiff. 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN 
 
 MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 166 to 171. 
 
 Mr. J. Thompson. Bill George. Pedigree not much required or asked 
 for before 1870. Hereditary characteristics. The English mastiff not 
 so greatly improved. The Lyme Hall breed about 1850. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. THE GREAT BREEDERS. 
 
 Pages 172 to 18E. 
 
 Mr. Lukey. Order of Mr. Lukey's crossing. Mr. Thompson's opinion 
 of Mr. Lukey as a breeder. Foundation of Mr. Lukey's kennel princi- 
 pally Alpine mastiffs. Measurements of some of Mr. Lukey's old strain 
 Various delineations of the mastiff by H. Weir. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. THE NOTED BREEDERS. 
 
 Pages 184 to 196 
 
 Mr. Thompson's results. Decline of Mr.' Lukey's strain. Mr. Cautley 
 as a breeder. Vast size in the mastiff derived from foreign crosses. 
 Correct proportions of the mastiff. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. EARLY DOG SHOWS. 
 
 Pages 1&7 to 203. 
 
 The value of photographs. Mr. Lukey's mistake in crossing with Lion. 
 Great care required in crossing, 
 
 CHAPTER XX. NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 Pages 204 to 218. 
 
 Mr. Hanbury's Duchess, Champion, Peeress 2393, Norah 6397, Old 
 King. Tha kennel club stud book. Importance of pedigree. The King 
 line. The value of Rajah. Necessity of symmetry. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. THE POINTS OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Pages 219 to 222. 
 The points of the English mastiff. A scale of points for judging. 
 
E R R A T A . 
 
 Pago -1, liiie 1, for persuing, read pursuing 
 ., 4, footnote, Jor Jargan, read Jorjau, 
 ,, '20, line 3, Jor Sauroctoues, read Sauroctonos. 
 ,, H7, ,. 21. for Apis /Ethiopicus, read Aper /Ethiopians. 
 ,, 40, ,, *2(>, for Homer, lib. iii. line 36G, read line 3UO. 
 ,, 4B, ,, 7, /or Galic, renj Gallic. 
 ,, 40, ,, 5, do. do. 
 
 ,, 40, ,. *24, for acording, read according. 
 ,, ')'.), ,, '20, jot calcelarius, read calcareous 
 ,, 7)5, ,, 12, /orPromptarumPa?vilorum,r<rad!Promptarium 
 
 Parvulorurn. 
 ,, 7'.), ,, 13, /(>/ tyranical, rend tyrannical 
 
THE MASTIFF, 
 
 CANIS MASSIVUS BRITANNICUS. 
 
 o 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 Let Hercules himself do what he may, 
 The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. 
 
 Shakespeare. Hamlet. 
 
 THE origin of the various breeds of dogs becomes lost and 
 imtraceable amid the mystery and obscurity which clouds the 
 earliest ages of history, and I may say with W. Watts 
 
 " 'T would far exceed my fixed intent ; 
 
 To trace throughout the dogs descent." 
 
 The Sculptor's art alone has left sufficient uncontrovertible 
 proof to explode the theory held by some naturalists, who have 
 advanced that the numerous varieties of the dog are all nothing 
 more than variations from one original race, of which the wolf 
 was the common progenitor ; but it is as absurd to argue that 
 all the different varieties of the dog are derived from one race 
 of dog or from the wolf, as it would be to maintain that all 
 the manifold species of wild dogs, wolves and hyaenas had 
 one common progenitor, and it is manifest that any such 
 hypothesis will not stand investigation. 
 
 A 
 
2 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 Of the wolves themselves there are several distinct species, 
 and the same in foxes ; also various genera of hyaena all of 
 8P&nich may have offspring by the dog, yet the absurdity of any 
 idea of their all having one common origin is patent. Buffon 
 himself, although he mentions an instance of a wolf having 
 connexion with a dog, and progeny arising therefrom (vide 
 Buffon Nat. Hist, under heading mules) states the usual ster- 
 ility of such offspring, and the difficulty there is } with all mules 
 to procreate. Although it is just possible for them at times 
 to engender with one of their parent races, in which way the 
 nonsunthetical blood may be abscinded, yet mules will not 
 readily breed inter se. 
 
 Aristotle in the VI th book 2oth chapter of his history of 
 Animals points out that the mule progeny of wolf and dog are 
 carried longer in the womb than the ordinary dog, and shorter 
 than the wolf, whereas the period of gestation 63 days never 
 varies in the true dog. 
 
 However J have known exceptions to this, the normal period, 
 and modern investigation seems to prove that the wolf like 
 the dog goes only 63 days. 
 
 Some naturalists affirm there is a slight, but decided differ- 
 ence in the conformity of the two species ; the osteology of the 
 wolf differing from that of the dog, but others deny this. A 
 marked difference however is that of the eye, the pupil of 
 which in all the true dogs is round, while in the wolf it is 
 oblique. 
 
 The wild dogs of Africa and other countries hunting in packs 
 form another proof of the original distinct creation of the dog. 
 These together with the early existence of known and distinct 
 types, found figured on the earliest sculptures of Egypt and 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 3 
 
 other countries, form the most cogent evidence of the primary 
 creation of several distinct types of the dog, similar to what 
 we see in other animals and birds, and it is in vain for natur- 
 alists like Bell, Buffon, Hunter and others, however able and 
 specious as writers to try to construct a progressive hypothet- 
 ical order of origin of species, to suit their own preconceived 
 views, in spite and defiance of the manifest non-mutability of 
 original types, and the opposition of nature, to violence offered 
 to her laws. 
 
 The possibility of producing mules and hybrids is quite a 
 different matter and their fertility or sterility does not really 
 effect the question of original distinction of species in such 
 animals as the dog, hyaena, wolf, and jackal, or the sheep, 
 goat, ibex, and similar species, and it is just possible that a 
 cross between the dog and hyaena, wolf or jackal, runs in the 
 veins of some breeds of the dog. 
 
 Pallas, the celebrated naturalist, who visited London in 
 1761, held the theory that the mastiff was derived from the 
 hyaena ; and Burchell also supports the same. 
 
 Lowe in his domestic animals of Great Britain, held that 
 it was very possible that the blood of a hyaena cross, runs in 
 the veins of the mastiff, and the striped or brindle markings, 
 short blunt head and powerful jaws, are not at all unfavour- 
 able to such an idea, although the dentition of the hyaena is 
 very different from that of the dog and wolf. 
 
 Aristotle mentions the canis Indices, Indian dogs, stating 
 them to be a hybrid between the dog and tiger " Indi coitus 
 tcmporc in saltibus canes foe minus reliqunt nt cii'n his tigridcs cifaut : 
 quorum cxprimnes concept its ab nimiam fcritatem, inutilis partns jiidi- 
 cant ; itemquc sccundos, scd Urtios cducaut." Lucretius (Dc vcnim 
 
4 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 naturd Lib Hi, Line 717. ) speaking of this breed persuing deer 
 calls it " Can-is Hyvcano defemine" That these fierce dogs begot 
 in the ;;c Hyrcanian forests were any hybrid with the tiger is 
 simply impossible ; canines and felines being unable to breed 
 together, but it is just possible that they were a cross with the 
 hyaena or else some race of mastiff like dogs, then existing wild 
 in the woods of Asia and since become extinct. 
 
 Cuvier says in his Animal Kingdom that domesticating the 
 dog is the must complete, the most useful, and most singular 
 conquest man has achieved, the various species having become 
 our property. 
 
 With regard to the original wild varieties from which our 
 numerous races of domesticated dogs have sprung, I may 
 suggest that in all probability several have become extinct, 
 possibly before the flood. We know that the wild originals 
 of some of our oxen, for example the Bos Longifrons, have 
 become so, and the domestic long-horn cattle of Britain, are 
 not at all unlikely to become extinct, unless preserved as curi- 
 osities, although the leading variety in England only one 
 hundred years ago. ' The unreclaimed ancestors of our do- 
 mestic dogs would be a pest to man, and from their nature, 
 would not shun his presence and thus be not difficult to destroy, 
 
 *Hyrcania, of Scythio origin and said to denote waste or uncultivated 
 country. It was a mountainous district covered with forest, situated at 
 the north-eastern corner of the Caspian sea, and was in fact the country 
 round the modern Astcrabad, stretching northwards toward the modern 
 Ust Urt plain, towards the Oxus Zadracart near the modern Jargan was 
 the ancient metropolis. Wild horses, asses, buffaloes, dee]-, antelopes, 
 hears, hyaenas, and wolves still rou.ni in the plains, and the margins of the 
 lakes and rivers which are lined with tall sedges and feathery reeds, 
 abound in wild boars and beasts of prey. Virgil (./Enid Lib iv, Line 307) 
 mentions the Hyrcanian tigers. In such a district wild dogs of a mastiff 
 type would be able to exist. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 5 
 
 and therefore as population spread in Europe the wild canines 
 would get exterminated, and the opinion has been advanced, 
 and not without reasonable data, that the very wolves that 
 infested Britain, were not of the same species as the Conti- 
 nental wolf (which would have been more than a match for 
 the w r olf dog of Ireland) but were in reality a wild dog, and 
 possibly the wild aborigine from which when crossed with the 
 Celtic greyhound of Gaul, arose the Irish wolf greyhound, 
 which so assisted in their extermination. 
 
 Col. H. Smith ( Nat. Library vol. ix) suggests that a lost 
 or undiscovered species, allied to the canis tricolor or hyaena 
 venatica of Burchell, was the source of the short muzzled and 
 strong jawed races of primitive mastiffs, and again he says, 
 in one group of domestic dogs however, there is one bearing 
 evidence of a much greater departure from the general simi- 
 larity a departure leading to a strong presumption that the 
 typical animal was taken from an aberrant species, one nearly 
 approximating the hyaena and allied to canis tricolor or Pictus 
 Author. The group is that of our mastiff and bulldog. But 
 Col. H. Smith as well as other naturalists have seemingly 
 overlooked the fact that the indigenous mastiff of Britain and 
 Gaul had probably a wild prototype, long since extinct, and 
 the idiocratic temperament of the English mastiff and bulldog 
 is very favourable to such a theory. 
 
 In still further refutation of the lupine ancestry of the dog 
 may be instanced the early distinct mention of the animal 
 from the wolf in various countries, in Egypt we find that the 
 
 t Aristotle mentions the division of animals into domestic and wild, 
 which theory though adopted by some naturalists, is defective, as the 
 horse dog, etc., that lived in the woods, did not differ specifically from 
 the domestic. Vide Aribfc de part Am" Lib 1. C, 3. t, 1. p, 972. 
 
6 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 dog was from the earliest traceable times regarded as the 
 emblem of Anubis, Osiris, or Sirius, the former being believed 
 to be the Greek corruption of the latter. The dog was the 
 emblem of the watcher or shepherd god of the rising of the 
 Nile. 
 
 Juvenal lib. v. sat. xv. ver. 8, states that "whole cities 
 worshipped the dog," i.e. as the emblem of Anubis. 
 
 The Hebrew word nobeh, to bark, (which the wolf does not) 
 occurs in Isaiah liv. 10. and is evidently the root of the Hebrew 
 hanubeh, the barker, the Egyptian anubis, the Latrator 
 anubis of Ovid. The aspirate being omitted in the two latter 
 instances. Sirius is believed to have been derived from Scir, 
 which in the language of the first inhabitants of the Thebiad, 
 meant a dog. 
 
 Perhaps the strongest proof of the non-lupine origin of the 
 dog, is that in some of the oldest writings in the world, we 
 find distinct mention of both the dog and wolf, and also of 
 their different natures, and separate and distinctive words 
 are employed to define each animal in various languages 
 
 The dog, although sometimes spoken of as an emblem of 
 shamelessness and obscenity, and by the Hebrews as unclean, 
 (owing to its being venerated as the emblem of a fylse God 
 by the Egyptians), yet is represented as the guardian, friend, 
 and companion of man, while the wolf is ever spoken of with 
 hatred and avoidance, owing to its ravening and cruelty, 
 
 Moses, skilled in all the learning of Egypt, writing more 
 than 2000 years B. C., mentions the watchdogs of the Egyp- 
 tians, stating (Exodus xi. 7.) " not a dog should move his 
 tongue against man or beast of the children of Israel," neither 
 the wolf nor jackal bark, therefore this is manifest reference 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 7 
 
 to the domestic dog, and Job xxx, c. i, v. mentions " theddgs 
 of his flock," proving at what an early date the shepherd 
 made use of the animal. While in Genesis xlix. is stated the 
 ravening nature of the wolf, the zeeb of the Hebrew and 
 Arab, derived according to M. Majlis, from the Arabic zaab 
 or daaba, to frighten. 
 
 Harris thought the wolf to be represented on the Praenestic 
 pavement, with the mouth half open, jaws long and well 
 armed with teeth. Both Harris in his dictionary of the Nat. 
 Hist, of the Bible (Art Wolf) and Col. H. Smith Nat. Lib. 
 vol. ix. (under Thous Anthus, wild dog of Egypt) mention 
 this figure of a canine in a howling attitude figured on the 
 Praenestine, Mosaic, in the part depicting Egypt, with the 
 word EIOT- or Eton- over it, which they attribute as allied to the 
 Ethiopic plural Zybt or Azibit, for wolves, but with every 
 deference to their erudition I am inclined to think the word 
 Eioir stands for The Holy Animal /. c. Tutelar God of Upper 
 Egypt, the god of the Nile Latrator Anubis who is always 
 represented with a head of a wolfish type, which seems to me 
 best accounted for, first from the fact, that the true mastiff" 
 type was almost or entirely unknown to the early Egyptians, 
 and secondly Anubis was the shepherd watch dog of the Nile, 
 and we find the sheepdog in every clime and in every country, 
 with a wolfish type of head. This I attribute will be owing 
 to shepherds in the first instance, finding their flocks ravaged 
 by the wild dogs of the country, would capture some of their 
 young, and direct the proclivity for sheep worrying into 
 collecting them together (which is a natural instinct) when 
 directed, and then trained them to protect their charge, and 
 probably the early sheepdogs of Egypt would be of this 
 wolfish or wild dog type. 
 
N ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 My reason for holding the idea that Eton- simply meant the 
 holy animal is because the word is plainly of Greek derivation. 
 Strabo states Praeneste claimed a Greek origin, although 
 afterwards colonized by Alba. Scylla beautified its oracular 
 temple of fortune (a goddess that ever favoured him) and 
 Pliny says the first mosaic pavement introduced into Italy 
 was made by the command of that General. Eioir seems 
 nearly allied to o-tos which was the Laconic for Oeos or Zeus. 
 FT; rco crico. By the two gods viz. Castor and Pollux Arist 214. 
 Ocrios adjective meaning holy, and we see the Egyptian Sirius 
 was contracted and written by the Greeks Osiris. I may also 
 suggest Hois being the Greek word for a sculptor's chisel from 
 the theme Hew to scrape or carve stone. Hotr may have been 
 a name applied to the wolf, owing to its rasping and scraping 
 habits. 
 
 The Dog, the Sanscrit Cvan, the Hebrew Cheleb, and 
 Arabic. Kilb was held in contempt by the Jews on account of 
 the veneration the Eg}^ptians paid to the animal as the 
 emblem of the God Anubis. 
 
 Turning to the Greeks we find the dog termed KVWV (Kuon) 
 the o being pronounced long, and the pronunciation of the 
 word is very similar in sound to the howl of the domestic dog, 
 and it is curiously suggestive of the truth of the Biblical 
 account (Genesis ii.-2o) that Adam named the various animals; 
 that their primary names as far as traceable (although often 
 strangely corrupted by use through long ages and found under 
 various forms) seem in nearly every instance to have been 
 accorded generally from the voice or cry of each animal, or 
 else from their habit or some striking characteristic showing 
 thereby an unmistakeable oneness of original idea in denom- 
 inating them. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 9 
 
 Herodotus Lib. ii. c. 66, mentions the regard the Egyptians 
 had for their household dogs. 
 
 From Homers I Iliad, the oldest of Greek literature, com- 
 posed nearly some thousand years B. C., we find the raw-flesh 
 eating wolf (\VKOS o/Ao<ayoi Lib. xvi. 156) described, their 
 ravenous nature is mentioned in Lib. iv. 471. and Lib. xi. 72. 
 and their grey colour Lib. x. 334, and the radical meaning of 
 the Greek name XVKOS seems a devastator or ravager. 
 
 We see also how completely domesticated the dog was at 
 that early date, for Homer mentions hunting lions and boars 
 with dogs. " The}- all trembled as dogs around a lion," Lib. 
 v. 476, and again " As when a boar or lion looking fiercely 
 round conscious of his strength, turns upon the dogs and 
 huntsmen," Lib. xii. 41. also books iii. 26. viii. 338. xi. 292. 
 and xi. 548. He mentions hunting dogs or boarhounds Lib. 
 xi. 325. The swift dogs of Troy Lib. i. 50. and Lib. xi. 817. 
 and shepherd dogs Lib. x. 183. Homer also uses the word 
 dog as a term of reproach to females lacking modesty and 
 virtue, applying it to Helen Lib. 6. 344. and makes use of the 
 term dog contemptuously as a term of reproach to denote 
 effrontery in men. 
 
 /Eschylus in his Agamemnon 870 compares Clytemnestra 
 to the watch dog of the house, which John Scandrete Harford 
 D.C.L. of Blaize Castle has beautifully translated into the 
 following : 
 
 " His wife he'll find the guardian of his house, 
 Faithful, as when he left her, to her vows/' 
 To him devoted, to his foes a foe. 
 
 See if iv. p. 195. 
 
 Among other early evidences of the domesticity of the dog, 
 perhaps the most striking is the mythical Cerberus, older than 
 
 B 
 
10 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 any existing literature, and mentioned in Homers Odesy Lib. ii. 
 622. His name composed of two Hellenic words Kpeas ftopos 
 (greedy of flesh) shows the well known nature of the dog, also 
 the best manner to stop the barking of the watch dog, either 
 of Plutos gloomy realms, or the terrestrial globe. 
 
 No doubt poor blind old Homer, as he wandered through 
 the seven Greek cities, was often, like the modern mendicant, 
 annoyed by the chained watch dog of the wealthy. The fact 
 that Hercules is stated to have dragged Cerberus by his 
 chain from hell to earth, proves uncontestably that it was 
 customary to chain large watch dogs to prevent both ingress 
 and egress, more than 907 years B.C., the date Homer flour- 
 ished according to the Arundelian marbles. 
 
 Cerberus being represented with three heads, has been 
 explained as typifying the past, the present, and the future. 
 The monstrous Cerberus with head large enough for three, 
 His mane bristling, like iifty or a hundred snakes ; 
 With his broad yawning mouth, and * black ears hanging down, 
 Sits guarding his master's portals. 
 Mastiff like keeper, preventing ingress and egress, 
 The work of a Hercules to drag him from his chained post, 
 Or an Orphesian task to lull him to somnolence ; 
 Those compelled to visit his gloomy realms 
 Should provide themselves with cakes, to still his barkiug'jaws. 
 
 If we admit the fact of the universal deluge, attested by the 
 annals of Assyrian history, as well as sacred writ, we see 
 from the ancient sculptures that have been found, that many 
 of our established breeds, were in existence within compara- 
 tively very few centuries of the flood itself, and these breeds 
 have remained unchanged and unchanging in typical peculi- 
 arities or characteristics ever since. Of the existence of several 
 
 * The black ears of Cerberus are mentioned by Horace Lib. ii. ode xiii. 
 There was formerly a line old painting of the dog Cerberus with Pluto, at 
 Harden Hall, Cheshire, formerly the residence of the Arden family. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DOG. II* 
 
 distinct known varieties of the dog some 400 years B.C., some 
 slow hounds, gifted with keen sense of smell, others of a 
 greyhound type depending on their speed to run down their 
 prey ; we may read full mention of in Xenophons memor- 
 abilia of Socrates Lib. iii. ch. ii. Dec. 8. 
 
 I maintain the sculptures themselves prove the empirical 
 fallacy of the suppositions lupine origin of the dog. But 
 beyond this, experience in breeding reveals to the operator, 
 if he has any discernment, the necessity of their having been 
 at least some half dozen primary distinct varieties, to account 
 for the opposing fixed characteristics in the known breeds, 
 which have existed from the earliest times, in order to produce 
 the various blends or allied groups of varieties, some of which 
 have been formed in early ages, while others are known 
 compounds produced within the memory of man, but these 
 latter, unlike the former are variable in their peculiarities. 
 
 From some half dozen known typical races, it would have 
 been, and still would be, possible to produce all the varieties. 
 And what strengthens this theory formed after lengthened 
 experience in breeding and careful investigation, is that 
 practical writers on poultry (for one I refer to that talented 
 and interesting writer the Rev. E. Saul Dixon, M.A., who 
 treats on this subject in the preface to his work on Poultry), 
 have likewise become impressed w r ith the fact that there must 
 have been several distinct aboriginal varieties, to account for 
 the production of the numerons existing races both of Poultry 
 and dogs as well. 
 
 One of the strongest arguments against the dog being 
 merely a domesticated and cultivated \volf, is the fact that 
 whenever abandoned and left to seek its own livelihood, 
 none of the emancipated dogs have ever bred back into wolves 
 
12 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 
 
 again, showing plainly that their original normal type, differed 
 from that of the wolf. 
 
 Another most conclusive proof of the non-lupine origin of 
 all the varieties of the dog, is the few fossil remains which 
 have been found in the ossiferous caverns. 
 
 The canis Spelaeus of Goldfuss, the fossil remains of which 
 were discovered at Gailenrenth, differed materially in the 
 skull from the wolf, the muzzle being decidedly broader and 
 blunter. 
 
 Kauf describes the Agnotherium, as an animal allied to 
 the dog but to have equalled a lion in size. 
 
 Professor Low in his domesticated animals of Great Britain, 
 under the molossian group says : " We do not know of any 
 species of canis yet existing in a natural state, which may be 
 regarded as the parent stock of the mastiff, though such may 
 exist or have existed, is rendered probable by the characters 
 of the race, which have remained constant from age to age, 
 and distinguished the true mastiff from every other race of 
 dogs." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 ik Where oft the mastiff skulks with half shut eye, 
 And rouses at the stranger passing by." 
 
 Bloonifield'tt Farmer* Boy. 
 
 BEFORE proceeding further, in order that my readers may 
 fully comprehend the true type and peculiarities of the mastift 
 which I wish to expose and prove in this work ; and that they 
 may perceive the revelation of the points, as they may be 
 gathered from each historical fragment I lay before them ; it 
 may be advisable to lay down briefly the general character- 
 istics which form the real mastiff type. 
 
 In all animals and even in the races of man, the most 
 distinctive feature determining species and variety, is the 
 skull ; from which the skilled anatomist can readily determine 
 the habits and consequently, general form of the animal to 
 which it belongs. For the conformation of the skull 
 containing the brain, is formed either primarily or most 
 gradually from the continued habits the animal is adapted 
 and subjected to, 'and is modified but gradually through 
 forced change or suspension of habit. The form of the body 
 is concomitant with that of the cranium, therefore on exam- 
 ining the skull of an animal, it is not difficult in most cases, 
 to pronounce what will be the form of the carcase and limbs, 
 nay Ex pede Herculem, insomuch if a fairly skilled anatomist 
 has but a portion of the skull to guide him, he can form a 
 fairly correct idea, what the remainder must have been like. 
 
14 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 and concomitantly that of the body also. To the mastiff or 
 as it is sometimes incorrectly and pedantically termed the 
 mollossian group, belong. The mastiff, its stunted and 
 exaggerated confrere the bulldog, and the dwarfed and still 
 more artificially exaggerated pug dog. All these possess 
 certain conformity of type, diametrically opposite to breeds 
 like the hound, greyhound, or spaniel ; although infusion of 
 the blood of other species and circumstances, especially the 
 ignorance and caprice of man, may more or less modify or 
 intensify the characteristics. 
 
 In the mastiff group the muzzle is markedly short, the 
 cranium elevated, the superior maxillary is wide and ponder- 
 ous, the zygomatic arch is strongly developed and widely 
 divergent, the frontal bone is very thick and wide, the 
 temporal bones are strongly developed, the lower maxillary 
 is thick and massive, widely divergent and convex, turning 
 up and naturally inclined to overshutting the upper jaw. 
 This is a point that dog fanciers have contended and quarreled 
 about, with as much fury, and little more reason than their 
 dogs themselves, will^over a bone ; and it is labour thrown 
 away to try and teach the obstinate and wilfully ignorant ; that 
 nature intended the teeth of some animals to overshut. while 
 those of others to be level or undershut, so as to fit them 
 best for their respective habit. All dogs of the mastiff or 
 baiting kind should certainly be what is termed " undershot," 
 and if setting prejudice and ignorance aside, any one 
 will only take the trouble to investigate the matter in a 
 naturalists point of view, for example by examining the mouth 
 of the ordinary fresh water pike, they will see that fluvial 
 bulldog is considerably undershot, in order to enable it to 
 seize and hold more securely its prey. Here we see nature 
 left to itself instructing us, if we have but the sense to learn. 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 15 
 
 The foregoing characteristics of the mastiff group show 
 that their natural habit is that of broad thick-set powerful 
 animals, deriving their food naturally more from bold attack 
 of larger animals, and tearing the flesh from, and gnawing the 
 bones of, dead carcases, than on their speed or hunting powers. 
 Their limbs are characteristically short and stout, with 
 powerful muscles to move such powerful short levers. 
 
 The points drawn up by fanciers are somewhat fallacious 
 and arbitrary, being laid down simply to define the most 
 typical, and highly cultivated specimens. 
 
 All mastiffs should be, more or less heavily wrinkled about 
 the face, the lips pendulous, and having a certain amount of 
 dewlap ; the ears, although they should not be set so low as 
 in the hound and should be free from any folding, need not 
 be so small as the fancy dictates. It is no doubt a character- 
 istic of the English bulldog to have very small ears, and the 
 English mastiff is all the better for approaching its smaller 
 relation in character generally, but its other congener the 
 pug dog, is often spoilt according to fanciers ideas, through 
 having the round, thick ear, which generally grows to larger 
 dimension than the pointed or commonly termed V shape 
 usually does, although the former is equally or even more 
 typical. A round medium sized or even thick, heavy ear, is 
 not at variance with purity of mastiff type, and when the face 
 is heavily wrinkled, dewlap pronounced, and lips character- 
 istically pendulous, the ear will generally be larger, and have 
 more leather about it, than the modern fancy dictates. 
 
 Of late years the pendulosity of the lips is a characteristic 
 that has been lost sight of by the majority of breeders ; in fact 
 some who set themselves up for judges, have condemned this 
 oft mentioned characteristic of the race, which has been very 
 much lost through the introduction of vertragal blood 
 through the boarhound cross. 
 
l6 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 The stern in the mastiff, need not necessarily be carried 
 down, as the modern fancy dictates, for although a decided 
 improvement, we see in the Assyrian sculptures, the tail 
 curled over the back, the same in the Tibetian and in the 
 older pictures of the English mastiff. 
 
 The curled carriage of the stern lias been cultivated in the 
 pug dog until it has become an exaggerated peculiarity in that 
 breed. The coat of the mastiff varies greatly according to 
 climate and housing, and nothing sooner marks the country 
 the animal belongs to. The colours vary and formerly the 
 breed ran all colours. It w r ill readily be seen, mere height is 
 at variance with the true type; weight, and general massive- 
 ness, being far truer characteristics. 
 
 The theory or opinion I hold, is that the English mastiff 
 from the earliest times has existed in Britain, in its purity 
 resembling in many respects a vast bulldog, being the ancestor 
 of that breed. Such being the true pugnaces peculiar to 
 Britain and Gaul mentioned by the historians, and by crossing 
 these with larger breeds, particularly the Asiatic mastiff 
 (introduced probably by the Phosnicians) and other large 
 races of the pugnaces, as the white alan or war dogs of the 
 Alani, a larger variety of the mastiff was formed, which often 
 became crossed with the boarhounds and other large breeds, 
 as example the Kerry beagle and old Southern hound ; to its 
 detriment. Whereas whenever crossed back with its dwarfed 
 descendant the bulldog, manifest improvement in all points 
 except mere height has been obtained. 
 
 The English mastiff and English bulldog present affinity of 
 character possessed in common only by the Spanish bulldog, 
 of any known race of dog, character which is absent even in 
 the Asiatic mastiff. This stamps these varieties as peculiarly 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. IJ 
 
 European, and places the English bulldog as the most typical 
 of the European mastiff group, and simply unique in its 
 characteristics. 
 
 Before proceeding further it may perhaps render the subject 
 more easy of comprehension, if the history of the Asiatic 
 mastiff is briefly traced from the earliest times up to the 
 present. 
 
 It would be difficult to denominate any precise home of the 
 Asiatic mastiff, or to give any more generic name to embrace 
 the allophylian varieties than that from their distinctive 
 features, they must at once be classed as belonging more or 
 less to the mastiff family. 
 
 Their geographical position however has extended, and still 
 extends from the Caucasian ranges through the valleys of the 
 Elburz mountains, and onwards through the north of Turk- 
 istan to the Himalayas, and thence northwards over the vast 
 area of Thibet, the Shan districts, Mongolia and Siberia. 
 The accounts of travellers respecting the characteristics of 
 these Asiatic mastiffs are so varied, that the only way to 
 reconcile the conflicting statements at all, is to assume that 
 district varieties have arisen, owing to a greater or less amount 
 of adulteration, with the blood of the sharper muzzled sheep- 
 dogs of their respective localities. 
 
 That a true Asiatic mastiff has existed from very remote 
 ages, is proved by their figures represented on Assyrian 
 sculptures some 650 years B.C. These show the broad short 
 truncated muzzle of the true mastiff, the lips being deeply 
 pendulous, and the loose skin down the sides of the face 
 falling in heavy folds. The ears being wholly pendent, and 
 the dewlap very pronounced (which seems very characteristic 
 
 c 
 
1 8 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 to the Asiatic mastiff in its purity), the body cylindrical and 
 heavy, and limbs extremely massive, the stern mostly carried 
 upwards over the back in a hoop-like curve. 
 
 These dogs appear to have been of vast size, equalling in 
 proportion, the largest of our modern dogs, and their height 
 may be estimated to have been from 30 to 34 inches at shoulder, 
 and at times even 36 inches perhaps. 
 
 The next historical mention of the breed is when in 326 B.C. 
 Alexander the Great crossed the Indus and that mighty 
 conqueror appears to have been the introducer of them into 
 Greece, as before his time the true mastiff with pendent ears 
 appears to have been unknown. Megasthenes who flourished 
 B.C. 300 being about the first of the Grecian writers, who 
 mentions the true mastiff with pendent ears. 
 
 Coming to more recent times Marco Polo the celebrated 
 Venetian traveller, who penetrated the districts of Central 
 Asia, and Mongolia, writing in 1295 nientions the Asiatic 
 mastiffs, which he describes as large as asses, probably no 
 exaggeration if he meant to compare them to some of the 
 smaller breeds of 'the domestic ass. 
 
 Of later years these Asiatic mastiffs appear to have degen- 
 erated greatly in many districts, owing seemingly to having 
 been crossed with the sharp muzzled smaller breeds owned 
 by the inhabitants of Central Asia, and the finest specimens 
 that have come before European notice have been of Thibetian 
 extraction, so much so, that the Asiatic mastiff has generally 
 become denominated the Thibet mastiff (MastivusThibetanus). 
 The Penny Encyclopaedia states that Mr. Hodson in a paper, 
 * on the mamalia of Napal ' published in the 'Journal of the 
 Asiatic Society of Calcutta,' mentions inter alia under the 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 19 
 
 title of Canis Familiaris Linn, the pariah as the only dog 'of 
 the lower and central regions. The Thibetian mastiff, he 
 states is limited to Kachar (Cachar) into which it was 
 introduced from its native country, but in which it degenerates 
 rapidly: there are he observes several varieties of it. 
 
 Some years ago there were specimens of these Thibetian 
 dogs in our Zoological Gardens, they are described as having 
 been larger than any of our English mastiffs, their colour 
 black, slightly clouded on the sides with tan, their paws and 
 a spot over each eye, being also of the latter colour these had 
 the broad short muzzle of the mastiff, their lips more pendulous 
 than in the European mastiff, and they appeared to have 
 generally a greater amount of loose skin. These fine animals 
 died soon after their arrival, but there is an excellent engraving 
 of one of them in Youatt on the dog, also in the 1849 edition 
 of Stonehenge. 
 
 Dr. Wallich stated that these Thihetian mastiffs were the 
 watch dogs of the table lands of the Himalaya mountains 
 about Thibet, and they were thought to be the only specimens 
 of the kind that had reached Europe. Elaine however states 
 that he saw one in the possession of the Ccuntess Minden, an 
 exact counterpart of those that were in the Zoological Gardens, 
 and that the Countess informed him that she had met \\ith 
 hers in German}'. 
 
 Captain Razer mentions the Thibet mastiff, statirg that one 
 of them, a fine animal, was as large as a gocd sized Newfound- 
 land dog, with very long hair, and a head resembling a mastiff, 
 his tail was of an extraordinary length, like the brush of a fox, 
 and curled half over his back. He was so fierce that he 
 would allow no stranger to approach him. This comparison 
 to a Newfoundland is worthy of notice, as other travellers 
 have made a like similitude. 
 
20 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 Captain Turner wrote: "Entering a Thibet village and 
 being indolently disposed and prompted by mere curiosity I 
 strolled along among the houses ; and seeing everything still 
 and quiet, I turned into one of the enclosures, which serve as 
 folds for cattle, the instant I entered the gate to my astonish- 
 ment up started a large dog, big enough, if his courage had 
 been equal to his size, to fight a lion, and I was a good deal 
 startled at first, but recollecting their cowardly disposition I 
 stood still ; for having once had one in my possession I knew 
 they were fierce only when they perceived themselves feared. 
 Some people came out of the houses, and he was soon silenced." 
 
 Mr. Moorcroft in the account of his journey to Lake 
 Manasarovana, in the i8th century notices the Thibet dogs 
 as guards to the flocks of the Uniyas and bore testimony to 
 their fierceness and disposition to attack strangers. Some 30 
 years ago a Mr. Jolland of Buxshall near Lindfield, Sussex, 
 had a fine specimen presented to him by Mr. Cooper, who 
 endeavouring to penetrate Thibet from Assam was prevented 
 on entering the boundaries, by a message from the Thibetan 
 authorities, accompanied by a Thibet mastiff and a dagger 
 for his acceptance, with the intimation that if he advanced it 
 would be at the risk of encountering many such dogs and 
 weapons. Mr. Cooper had two English bulldogs with him 
 which nearly killed the Thibet mastiff, before they could be 
 choked off, nearly shaking the life out of him . 
 
 This specimen somewhat resembled a Newfoundland, but 
 is described as having a wolfish cast of head, his coat was of 
 long thick black hair, with the usual tan paws, his tail bushy 
 and carried over his back. The dog flew at Mr. Cooper who 
 completely cowed him by administering a severe thrashing, 
 which has been the Author's experience with the only Asiatic 
 specimen he has ever owned. 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 21 
 
 Mr. Bennet stated that the Thibet mastiff is bred on the 
 Himalaya mountains, on the borders of Thibet, for the 
 purpose of guarding the flocks and the women who attend 
 them. They are the watch dogs of the plateau, and guard 
 the women and homesteads while the Bhotans are away on 
 their trading excursions. 
 
 Mr. Bennet stated that these dogs are the defenders of 
 almost every considerable mansion in Thibet and that he had 
 to pass by a row of wooden cages containing a number of 
 them, when on an embassy to the court of Tesloo Llama in 
 Thibet, and that they were so savage that it was unsafe to 
 approach them. 
 
 Some years ago I met with a gentlemen who had seen many 
 of these dogs brought down to Calcutta for sale by the 
 Bhotans, and he said that they resembled Newfoundlands far 
 more than English mastiffs, and that the heads of all the 
 specimens that he saw were pointed and wolfish. In colour 
 they were generally of a dusky black, with light tan paws, 
 that some were a kind of dun approaching to fawn, and that 
 they stood not above 27 or 28 inches at shoulder, and in his 
 opinion, had little claim to be considered mastiffs. Subse- 
 quently to this I corresponded with Mr. Robert Shaw, chief 
 commissioner at Ladak, and I found that he had seen them 
 around Ladak, and his description was very similar to that 
 given me by the gentlemen whose opinion and statement I 
 have quoted. 
 
 Dogs of a more distinct mastiff type are found in Mongolia, 
 some of a silver-grey colour with long hair and fine brush-like 
 stern. 
 
 Some years ago now I met with two Asiatic mastiffs that 
 had been brought over from Russia, the one said to be a 
 
22 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 Siberian was of a dirty white colour, with long coarsish coat, 
 somewhat long in head, but broad, blunt and sguarc in muzzle, 
 with very small ears, deep but somewhat narrow in body, 
 standing probably some 31 or 32 inches at shoulder with great 
 bone, but very deficient in muscular development compared 
 to good specimens of the English variety. The other was a 
 lower standing animal, being not more than 29 inches at 
 shoulder, with rounder barrel, short stout limbs, and one of 
 the most typically mastiff heads I have ever seen eyes 
 remarkably small and grey in colour, the muzzle short blunt 
 and very deep, lips extremely pendulous, ears very small, co::t 
 short, very dense and somewhat woolly, colour a deep red 
 chestnut, with blue or slate coloured points, and a white 
 streak up the face, white on breast and paws, stern somewhat 
 thick and brush-like, He had a split nostril, and the skin 
 instead of being black, was bluish slate colour. That this 
 was a true mastiff colour I was aware from having seen an 
 English mastiff bitch of exactly the same colour and markings 
 at Lord Stanley's of Alderley in Cheshire. 
 
 In temper the Russian (which I purchased) was sullen and 
 ferocious to strangers when on chain, when loose however 
 taking no notice of anyone but his master, and he was a most 
 undemonstrative and uninteresting animal in disposition. 
 
 On several occasions he growled ominously at me on very 
 slight provocation, on one occasion growling at me I kicked 
 him broadside into his kennel and clapped the door to just 
 in time, as he rushed at it like a wild beast. 
 
 On another occasion, losing my temper at his repeated 
 snarling I seized him by the collar and beat him with my 
 slipper until I was tired, this completely cowed him, he never 
 showed any ill temper towards me personally afterwards and 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 23 
 
 even grew to be somewhat affectionate, but no one else would 
 he let approach him. He showed the utmost indifference to 
 cold, preferring sleeping on the hard cold brick floor, to his 
 wooden bench, either with or without bedding. 
 
 Of recent times Thibet is the only country that has obtained 
 any notoriety for possessing the Asiatic mastiff in any state 
 of purity, but I am inclined to think that isolated specimens 
 and little families of the pure breed still exist in those vast 
 regions, stretching from Thibet right into Russia, in fact 
 through the whole regions of ancient Sarmatia. These Asi- 
 atics are not nearly as muscular as the English breed, and 
 inferior for fighting purposes, and any further introduction of 
 the Asiatic blood into the English breed, although it might 
 give greater dignity of expression, more loose skin and wrinkle, 
 and restore the somewhat lost pendulosity of the lip, and 
 perhaps a smaller ear ; would nevertheless result in failure, 
 as the girth of skull in our English mastiff and bulldog, has 
 been cultivated for generations, and improved by careful 
 breeding not understood by foreigners, for in breeding domestic 
 animals the English have long possessed talent unrivalled by 
 other nations. 
 
 Having thus laid down these generalities I will resume my 
 evidences by saying the earliest and most incontestable proofs 
 we possess of the origin of the various races of dogs, are the 
 delineations of the animals that existed in the days of early 
 Assyrian, Egyptian, and Grecian sculpture, and among 
 these we may trace dogs of the mastiff as well as greyhound 
 and other types, existing centuries before the Christian era. 
 The characteristics are the same to day, as they were when 
 the noble mastiff delighted the eyes of the Assyrian kings. 
 
24 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 It will be interesting to my readers to know where they 
 may see for themselves proof of my statements and arguments 
 based thereon as I proceed and in persuance of this plan I 
 may say there is a fine specimen of the Assyrian mastiff, 
 drawn from a baked clay bas-relief found in the Birs-i-Nimroud 
 figured in page 164 of a little work entitled " Ruined Cities of 
 Bible Lands," by Dr. W. K. Tweedie, D. D., it is also figured 
 in the third edition of Nineveh and Persepolis by Mr. Vaux, 
 the bas-relief itself was found by Henry Rawlinson, and 
 presented by the late Prince Consort to the British Museum. 
 The tail in this specimen is curled over the back, the same as 
 seen in the Thibetian mastiff, the pug, and delineations of our 
 earlier English mastiffs. It is also worthy of remark that the 
 Assyrians were always careful to define long hair when it 
 existed, but in this specimen the stern appears free from any 
 roughness, although so minute are the details that the very 
 fraying at the end of the rope is depicted, the loose skin hangs 
 down the face in enormous wrinkles or folds, and the lips 
 were extremely pendulous evidently, although the mouth is 
 marked by a slit or line in the usual conventional form of 
 Assyrian sculpture. The ears are of medium size, chest very 
 deep, and limbs massive, the head short and of great volumn, 
 and muzzle short and truncated. There is a great similarity 
 between this dog and some of our noted English specimens. 
 
 Further examples of the Assyrian mastiff are figured in 
 " Gleanings from the Natural History of the Ancients," by 
 the Rev. W. Houghton, and they have more of the European 
 mastiff character about them, and their sterns while carried 
 gaily are not raised above the line of the level of the back. 
 
 There is a fine specimen of one of the Assyrian mastiffs 
 figured in Berjeau's work. " The Dog in Old Sculptures, 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 25 
 
 Paintings, etc.," from a sculpture in the British- Museum. 
 This is a noble example of the breed, reminding me strongly 
 of Taurus 2nd 9339, for some time my property, and one of 
 the very best specimens of his day taking all points into 
 consideration. 
 
 In the British Museum is a sculpture showing the use that 
 the Assyrian kings made of these mastiffs. It represents a 
 lion hunt or artificial battue of lions, in an enclosed park, of 
 Assur ban-i-pal, King of Assyria, who flourished some 640 
 years B.C. The dogs are held back by men with a rope, one 
 dog before the lion is at a dead stand, evidently barking, the 
 others showing evident signs of impatience to get at the royal 
 game. In another part of the museum are models of these 
 hunting dogs of the same monarch, found behind the slabs at 
 Nineveh, so we see this king was fortunate in possessing both 
 modeller and sculptor, although the artist's names have not 
 been handed down to us. 
 
 Darwin in his Animals and Plants under domestication, 
 states that on the tomb of Esarhaddon is figured one of these 
 Assyrian mastiffs. Esarhaddon (2 Kings xix-37) son and 
 successor of Sennacherib died according to George Smith's 
 Assyria 668 B.C. In his reign the wandering tribes of 
 Cimmerians migrated across the Caucasus ; and Esarhaddon 
 also attacked and subdued the Medes, and this powerful 
 monarch probably introduced the mastiff from these countries 
 after his conquests. Although he died 668 B.C. his tomb 
 would not be ornamented until the reign of his son Assurbanipal, 
 who we find in possession of many of these mastiffs. 
 
 In the " Excelsior Helps in Progress in Religion. Science, 
 and Literature, vol. v, is some mention of these Babylonish 
 dogs. Colonel Rawlinson (the merits of whose opinion as a 
 
 D 
 
26 TtE MATTItfF TYPE. 
 
 judge of the mastiff I am unaware of the value of) was inclined 
 to think that the mastiffs sculptured on the Assyrian slabs 
 were of the Thibetian breed. But they do not accord in 
 peculiarities of feature with more modern specimens of that 
 breed, and I am inclined to think that it is far more likely 
 that these mastiffs sculptured on the Assyrian slabs etc. were 
 ,i breed which either existed in Assyria itself at that date or 
 else were introduced from Sarmatia, Albania, Hyrcania, or 
 Iberia, or some of those northern parts of Asia above' Armenia, 
 which we read ot having possessed dogs large, and courageous 
 enough to have successfully coped with the lion. Moreover 
 they are more like our English mastiff in type than the shaggy 
 mastiff of Thibet, which always seems more or less to have 
 been crossed with the sheepdog of the country. The mastiff 
 of Turkestan being a small dog, little better than could be 
 produced by crossing an English mastiff with a Scotch sheep- 
 dog. The Mongolian mastiff (of which Mrs. Assiter possessed 
 a beautiful specimen exhibited at Maidstone sho\v in 1870, 
 and of which animal I have a lock of hair) is a long woolly 
 coated animal, which seems characteristic of all the more 
 northern Asiatic animals. However, Col. H. Smith sr.ys " In 
 Persia, where the rulers were generally descended from tribes 
 of Central Asia, the princes possessed vast hunting packs, 
 as is mentioned by Xenophon. \Ye find Megasthenes (who 
 flourished about 300 B.C.) the first to notice the true mastiff 
 with drooping ears, these he suggests were most likely known 
 to the Greeks as the Candarides and Sen, the latter not being 
 Chinese but Afghans of Candah.'ir," but Col. H. Smith seems 
 to have gone too far north-west- -overlooking the Hyrcanian, 
 from whence in a north-eastern direction, has probably ever 
 been the cradle of the Asiatic mastiff. 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 27 
 
 Turning from Assyrian to Egyptian sculpture, in the 
 Museum at Boulaq, is a tablet that formerly stood before the 
 tomb of king Antafaa 2nd, in the valley of the El Assisif at 
 Thebes, on this tablet are figured the four favourite dogs of 
 the king, and one represents a very perfect mastiff of vast size, 
 this dog has a smaller ear than the Asiatic or Assyrian 
 mastiffs, the head is short and full, and the muzzle short and 
 truncated, but the latter point not so marked as in the Assyrian. 
 The neck is thick, and breast deep. Dr. S. Birch, L.L.D. of 
 the British Museum, who kindly sent me his pamphlet 
 containing cuts and particulars of these dogs, remarks that 
 the mastiff" is a breed rarely represented in the Egyptian 
 sculptures, and from one of the names of the dog in question, 
 he conjectures it to have been black in colour, and thinks it 
 was probably of the same breed as we see figured on the 
 Assyrian sculptures. But the talented antiquarian is not 
 sufficiently well versed in the minutiae of canine type, to detect 
 the fact that the dog has more of the European character, 
 being higher in forehead, and in fact, to use a comprehensive 
 expression being more bulldog-like in character. The pam- 
 phlet was reprinted from the " Transactions of the Society of 
 Biblical Archaeology vol. iv. 1875," an d besides containing 
 numerous cuts of dogs, throws great light on the early existence 
 of several known types, as well as the great antiquity of the 
 love and value for the dog in Egypt. 
 
 Dr. Birch's remark that the mastiff is but rarely found 
 depicted among the numerous Egyptian sculptures of the dog 
 is very suggestive that the species does not belong to Africa. 
 Col. H. Smith mentions that in the south-east of Arabia he 
 was informed there was a race of dogs allied to the mastiff', 
 by its great size and round truncated muzzle, but that the lips 
 did not overhang the lower jaw, and the ears were semi-erect, 
 the coat fine, 
 
28 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 He states that this appears to be the breed figured in the 
 temples of Ceylon, whither the race may have been brought 
 by Arabian navigators. 
 
 In Stanley's African expedition he heard of vast dogs used 
 for the purposes of war by the natives. There appeared in 
 The Daily Telegraph of August 10, 1876, page 3, col. 5, 
 mention that " On the shores of the Victoria in Usukuma he 
 heard of a people far north possessing very large dogs of such 
 fierce nature that they were often taken to fight against the 
 enemies of their masters." These people he subsequently ascer- 
 ained to be the Wakedi, a tribe living north of Usoga. In the 
 same issue page 3, col. 6, " Usongora is a great salt field, it is 
 rom all accounts a very land of wonders," among other things 
 he mentions a breed of very large dogs of extraordinary ferocity. 
 Again in the same paper, issue of Oct. i5th, 1875, P a S e 5' c l- 
 4. " All my men had distinguished themselves, even " Bull" 
 my British bulldog had seized one of the Waturu by the leg 
 and had given him a taste of the power of the sharp canines 
 of the breed. And in col. 6 of the same " I hear strange tales 
 about the countries on the shores of this lake (Victoria) which 
 make me still more eager to start, one territory is said to 
 possess a breed of such large dogs that even my mastiffs are 
 quite small compared to them. One of Stanley's mastiffs 
 was presented to him by the Baroness Burdett Coutts I 
 believe. 
 
 From the sculptor's art we may learn that the true mastiff 
 has always been confined more or less to latitudes 20 to 60 
 north of the equator, and to certain countries. 
 
 Col. H. Smith states that the Takhti Boustan sculptures 
 and Indian carvings, paintings, and manuscripts are destitute 
 of the form of the mastiff. 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 2Q 
 
 Greece, the land of classic song and ennobling art has never 
 possessed the breed, seemingly. Nothing remains of the work 
 of Praxiteles (except the Apollo Sauroctones) ; his dogs long 
 since have been lost, along with his famous Cupid and the 
 form of his Phryne as Venus, but as he worked the time 
 resisting bronze and lasting marble, perhaps in spite of Byron's 
 invective, it is left for some other Pictish Peer to draw down 
 another " Curse of Minerva " for his canny picking out some 
 model canine guardian of the "Lares." 
 
 The Athsenian Phidias and his rival Alcamenes have left 
 us r.o examples of their talent, nor has Sicyonian Polycletus, 
 although reckoned the most skilful among the ancients. But 
 Myron, who so excelled in carving animals, that his famous 
 cow, the poets would have us believe imposed on the dewlapped 
 bulls of Thessaly, has handed down to posterity, one beautiful 
 piece of sculpture, showing plainly the type of the Grecian 
 molossus, which was in the possession of Lord Feversham, 
 at Buncombe Park, Yorkshire. 
 
 Turning to the classic writers we enter upon a sea of 
 literature that requires a skilful pilot to steer clear of the 
 numerous rocks that are liable at every turn to assail us, and 
 the carelessness and ignorance of later writers on Natural 
 History have greatly added to the mist that hangs over classic 
 lore. 
 
 The term for the mastiff among some naturalists, is the 
 molossus, originating with our early writers, who chose to 
 think that the classic writers meant a mastiff, in the sense we 
 now use the word, whereas the molossus was not in reality a 
 
 * The Lares were placed on the hearth or beside the door in private 
 houses. Plutarch tells us the Lares were covered with dogskin, and the 
 image of a dog placed next to them. 
 
30 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 mastiff. Many people therefore, erroneously think the word 
 molossus necessarily means a mastiff, whereas the Greeks only 
 became acquainted with the true mastiff about the time of 
 the Macedonian conquest at 336 B.C., being about 300 years 
 after the breed was cultivated by the Assyrian kings. 
 
 History informs us that Molossus was the name of a king 
 of a people living in Epirus, who took the name of Molossi 
 from him, and the district obtained the name of Molossis, 
 where were the mountains of Selli or Suli. This country 
 became famous for its dogs as guardians of flock and home- 
 stead, and they were imported to Rome, and became well 
 known under the name of canes molossi. 
 
 Grote in his History of Greece Lib. iii. chap. xxiv. page 558, 
 states that the Molossians and Chaonians were two of the 
 principal nations of Epirus, and that Epirus is essentially a 
 pastoral country, that its shepherd dogs were celebrated 
 through all antiquity. 
 
 Of the unmastiff-like type of the Molossian we may learn 
 from Aristotle who says : Of the Laconian dogs, that they 
 were produced from a cross with the wolf. " Laconic: canes ex 
 vulpe d cane genevantur" Arist. Hist. Animals, Lib. viii. ch. 
 xxviii., and of the Molossian he says, they differ nothing from 
 the Laconian, but as a guardian of the flocks and herds they 
 are eminent against wild beasts for size and courage." Lib. 
 ix. ch. i. 
 
 The difference in the period of gestation between the Lacon- 
 ian and ordinary breeds of dogs is mentioned in Lib. vi. ch. 20, 
 which goes a long way towards furnishing positive proof that 
 the Laconian and Molossian dogs were in reality in the 
 opinion of the ancients, the result of a union between some 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 31 
 
 large breed of dog and the wolf. That such a union is possible 
 has been proved in several instances beyond doubt or dispute, 
 and Buffon in his dissertation on mules (under the Ass) 
 mentions an instance of a cross between a mongrel mastiff and 
 the wolf. Virgil iii. line 18, mentions Latrante Lycisca and 
 from Claudian we learn that Francia possessed dogs produced 
 from crossing the dog with the wolf, and without extending 
 these remarks, it is palpable that the molossus was a dog of 
 wolfish type. 
 
 Classical writers carelessly or for convenience called any 
 and all dogs approaching anything like the dogs of Epirus in 
 size or character by the common term molossus. The Rev. 
 \Yatkins in some well written and interesting notes on the 
 British dogs, published in the Antiquary, shows the molossus 
 was a word soon used in a much wider sense than its primitive 
 meaning warranted, i.e., a dog belonging to the Molossi. And 
 although Virgil in his Georgics, Lib. iii. line 404, distinguishes 
 between the swift Spartan and fierce Molossian, later writers 
 classed all large dogs under this heading. 
 
 It is recorded by /Elian that the Molossi wept over their 
 dogs slain in war, and the effigy of one, slain at the battle of 
 Marathon, was placed over his master's tomb. M. A. Plautus, 
 the comic poet, who died about 184 B.C., -informs us that the 
 Molossian dogs were house dogs, and opposed and indifferent 
 to hunting. " Molossi canes parasiti quibus opponantur venatici" 
 Plant, s.c. i. A.I. The word "parasiti" being used in a 
 satirical sense. In the Dictionary of Ambrosius of Celephini 
 (the 1663 orgth Edition) is a curious collection of Greek notices 
 of the molossus some of which derive them from the brazen 
 dog made by Vnlcan. My late friend J. W. Thompson (of 
 mastiff notoriety) nearly led me into a very absurd and 
 
32 THE MASTIFF TYPE. 
 
 never-the-less amusing error over some brazen dogs at Cote- 
 hele House. Mr. Thompson informed me that he understood 
 that they were very ancient colossal dogs, upwards of four 
 feet high, and beyond doubt casts of Molossian dogs or 
 mastiffs. I wrote to the Dowager Countess Mount Edgcombe, 
 who very kindly informed me of the error, the" dogs in question 
 being only ancient brazen fire dogs, upwards of 250 years old, 
 and standing some four feet high. Had I accepted my late 
 friend's statement without further enquiry, and enlarged upon 
 it in Goldsmith-like style, it would justly have landed me in 
 rather a brazensmith literary bungle, but I have endeavoured 
 to verify as far as possible the statements I have made use of 
 throughout this work. 
 
 De la Barre Duparcq in his work "The Dogs of War" 
 which is in the French, mentions that there are two ancient 
 marble statues in the Vatican at Rome of the true Molossian 
 dogs, and Col. H. Smith states that in the Vatican collection 
 of Sculpture there is only one statue of a genuine mastiff. 
 
 The high state of perfection to which ancient sculptor's 
 attained in representing the dog at a very early date in its 
 various attitudes and varieties, may be gathered from the fine 
 piece of sculpture (attributed to Myron) at Dtmcombe Park, 
 Yorkshire, which is a figure of Alcibiade's dog, and it will be 
 remembered Alcibiades died 404 B.C. As a further proof of 
 the perfection art had attained and the early existence of 
 certain recognised breeds. In the Hall, of Animals in the 
 Vatican at Rome, is a remarkably fine statue of a dog of 
 pointer-like form, represented at a dead point, sculptured out 
 of white marble, interspersed with black knots and veins. 
 This ancient work of art was found under the ruins of a 
 mansion in ancient Rome, the execution is said to be faultless, 
 
THE MASTIFF TYPE. 33 
 
 and the figure exadlly the same as the pointers used formerly 
 in Spain and Portugal, being remarkably broad across the 
 chest, and stout in the limbs, with an expansive forehead, and 
 tail docked within a short distance of the root, as was the 
 fashion in Spain and Portugal up to the present century. 
 
 Again in Youatts work on the dog are figured some grey- 
 hound puppies, taken from a statue of Aclaeon and dogs, found 
 in the ruins of the Villa Antonini, near Rome. 
 
 The dogs of the ancients were generally large and powerful 
 watch dogs, for house and fold, as Virgil mentions the 
 Amyclean shepherd dog, Georgics Lib. iii. 345. AmyclaB 
 being a city of Laconia, which was famous for its dogs. 
 
 From the Ajax of Sophocles, Adi i, scene i, we learn that 
 the Laconian or Spartan dog was a true hound, hunting by 
 scent. I have not a copy of the original Greek by me, but 
 Adam's translation runs as follows : "And now I will seek 
 thee among the tents of Ajax, where he keeps the utmost 
 guard, searching and tracing his newly impressed steps, to 
 see whether he is in or not, thy search for him is certain as a 
 Spartan hounds scent for the game." I mention this fully as 
 it not only proves the existence of the true hound at that 
 period, but is plainly the source together with some lines in 
 Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia, from whence Shakespeare derived 
 his hounds of Theseus in Midsummer Night's Dream, and if 
 the Electra of Sophocles did not more than furnish the 
 skeleton of Hamlet, I am mistaken. 
 
 But to return to the subject, classical writers used the word 
 molossians at a later period to embrace the true mastiff and 
 allied groups, and Dr. Caius, Gesner, Linnaeus, and other 
 naturalists followed the classical jumble. Therefore leaders 
 
34 TH MAstiFP TYPE. 
 
 and translators should be very guarded how they render 
 molossus as a mastiff, for the true molossian was an erect - 
 eared (altas aure) slate coloured (glauci) or fawn (fulvus) 
 sw r ift footed wolfish-looking dog, identical or almost so, with 
 the modern Suliot boarhound. A fine sculpture of the true 
 molossus was found at Pompeii, w r ith the inscription, " Cave 
 Canem," which I would have translators remember. 
 
 Horace has well described the breed in his Epodes, ode. vi. 
 lines 5 to 8, and in his Satires, Lib. ii. Sat. vi. 
 
 It will be seen throughout this work that I have constantly 
 extracted the history of the mastiff from the writings of the 
 poets, and I may say, poetry is a great instructor of the past, 
 an honest, an enduring historian, a truthful exponent of every 
 day life of the time it w T as written. The noble sculptures of 
 the past decay, the efforts of skill and art of the older empires 
 and past times leave only crumbling remains, indistinct 
 through age ; to prove their existence, and nothing, the work 
 of man's hand has outlasted the creation of man's mind. The 
 productions of the poets still live, may still be studied with 
 advantage and drawn from, like a never-failing \vell. Rightly 
 were the poets crowned with evergreen, Homer still speaks 
 fresh and vigorous as in the days of the Calydon boar-hunt, 
 or Actseons tragical fate in pursuit of the stag. So with our 
 later poets. The world grows older, man does but " Fret and 
 strut his hour upon the stage, and then is seen no more." 
 But they endure, live and reveal truthful information if wo 
 only consult their oracular mediums. The dusky daughters 
 of Cadmus, The lettered page. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 " Bold were those Britons who the careless son's 
 Of nature roam'd the forest bounds at once, 
 Their verdeut city, high embowering fane 
 And the gay circle of their woodlacd wars." 
 
 Thomjtson's Liberty. 
 
 FROM the preceding chapters it will be seen that dogs of a 
 true mastiff type have existed from the earliest times, and it 
 has been conjectured that the Phoenicians introduced the 
 Assyrian or Asiatic mastiff into Britain. 
 
 Col. H. Smith says, the mastiff is often reckoned an indi- 
 genous variety of Great Britain, but he believed that it was 
 imported by the Cimbric Celtse, and as this species is known 
 to exist in High Asia, it is likely from thence we obtained it. 
 
 Bochartus, (the celebrated Oriental scholar and author of 
 " History of the Animals of Scripture," who died at Caen in 
 1667), states that the Phoenicians came as far as the islands 
 called Casseterides (i.e. Sicily Islands) which abounded in tin. 
 That they also came to Cornwall, and called Britain Barac- 
 tanac or Bractanack i.e. the land of tin. 
 
 Strabo, pages 14 and 265, states that the Phoenician 
 commerce with the Belgiae and Britons was carried on by a 
 system of barter and exchange without the aid of money, so 
 also was the more recent commerce carried on during the age 
 of Augustus and Tiberias by the Phoenicians with the Britons, 
 whose money at Cassar's first invasion consisted merely of 
 pieces of brass without any impression, and iron bullion. 
 
36 THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 The Phoenician traders would have to cater for the taste 
 and cupidity of our barbarous forefathers, who amounted to 
 little better than savages (the "Hospitibus feros Brittannos" 
 of Horace, Lib, iii. ode iv.~32) although the community of 
 wives and incestuous and unnatural alliances imputed to them 
 by Caesar and Diodorus, I opine were unfounded, having 
 arisen probably from the practice of several families sleeping 
 in one common apartment or hovel, as was still continued by 
 many of the Welsh until quite recent times without any 
 sacrifice of morality. 
 
 Hovpver the Phoenician traders would have to bring arti- 
 cles fur exchange calculated to suit the taste of their British 
 producers of tin, and what more likely, than seeing the 
 courageous but somewhat undersized pugnaces or fighting 
 dogs, owned by the Britons (as mentioned by Gratius and 
 Arrian) that they should bring as an article of barter some of 
 the larger pugnaces or mastiffs of Asia, of which modern 
 scholarship and research renders it presumable they would be 
 fully cognizant of. 
 
 Of the Phoenician colonization from Carthage, and voyages 
 through the straits of Gibraltar as far as Alfionn (i.e. Albion) 
 and lerne (i.e. Ireland) notice has been preserved under the 
 'voyages of Himilco and the Periplus or voyage of Hanno, 
 the latter been recorded to have settled seven colonies on the 
 Continent towards Britain. The date of the latter voyage is 
 estimated to have been about 550 B.C. The Carthaginian 
 intercourse with their mother country Tyre, whose trading 
 with Assyria was intimate, would fully account for the 
 Carthaginian Phoenicians knowledge and possession of the 
 Assyrian mastiff, which we see was known 640 years B.C., 
 during the reign of Sardanapalus. And from a small work 
 
THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 37 
 
 entitled "Ancient History of Assyria from the Monuments," 
 by George Smith, chap. xv. We read the high state of 
 civilization the Assyrian monarchy had obtained under Assur- 
 ban-i-pal, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks. Under his rule 
 works on geography were made, a list of countries, their 
 positions and products, etc. And in chap. xv. page 183, Geo. 
 Smith mentions the noble breed of mastiffs to which particular 
 attention was paid, whether native or imported from the 
 Cimmerians, Scythians, or other barbarians. 
 
 Another piece of canine evidence of probable Phoenician 
 importation is the existence from time immemorial of the 
 water spaniel peculiar to Ireland and Spain, introduced by 
 the same traders, probably from Carthagena, as Dr. Birch has 
 identified the breed on the early Egyptian monuments 
 Among the Papyrus and other reeds of the Nile, this variety 
 would be most useful for retrieving water fowl, shot with the 
 primitive bow and arrow. 
 
 The Sluideen or wattled old greyhound pig of Ireland 
 forms another very suggestive connecting link of intercourse 
 between that country and Africa, the animal having seemingly 
 a closer affinity to the Ethiopean wild boar (the Apis JEthi- 
 opicus or wart-hog of Pallas, which he inferred was the same 
 as the Sus Larvatus of Madagascar) with its wattled excress- 
 ences, than to other British varieties. 
 
 To the Romans little was known of Britain previous to 
 Julius Caesar's conquest in 55 B.C., before which, the name 
 Britain was almost unknown to the Roman writers, thus it is 
 not surprising that Virgil makes no mention of the British 
 dogs, and his contemporary cowardly little Horace contented 
 himself with imprecating war on the inhospitable Britons at 
 
38 THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 a safe distance. And Virgil Eel. i. line 7. " Etpenitus toto diviscs 
 orbe Brittanos. Gratius Faliscus, the contemporary with 
 lascivious Ovid, and author of a Cynegeticon, writing about 
 A.D. 8, says : Soon after Britain was discovered, the pug- 
 naces of Epirus (i.e. the true molossus) were pitted against the 
 pugnaces of Britain, and the latter completely beat them, 
 that a large variety of this class (pugnaces) was employed to 
 guard the sheep and cattle, also to watch at the door of the 
 house. Gratius further says': " Whosoever If you will go 
 " to market through the Morinian coast, and it pleases you 
 " to visit the British in a rickety or risky Gallic boat, with 
 " the tide, oh how good a bargain and worth all the costs, at 
 "the same time if not possessing the form and the beautiful 
 chins," (evidently an illusion to the heavy undershot and in 
 some peoples eyes ugly lower jaw of the mastiff) " this is the 
 " only defect in the British youngsters, for when it comes to 
 "real work and headlong martial valour required with extreme 
 "discrimination and lying in wait, not then are selected 
 " molossians to be admired so much." Grat Cyneget p. 26, 
 London 1699. The foregoing is a careful and literal transla- 
 tion I made. 
 
 The Morini were a people of Belgic Gaul, on the shores of 
 the British Ocean. The shortest passage to Britain was 
 from o through their territory, they were called " extremi 
 hominum " by the Romans, because situated on the extremities 
 of Gaul. Their city called Morinorum Castellum, is now 
 Mount Cassel in Artois 
 
 Although keeping as strictly literal as possible, I have 
 slightly idiomatized my translation in order to be better 
 understood by such of my readers as may be unable to 
 translate the original for themselves, 
 
THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 39 
 
 
 
 While most translators have entirely overlooked 'the refer- 
 enc to the (mentitaros, chin or muzzle of animals) broad 
 blunt under jaw or chin, which we see was a marked 
 characteristic in the time of Gratius even. Virgil makes use 
 of the word mentum, to denote the chin or lower maxillary of 
 animals. 
 
 The rickety Gallic boat or ponto was peculiarly a Gallic 
 vessel, and in imagination we can depict some young Roman 
 of the stamp of Gargilius mentioned in Horace (Epistles Lib. 
 i. Ep. vi. line 58) delighting only in horses and dogs, setting 
 out from the Roman capital with a sack of Roman money, 
 nick-nacks, small arms, and jewelry, on a voyage to Britain, 
 to procure a brace or two of good British mastiffs to cause a 
 sensation at the circus. Passing through Parma and thence 
 across the lofty Alps through Paris, thence to the Morinion 
 frontier, where hiring a rickety little boat manned by some 
 broad-set Belgian, he would have to undergo all the discomfort 
 of sea sickness, beside the hazard of crossing the Fretum 
 Gallicum, then rowing up father Thames, he would land at 
 Londinium, and there seek out some old Bill George of a 
 savage, living in a dirty little mud hut, surrounded with a 
 stoccaded yard, in which some ten or twenty savage British 
 mastiffs would be tied. 
 
 Although gentle reader this is the fiction of imagination, 
 my excuse will be to remind you, that history repeats itself, 
 " Quid fuit fncrit /" But to return to Gratuis, he sa)*s of the 
 British dogs : That they have no pretentious to the deceitful 
 commendations of form, and his writings show plainly that 
 there were two classes of the British pugnaces, differing 
 principally in size, which is highly suggestive of the existence 
 
40 THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 of the ancestor of the bulldog (or pure pugnaces) and the 
 mastiff, the latter closely resembling the former only larger, 
 and in all probability a cross between it and some larger 
 race. 
 
 In this larger variety, used to guard the doors of the houses 
 of the Britons, and to protect their flocks and herds we can 
 plainly trace the mastiff and its superiority over the true 
 molossus. 
 
 Strabo writing about 44 B.C. states Britain produces 
 sagacious dogs in hunting, and the Celts use them for the 
 purposes of war, and he mentions the pugnaces, remarking 
 their pendent ears, lowering aspect, and flabby lips. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, who flourished about the same date 
 states on Gallia, Lib. v. the Celts when they dined sat on the 
 ground, and not on benches, and used for a carpet the skins 
 of dogs and wolves. 
 
 It is not out of place, being worthy of remark, showing the 
 early use made of dog skin, and hence cultivation of the dog, 
 that helmets were originally made of dog skin, whence the 
 Greek appellation Kwer; (Kunee) contracted by the Attics 
 into Kvvr). Subsequently however, soldier's caps and helmets 
 w r ere made of other skins than that of the dog, as we find 
 mention of Kweq raupeir; i.e. a helmet of bulls-hide, and the 
 word Kvverj in course of time came to mean a helmet of any 
 material whether of leather, iron, or brass, Vide Homer, 
 Lib. iii. 316 and 366. 
 
 Arrian who wrote A.D. 130 about, and whose work w r as 
 translated by the Rev. W. Dansey, in 1831, mentions the 
 pugnaces of Britain and Gaul in his Cynegcticus, observing 
 
THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 4! 
 
 that they were getting scarce in their purity,* having been 
 much crossed with the larger and swifter breeds. This 
 mention on Arrian's part of the crossing of the pure British 
 pugnaces, to obtain greater size, shows very clearly how the 
 British mastiff was manufactured, and accounts for the breed 
 being mentioned by various subsequent writers as the greater 
 and lesser sort.' 
 
 However, there have been some writers and dog fanciers 
 
 [in England, whose imagination being as elastic as their 
 veracity, have been sufficiently insane, as to endeavour to 
 make ont that the English mastiff exists in its purity and is 
 quite a distinct family from the courageous English bulldog 
 The two breeds nevertheless have evidently arisen from a 
 common origin. 
 
 Arrian's incidental mention of the want of swiftness in the 
 British pugnaces, is very suggestive of the kind of mastiff 
 described by Dr. Cains in Elizabeth's reign, as "stubborn 
 "and of a heavy and burdenous body, and therefore of but 
 " little swiftness." Arrian further states that the dog was 
 anciently classed into two groups, that of Canes sagaces and 
 Canes pugnaces, or Bellicosi, the latter, the pugnacious dogs 
 being used in war, belonging to the Albanian, Arcadian, Atha* 
 manian, Egyptian, Hyrcaman, Iberian (Spanish?) Locrian, 
 Lybian, Laconian, Mede, Magnesian, Pannonian, Ser or 
 Indian, Briton, Celt, anil a few others nearly allied, and that 
 the most prevalent idea of the ancients was that the Bellicosi 
 or pugnaces came from Asia. This latter remark as to the 
 supposed Asiatic origin of the British mastiff is of weigiit, as 
 it goes a long way towards confirming the presumption that 
 there was an early importation of the Assyrian or Asiatic 
 mastift into Britain. 
 
 o 
 
42 THE BRITISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Col. H. Smith says, the present mastiffs of Thibet arc clearly 
 the same as dogs of ancient Indi and Seri, and nearly the 
 same as those of Hyrcania. 
 
 Oppian, who lived towards the close of the second century, 
 and a portion of whose works were translated by Mayor, in 
 1736, describes the war dog of Britain, as having a truncated 
 muzzle, light brown or hazel eyes, heavy wrinkles or folds ol 
 skin on the forehead, stout limbs, and of great size. 
 
 In the writings ascril cl to Megasthenes, mention is made 
 of the British mastiff, large headed, with blunt muzzles, broad 
 and muscular, with massive limbs. Megasthenes was a Greek 
 historian, living some 500 years B.C., and what now passes 
 for his composition is considered spurious, thus although the 
 mention of these British dogs will have been written after the 
 time of Magasthenes yet it proves the type of the breed at 
 a very early date. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 THE ALAN OR ALAUXT. 
 
 About his car there wente white Alatin's 
 Twenty and more, as great as any steer. 
 To hunt the lion or wilde boar 
 And followed him, with muzzle fastly bound, 
 
 Cliaun-r. The Knight* Tale. 
 
 I have not been able to discover the ancient British name for 
 the broad muzzled pugnaces of Britain. The classical writers 
 merely termed them Pugnaces or Bellicosi, or else in accord- 
 ance with their uses, classed them under the molossian group. 
 
 As we find the word "mastin" used in the Armpric as well 
 as in the ancient Erench and Italian languages, it is possible 
 that it was the ancient Galic name for the breed. The \Yelsh 
 word for the mastiff is gafcrlgi, (pronounced gavaelgi) from 
 gafael, to seize, lay hold, or grasp, a most expressive denom- 
 ination for the breed, and we have the word in English, gaff, 
 a hook to seize salmon. The name gafaelgi occurs in the 
 celebrated Mabinogion ii.-2i5, which was written in the i-fth 
 century, in which the breed is characterised as " cedenog 
 gafaelgi," i.e. the shaggy mastiff. It is worthy of remark that 
 the Welsh have no ancient word to denote the bulldog, the 
 denomination " Ci Tarw " being a translation of the English 
 term, and is quite modern. The Welsh words for a bull or 
 cow being " bu," " buch," " buw," and " buwch," synony- 
 mous to the Latin bos, and evidently primarily derived 
 from the voice of the animal. 
 
44 THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 The bulldog having no native name, shows that the breed 
 did not exist in Wales, unless it was derived from dwarfed 
 specimens of the gafaelgi. 
 
 In all works like the Mabinogion we can hardly expect 
 words to be used in a very specific sense, and with regard to 
 the " cedenog " or shagginess, all our mastiffs formerly, 
 probably had a more shaggy coat. The coat being long and 
 rugged is mentioned as a characteristic of the Lancashire 
 mastiff, in the time of Hen. viii., and some strains of bulldogs 
 were formerly very inclined to a woolly and roughish co;it. 
 
 W. Wotton, S.T.P. and his coadjutor M. Williams, A.M. 
 R.S.S. in their famous work Leges Wallace or Welsh Laws 
 of Howel Dda Etc., published 1730, renders cosdawg as a 
 molossus or mastiff, whereas one of the most learned of modern 
 Welsh scholars. The Rev. Silvan Evans, Rector of Llamvrin, 
 (to whom for the foregoing information 1 am mainly indebted, 
 and who kindly gave me all the information in his power on 
 the subject) holds that cosdawg means a dog of inferior breed, 
 literally a plebeian dog, and it is certain that they were of little 
 consideration, according to the value of dogs in the Welsh 
 Laws, being only estimated at fourpence. 
 
 Xvii " Can-is Dottiest icus (cosdawg} ab quemcunqnt pertinent 
 etiam Regis, fucrit iv denarios tantnm valet. DC Prctiis Caintiii. 
 
 The Laws of Wales, Ecclesiastical and Civil of" Howcl the 
 good" were compiled from still earlier ones, and werecoacer- 
 vated and written after a kind of national convention, and 
 received the confirmation of Rome in 930, and have been most 
 wonderfully preserved. They were published by W'otton and 
 Williams in 1730, in a large folio, Welsh and Latin; being 
 compiled from various parchment M.S.S. in the British 
 
THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 45 
 
 Museum and other archives. In the Glossary the word 
 cosdawg is rendered molossus, with the following note : "In 
 the margin of a Harlean Lib. M.S. parchment 93, C. 23. 
 \Iaatyn mastinus quo vocabulo mavores iiostri molossnm " i.e. by 
 which they will denote the larger of our mastiffs. The 
 cosdawg (canis domesticus) is mentioned in the xvii of the 
 Triades. 
 
 These \Yelsh words prove the early existence of the mastiff 
 and its ancient propensity of seizing and holding similar to 
 the more modern bulldog. 
 
 From the father of English classics, Dan Chaucer, we read 
 that there existed in "Britain in his day a variety of dog called 
 the Alan, which appear also to have been termed Alauntes, 
 what these were exactly is not very clear, and the following 
 particulars arc about all I have been able to meet with in 
 reference to the breed. 
 
 Xunnius, who iived it is believed about 620, states that 
 Britain was named after Brito the son of Hasicio, who was 
 the son of Alan, of the family of Zaphet, (Vide Nun, chap, ii.) 
 This ancient scrap of History may not be worthy of credence. 
 
 Of the invasion of the Alan's into Gaul and Britain, there 
 are some curious fragmentary extracts from ancient writers, 
 compiled by Sir Isaac Newton, and given in his " Observations 
 upon the prophesies of Daniel 1733, part i, chap. 6. Spain 
 also was overrun by the Alan tribes. 
 
 Modern writers have mauled and twisted this word Alan, 
 and the breed it designated, without proving or suggesting 
 anything satisfactory, or even probable, still, the term must 
 have had a derivation, and I am inclined to think it is 
 probably, the ancient British name for the mastiff, (although 
 
46 THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 of Slavonic origin and perhaps Phoenician introduction) 
 furnishing indirectly one of those landmarks in history that 
 so often crop up. As the Alan is not I believe mentioned 
 anywhere among the early dogs of France and Germany, we 
 may fairly conclude that it is not of Galic or Teutonic source. 
 The Spanish (who may be meant by Arrian under the name 
 of Iberians) still have the word in use under the Spanish 
 form Alano, and curiously enough showing the close relation- 
 ship between the two breeds, apply it to denote either a mastiff 
 or bulldog. 
 
 It has been presumed without any decided proof that the 
 Spanish bulldog was originally imported from England, but 
 the truth of this is far from certain, and having inspected 
 some of the most noted Spanish bulldogs and Cuban bull 
 mastiffs, that have been imported to this country, I have 
 come to the conclusion that although the Spanish bulldog is 
 or was a remnant of the true Pugnaces, yet it differs consid- 
 erably to the British bulldog of modern ages, in more 
 characteristics than its greater size. Col. H. Smith in 
 Naturalists Library, states that he was informed in the \Yest 
 Indies by some cattle dealers, who cultivated the breed, that 
 the Cuban mastift was introduced from England about 1560, 
 and that they were first kept at a monastry in the ancient 
 capital of St. Jago, acording to accounts received from a 
 priest by the cattle dealers who informed Col. II. Smith. 
 
 It may not be unadvisable here to mention, that the 
 imported pedigreeless Couchez, (whose blood runs in nearly 
 every modern mastiff) bore all the trace of having a large 
 percentage of Spanish bulldog blood in him, and although 
 imported as a smooth St. Bernard I have little doubt that in 
 
THE ALAX OR ALAUNT. 47 
 
 reality he was little .else than a Spanish bull mastiff or Alano, 
 and think that it is very probable that the smooth coated old 
 Alpine mastiff race was procured from Spain. 
 
 However it is to Spain we must look for the clue to the 
 term Alan or Alano, and I premise my suggestion for the 
 origin of the term, by mentioning that Spain as well as Ireland 
 and probably Cornwall, was colonized by the Phoenicians as 
 is exhaustively sketched in Sir Win. Betham's work " The 
 Gael and the Cimbri." 
 
 I think it is probable that the word Alan was the Phoenician 
 term to denote the Asiatic mastiff and was introduced by them 
 into Britain as well as Spain. 
 
 We see that the Molossi gave their name to the dogs of 
 their country, and I would suggest that it is only probable 
 that the Alani gave their name to the mastiffs of their land. 
 Hence Canes Alani, dogs of the Alan's, and asMolossus means 
 the dog of Epirus, and in a secondary sense a watch dog or 
 kind of mastiff. By the same custom Alani gives an Alan, or 
 in a secondary sense a cattle dog or mastiff, employed as a 
 guard against the wolf. 
 
 The Alani were a people of Asiatic, Sarmatia, or Tartary, 
 living in the valleys of the ancient Caucasus. This south- 
 western portion of Asiatic Russia lies between the Caspian 
 and Mare Sarmaticum or Black Sea, and stretches southwards 
 from the high ridges ot the Caucasus to the frontiers of Asiatic 
 Turkey and Persia, embracing the ancient Colchis, Albania, 
 and a portion of Armenia, including Mount Ararat, the cradle 
 of the canine as well as human race. 
 
 The word Alan is still the Slavonic name for a wolf dog, 
 and we mid the Assyrians were possessed of the mighty 
 Asiatic mastiff. 
 
48 THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 Sarmatia was almost unknown to the ancients. Juvenal 
 says " Ultra Sauromates fugere etc.,'' Lib. i, satiro ii. The 
 southern portion adjoining the Paulus Moetis had for its 
 principal town Cimmerium. Between Colchis and the Caspian 
 or Hyrcanian sea, were Iberia and Albania, famous through- 
 out classic lore, for the mighty dogs they produced. 
 
 The Sarmatians were a savage uncivilized nation, naturally 
 warlike, and famous for painting their bodies, to make them 
 appear more terrible in the field of battle. They passed 
 among the Greeks and Latins as barbarians, and joined by 
 the savage hordes of Scythia, under the names of Huns, 
 Goths, Vandals, Alans, Etc., in the third and fourth centuries 
 they ruined the empire. The Sarmatians usually lived in the 
 mountains without any habitation except their chariots, and 
 existed by plunder and the milk of their flocks. 
 
 In this description (gathered from Strabo. Diodorus, Flor- 
 entius, Lucan, Juvenal, and Ovid) we see the counterpart of 
 the ancient Britons. 
 
 De la Barre Duparq in his Historical Study of " The Dogs 
 of War " says under the dogs of the Cimbri, that the dogs of 
 the Alans \vere trained by their masters in the roughness and 
 custom of biting, in order to serve and fight against their 
 enemies. 
 
 Mannert 4, -410, makes out the Albanians to be Alans, and 
 the progenitors of the European Alani, which if correct is 
 suggestive of affinity between the dogs of the Alani with the 
 ancient dogs of Albania, and it^is probable the Asiatic mastiff 
 ranged from Mount Ararat along the Caucasus into Northern 
 Europe in one direction, and also along the south of the 
 Caspian, through the valleys of Mons Caspius, the modern 
 Elburz mountains of Persia, through Hyrcania (then covered 
 
THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 49 
 
 with forests) and through Afghanistan and 'through the 
 mountain valleys of Himalaya to Mongolia. The jealousies 
 of Oriental Governments as \\ell as natural difficulties have 
 interfered with the exploration of those parts of High Asia, 
 which still possess the Asiatic mastiff in more or less purity. 
 
 But to account for the introduction of these Sarmatian 
 or Slavonic Asiatic mastiffs getting into Britain. 
 
 It has been advanced that the Irish are undoubtedly 
 descended from a Scythian nation, and that at an early period 
 part of the country was colonized by the Phoenicians, and in 
 proof of the latter it has been urged that the specimens of the 
 Punic language preserved by Plautus arc almost pure Irish. 
 
 The very word bitch, a female dog, would seem to be from 
 the Punic or Lybian language. The Irish word for a female 
 is " Bithm," while in Plautus we find the same word spelt 
 Bithym. 
 
 Again the word " Brach " used by Shakespeare " When my 
 lady's brach may stand by the fire and stink " is evidently 
 allied to the Irish and British word " Brech " for a hound, 
 and the Spanish employ the same word " Braque " to denote 
 a pointer, and that dog appears to have taken its old Phoeni- 
 cian name with it into France. 
 
 Again the Irish terms for the greyhound Cuib and Gibue 
 seem nearly allied to the Spanish word gibbo, hunched, and 
 gibboso, hunched back, which words are nearly allied to 
 " Gibbus," hunched backed, as used by Juvenal, and gibba 
 used by Suetonius. The word gibue being evidently the 
 Phoenician Irish applied to the greyhound on account of its 
 hunched or arched loins, which was a more prominent 
 characteristic formerly than of late years. 
 
50 THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 What makes it still more presumptive that the Irish gibue 
 is of Phoenician origin is that in the Amharic language the 
 arched back hyaena is called gib, and in the Ethiopic, zibee. 
 It has also been stated that the antique swords found in the 
 bogs of Ireland have on analysis been proved to consist of 
 material precisely similar to the Punic swords, dug up by Sir 
 \\m. Hamilton in the field of Canmr, and it was the custom 
 of the ancient Irish, after the manner of their Scythian 
 ancestry to bury the favourite sword of their heroes along 
 with them, and Moore lias referred to this practice in his 
 beautiful melody "Lay His Sword by His Side." 
 
 The custom of the Sarmatian Alans of painting their bodies 
 with the forms of animals is mentioned by Herodian, and 
 Buchanan in his history of Scotland, Lib. ii. says of the Picls 
 in endeavouring to trace their origin "1 do not see any more 
 certain data to follow than the fact of their painting their 
 bodies/' 
 
 From these historical particulars I think it is quite possible 
 that the name Alan was the original name borne by the 
 Asiatic mastiffs, imported to this country by the Phoenicians, 
 such has been the accepted idea as we see from Arrian's 
 writing, or else the ancient Britons or a portion of them were 
 of Sarmatian origin and brought their dogs and customs with 
 them, although it is worthy of consideration that Camden 
 mentions that Alans served in the Roman garrisons in Britain, 
 and these may have brought specimens of their white Asiatic 
 mastiffs with them. 
 
 While the word Alan is evidently of Slavonic derivation, I 
 have not found it in connection with the dog previous to 
 Twici and Chaucer, the latter mentioning it in The Canterbury 
 
THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 51 
 
 Tales under the Knight's Story, that the Alan was a white 
 clog of vast size, (as large as a steer) and used for hunting the 
 lion or wild boar. 
 
 Cotgrave calls the Alan a great ugly lop-eared brute, with 
 great dewlaps, used for hunting the boar. Other early writers 
 have stated that it was a large, strong, thick-headed, short 
 muzzled dog. These descriptions will only suit the mastiff, 
 and are identical with the peculiarities of the mastiffs depicted 
 on the Assyrian slabs, hunting lions, and the dogs figured on 
 the early British pottery. 
 
 The white colour of the early English Alan and the Spanish 
 Alano of the present day is very suggestive of a Sarmatian or 
 Russian origin. The Tartarian and Siberian mastiffs are 
 often quite white, and the few specimens I have seen of 
 the breed conform much more nearly to the mastiffs on the 
 Assyrian slabs, than the Tibetian variety does. 
 
 About the year 1865 Hvisited the kennel of the noted Dog 
 Dealer, Bill George, then at Kensal Newtown, Paddington. 
 London, and among a great-number of dogs he had his famous 
 English bulldog, a Spanish bulldog, the English mastiff Venus 
 (by Tiger 2345 out of Nell by I.ukey's Nelson out of his 
 Bounty), and a vast smooth coated mastiff, perfectly milk 
 white, except for patches on each side the face and covering 
 both ears. This dog's coat was short, very hard and almost 
 wire haired ; he was of vast size, in fact, as far as I can now 
 judge, was one of the largest dogs I have ever seen, and was 
 a true mastiff, both in type of head, massiveness of limbs, and 
 bulk of body, being totally distinct from the Great Dane or 
 boarhound type. Bill George stated that he was a Spanish 
 mastiff, and asked only the modest sum of 20 for him. 
 
52 THE ALAN OR ALAUNT. 
 
 Col. H. Smith states that the mastiffs of the Continent are 
 generally white, with very large clouds of black or red. 
 
 I have known several mastiffs brought from Spain, all of 
 which have been jet black in colour, one, a bitch, was brought 
 over by some cattle dealers, with cattle, from the mountains 
 of Spain. 
 
 As a proof of the presence of the mastiff or Alano in Spain 
 in past times. In Lockhart's Ancient Spanish Ballads 
 mention is made of a mastiff that belonged to Don Pedro the 
 cruel, Vide n, 12, 13, and 14 verses of the xxii. ballad, 
 entitled " The murder of the master of St. Jago," whick took 
 place at Sevile in 1358. I have not seen the original Spanish 
 version, but the particulars mentioned in the ballad show 
 that a mastiff and not a small bulldog was meant. 
 
 The foregoing enumerations fully prove the existence of a 
 white breed of Alans, both in England and Spain, conforming 
 with the Asiatic mastiff in type and uses, and being seemingly 
 of Phoenician introduction. 
 
 It is very probable that it is due to their blood that the 
 white blaze up the face, on the breast and paws, was form- 
 erly so prevalent in the English mastiff, and still so frequently 
 re-appears. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 Cry, Havock, ancl let slip the dogs of war. 
 
 Shakespeare. Julius Ccesar. 
 
 WHEN Marius, (who died B.C. 86) defeated the Cimbri, 
 according to Strabo, the war dogs so successfully defended 
 the women and baggage, that the battle had to be recom- 
 menced. These Cimbrican or German mastiffs were (together 
 with the Gallic greyhound) the probable ancestors of the 
 German boarhounds. 
 
 The ancient uses of the war dogs were to guard the baggage 
 and chariots containing the women in times of war, and in 
 those of peace, to guard the houses of their masters, and to 
 assist in driving the half-domesticated cattle and swine from 
 the woods and forest glades, and to guard the folds from the 
 wolf. 
 
 There is a breed indigenous to, or at least of great antiquity 
 in Holland and Germany, called the Dutch mastiff, and are 
 closely allied to the British variety, being of a very fierce 
 nature, and presenting the short truncated muzzle. This 
 breed, which are apparently the true descendants of the war 
 dogs of Gaul, have been much crossed says a well known 
 writer, with the larger mastiff. 
 
 In the Chronicles of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 
 there is mention of a mastiff called Dreadn aught, who saved 
 his master from the coils of a serpent by his courage and 
 
54 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 agility. The dog is stated to have been descended from the 
 fore-mentioned cross. However, the Dutch mastiff is still to 
 be met with occasionally in Holland. About 1875, Mr. Theo 
 Basset, (perhaps the best fox terrier judge in England, and 
 at one time a mastiff admirer himself) told me of one of these 
 Dutch mastiffs he had seen in Hamburg, standing not more 
 than 28 inches at shoulder, and weighing iSolbs. He made 
 me a rough sketch of this dog, showing it to have been a long, 
 low, massive animal, with vast bones, but short limbs ; coat 
 and stern both fine. Such very much appears to have been 
 the figure of the ancient pugnaces of Gaul and Britain. 
 
 Meagre as are the records left by the classical writers, there 
 are other and more certain proofs of the exact forms and 
 characteristics of the early British mastiff, and it is to the 
 artist rather than to the penman at this early date, that we 
 are indebted for the type of these war dogs. 
 
 In the History of Manchester, by the Rev. Whitaker, 1773, 
 (a curious and rather rare book, not unfrequently referred to 
 by antiquarians) are some interesting particulars relating to 
 British dogs, but the reader must take his remarks in general, 
 emu grano salis, many being premised on totally incorrect 
 basement, and are contradictory, at the same time the work 
 is an elaborate compilation of historical and curious matter, 
 collected by a too credulous writer, but talented antiquarian, 
 gifted with a flowing diction, and he accepts such matter as 
 the spurious poems of Ossian as genuine history and reliable 
 information. His knowledge of dogs, as might be expected, 
 was plainly very limited. Among a tangled mass of historical 
 information on the mastiff and bulldog, Whitaker gives the 
 cut of a coin of Cunobline successor of Cassivelaunus Pen- 
 dragon or head king, as his name implies, and father of the 
 
THE BRITISH PUG>;ACES. 55 
 
 well-known British Prince Caractacus. This Cimobline lived 
 in the reigns of Tiberias and Caligula, and died before the 
 Autumn of 43 A.D. He was the first to mint money with an 
 impression, having procured artists, and masters of the mint, 
 from the Continent. 
 
 On one side of a coin, illustrated in Whitaker, is the figure 
 of a naked man bearing a club, on the reverse, a figure seated 
 on what Whitaker thought to be the figure of "the British 
 mastiff bearing a child on its back.' 1 I exulted on first reading 
 this account (kindly sent me by Miss J. E. Walker of Clifton, 
 a good judge and enthusiastic admirer of the mastiff, of which 
 she possesses some fine specimens. Miss Walker is also a 
 most accomplished lady, gifted with the sounder erudition, 
 those of the last century were not unfrequently possessed of) 
 seeing that if correct, it would be an unquestionable proof of 
 the size and power of the British mastiff" of that date, for I 
 need hardly point out no bulldog could bear even a child on 
 its back. 
 
 But after careful inspection of the cut of the coin, engraved 
 first by Dr. Pettingall, from Mr. Da lines collection, I feel 
 bound, although reluctantly, to differ in opinion from the 
 learned writers, as to what the impressions were really 
 intended to represent. 
 
 In all humility I would suggest that the one side was 
 intended not to represent the British king, but Hercules, as 
 the emblem of power, and I may suggest further that Cunob- 
 lines mint master being probably a Roman (as Whitaker 
 points out) his dies would be of Roman artistic design, which 
 would fully account for any allegorical representation of 
 Hercules, as the emblem of power and strength. That 
 Hercules was known to the Britons at an early date, through 
 
56 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 the Phoenicians, we learn from Sir Wm. Betham's work " The 
 Gael and Cymbri." It is however the reverse side of the coin 
 that Mr. Whitaker concluded bore the impression of the 
 mastiff. I am inclined to think however, it is one of the 
 earliest representations of Brittania, or else Cybele seated on 
 the lion. I advance this, as the figure instead of being a child, 
 as Whitaker concluded, evidently merely from the animal 
 bearing it, being represented as large, is however plainly 
 intended to represent a full-grown woman, the paps being 
 plainly depicted, and largely developed, and the wide hips, so 
 distinctive of the female figure, and rightly considered by the 
 ancients a perfection, and early marked by the sculptors of 
 Venus. 
 
 The idea of a woman seated on a beast is entirely Eastern, 
 we read of Venus Aphrodite riding on the foam of the sea on 
 the figure of a half horse, half fish ; also St. John's vision of 
 the whore of Babylon seated on the beast. Revelations 
 xvii.-3. 
 
 But to return to the coin, the animal is much more faulty 
 in delineation, the head might certainly lead anyone to think 
 it was intended for a mastifi, but the legs on the other hand 
 would best represent those of a horse, however from the 
 marked fleclive curve of the tail, in which I can trace I fancy, 
 the intended representation of the ending leonine tuft, I think 
 there is little doubt but that the animal was designed to 
 represent a lion. That the coin was one undoubtedly struck 
 by Cunobline is conclusively shown by the letters TAS. CNO. 
 
 I have suggested that the reverse side the coin may be a 
 representation of Cybele or Ceres, the Goddess of Plenty, for 
 there is an antique gem figured in the Encyclopaedia Londin- 
 ensis, published 1811, Plate ii. No. 25, taken from the 
 
THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 57 
 
 collection of Mr. Jas. Tassie, of Leicester Square, and was 
 from a Cornelian with Cybele mounted on a lion. It is very 
 similar, only much less faulty in execution, and whether 
 Britannia seated on the lion had not its origin from Cybele 
 (The Tellus ov Ceres of Hesiod v. 130^ is very doubtful, for it is 
 very suggestive of affinity of the Druidical religion, that Cybele 
 is at times represented crowned with the leaves of the oak. 
 Vide ^Enid vii.-i35- 
 
 I thus venture my opinion against that of Whitaker, feeling 
 I have too good a case to risk damaging my evidence of what 
 the British mastiff was by using doubtful matter, although it 
 is as well to mention this, for at any time it may be advanced 
 as circumstantial mastiff history, and in this history of the 
 mastiff I wish to refute any inaccurate statements made by 
 those writing on the breed. 
 
 It is a recorded saying of the late President Garfield that 
 " We cannot study nature profoundly without bringing our- 
 selves into communion with the spirit of art," and from the 
 Potter's art we get the earliest examples of the form of the 
 mastiff, while Britain was under the Roman dominion. 
 
 The Britons understood the art, and practiced the labours 
 of pottery, and many of their vessels have descended to us. 
 The progress of art however was unequal to that on the 
 Continent, and it w r as under the tutorship of Roman or Roman 
 Frisian masters, that the Britons learnt to glaze and embellish 
 their arms and other vessels with figures and carvings, and 
 it was not until between 90 and 100 A.D. that art and 
 literature spread to any extent in Britain ; thus we can form 
 a fairly accurate estimate of about the age of the pottery 
 bearing forms of the British mastiff. 
 
58 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 In the Parish of Castor, in Northamptonshire, the remnant 
 of a Roman station was found, which has been identified as 
 the Durobrivse of Antoninus, who it will be remembered 
 died A.D. 161. Numerous examples of Romano Britannic 
 pottery have been found at this station, and it is commonly 
 called Castor or Durobrivan ware, and on this ancient pottery, 
 (which has been fully treated on by Mr. Roach Smith) 
 numerous examples of dogs are found, which are so boldly 
 and typically rendered, that we may regard them as fairly 
 accurate examples of the canine forms of that date. These 
 dogs fall usually under two widely divergent and distinct 
 types, namely, that of the vertragal or great Celtic greyhound, 
 and the pugnaces or mastiff. 
 
 In 1823, E. T. Artis published a work entitled " Roman 
 Antiquities, or the Durobrivse of Antoninus Identified." In 
 a series of plates illustrative of the excavated remains of that 
 Roman station, in page 48 of the work, is figured a mastiff 
 attacking a horse in the flank, showing at once that the 
 manner of attack in these ancient British mastiffs, was not 
 the attack of the bulldog, which, if pure bred, always flies at 
 the head or throat. 
 
 In page 33 of the same work is another plate, showing one 
 of these mastiffs galloping after a horse. Judging from the 
 relative size of the horses and dogs which are both very 
 carefully and accurately delineated, these dogs must have 
 been between 28 to 30 inches at shoulder, and in conformity 
 with all the examples I have met with of those early times, 
 their heads are broad and full, muzzles very short, broad and 
 truncated, (the shortness of the muzzle being a marked 
 characteristic of the British mastiff, lost sight of by man)' 
 breeders, owing to their ignorance of these facts, the last 25 
 
THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 59 
 
 years) the ears are small and partially erect, (which is often 
 the case in modern specimens when the ear. is small and 
 muscular, system highly developed.) Their necks and bodies 
 are massive, and limbs short and stout, the sterns are fine, 
 and the "tout ensemble'' is that of long bodied, muscular, 
 heavy mastiffs. 
 
 The dogs in these scenes were plainly used for collecting 
 horned cattle and horses out of the woods and pastures. It 
 may be thought that the mastift would be too slow a dog to 
 be able to drive a horse out of a forest glade, but it must be 
 remembered that the first book on the horse, published in 
 Elizabeth's reign, it is stated our breed of horses even at that 
 time consisted of only strong animals, fit merely for slow 
 draught. 
 
 The figures of the British mastiffs I have mentioned form 
 a reliable proof of what the breed was between A.D. 100 and 
 150, which we may estimate would be about the time the 
 vessels were manufactured. These are the best drawn and 
 most reliable evidences I have met with, and it would be 
 ridiculous to class such dogs as bulldogs, with their manner 
 of attack and large size ; yet their broad skulls and short 
 muzzles, show their close affinity to the British bulldog, and 
 they may have been the common ancestor of both our mastiff 
 and bulldog, especially if we admit the theory that the 
 bulldog is only the British pugnaces, dwarfed by selection in 
 breeding. 
 
 In Roach Smith's work "Collectanea Antiqua " are some 
 cuts of dog's heads, figured on some of the Romano Britannic 
 pottery, in page 10, no. 24 is one of these large headed 
 mastiffs, the muzzle being blunt, short, broad and heavy, the 
 under jaw being very massive, with an exceedingly broad 
 
60 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 mouth, and seemingly undershot. This specimen seems to 
 have had some rough hair about the neck, which lion-like 
 mane we see depicted in Hogarth's bull-mastiff, and which 
 formerly was a very common feature both in the mastiff and 
 bulldog, and accounts partly for the Welsh epithet of 
 " cedenog gafaelgi " or shaggy mastiff. It is worthy of 
 notice that in this instance, the ears are figured as having 
 plainly been cropped, which practice appears to have been of 
 great antiquity, and very universal, probably spread by the 
 Romans, who seem to have had the idea of doing away with 
 all superfluous appendages. Perhaps the earliest mention 
 we have of docking a dog's tail was the action of Alcibiades, 
 who cut off his dog's tail, to give the Athenians something to 
 talk about. The practice of cropping the ears is self-evident, 
 and even humane under some circumstances, but the origin 
 and reason for docking the tail is inexplicable. 
 
 In page n, no. 314 of Mr. Smith's work is the head of a 
 mastiff on the handle of some utensil, the ear is uncropped, 
 of medium size, and pointed backwards, the only other feature 
 particularly worthy of note in this, is the heavy blunt muzzle. 
 There is in the Archaelogica Cantiana a plate, lithographed 
 by Thos. Kell, of London, from a drawing of Humphrey 
 Wickham, Esq., from a Romano Britannic pottery vessel in 
 the collection of Mr. Teanby. Wr. Wickham very kindly 
 furnished me with particulars and a tracing. The subject, 
 an imbossed hunting scene, in which the dog is chasing a 
 hind. This compared with the foregoing examples I have 
 mentioned, is a very rough piece of art, and possibly partially 
 distorted by the action of firing. The dog is quite as large 
 as the hind, has a large short head, with the tongue hanging 
 out of the side of his mouth from the exertion of the chase, 
 
THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 6l 
 
 the neck and shoulders are vast, limbs short, and stern fine. 
 Rough as it is, the type is precisely the same as the mastiffs 
 depicted on the Castor ware. 
 
 It may be thought that the mastiff would be too slow to 
 catch a hind, and no doubt, owing to bad rearing, over and 
 injudicious feeding, and want of exercise, rendering many 
 specimens more like show pigs than gladiators, the majority 
 of mastiffs should be so, but when the mastiff is well reared, 
 they have considerable speed for a short distance, and at 
 Kirklees Hall, Yorkshire, John Crabtree, the head keeper, 
 had several of the deer run down and killed by his mastiffs 
 from time to time. 
 
 On one occasion when walking through a deer park, I came 
 across a fawn, asleep, it started up under my feet almost, and 
 bounded off at a great pace, my mastiff dog, Young King ii., 
 giving chase, and although I shouted to him to stop, it was of 
 no avail, and I shall never forget the beautiful, yet to me sad 
 sight, the little creature made straight off to the main herd, 
 the dog keeping on after it right through them and singling 
 it out, and continuing the pursuit, leaving them all off in 
 another direction. What was the most painful part was 
 hearing the piteous, terrified cries of the little animal, and 
 seeing its mother gyrating in order to try and baffle the dog, 
 who however, much to my surprise, literally chased it down 
 and worried it savagely, threatening to do the same to the 
 dam if she approached too near. He was a well-grown, active 
 animal of usually most gentle disposition. 
 
 In order to show that the mastiff like dogs, on the Romano 
 Britannic ware, were not merely a conventional form of the 
 potter artist, Mr. Wickham forwarded me a tracing of a 
 drawing made from some of this early British pottery, on 
 
62 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 which is depicted the vast Celtic greyhound. There are 
 two scenes, both stags being chased by these gigantic grey- 
 hounds, which appear perfectly smooth-coated, and approach- 
 ing nearer to the Great Dane than the Scotch deerhound or 
 Irish wolf dog in type. The action of the stags is particularly 
 spirited, and true to life. In one, the stag is looking back at 
 the long dog dashing after him ; in the other, there are two 
 dogs, the former has just seized the stag by the hock, the 
 latter is rushing up from behind. All three dogs are identical 
 in type, and they are longer and as large as the stags 
 themselves. The delineation of both dogs and stags is 
 remarkably fine. In the parish of Castor, some more of these 
 greyhounds, together with deer and hare were found repre- 
 sented on a Mosaic pavement, vide account in Roman 
 Antiquities, by E. T. Artis, 1823. 
 
 Before concluding these remarks, it is only fair to the 
 enthusiastic antiquarian, Mr. Wickham, to state that although 
 in his 75th year at the time, and a stranger to me, nevertheless 
 distantly connected through our common ancestor the father 
 of the celebrated William of Wickham, his descendant carried 
 out his motto " manners makyth man" by very courteously 
 assisting me to much of the foregoing information respecting 
 this early pottery, on which he was an able authority. 
 
 Some account of the early British mastiff and two figures 
 of the same are given in Wright's work, " The Kelt, the 
 Roman, and the Saxon," vide pages 207, 208, 211, and 212, 
 published 1852. There are also some specimens of the 
 British mastiff figured on some Romano Britannic pottery 
 in the museum of British curiosities at York. 
 
THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 63 
 
 In a work entitled " Old England " under Bestiaria is given 
 the cut of a sculpture found at Pompeii of a large mastiff 
 chained by the neck to a band round the body of a bull ; the 
 dog is in the act of flying at a man in front, while the bull is 
 galloping after the dog, and another man is running behind 
 with a whip. This dog was quite as large as our modern 
 mastiffs, and was a short headed, blunt muzzled, fine coated 
 animal. This piece of sculpture has been regarded (on what 
 authority I am unaware) as a specimen imported from Britain. 
 However, it forms a conclusive proof of the mastiffs existence 
 previous to A.D. 79. 
 
 Mr. Yero Shaw in his book on the Dog, gives a cut of two 
 early mastiffs, as usual incorrectly termed canes molossi, 
 taken fro in" J. F. Reidels " Icones AnimaUum." which work 
 is in the British Museum. Both these dogs have large heads, 
 short, blunt, truncated, and somewhat turned up muzzles, 
 and were evidently undershot, and prove the correctness of 
 the so called bull type in opposition to the sheepdog, boar- 
 hound, or bloodhound types, which by the ignorant have 
 sometimes been mistaken for the true mastiff type. Both 
 the dogs in Icones Animalium are large animals, leggy, and 
 totally different from the modern bulldog in size. The ears 
 in both specimens are cropped as shown in the Durobrivan 
 examples. Their sterns are fine and long. 
 
 I have purposely extended these remarks to show that at 
 the time of the Roman dominion over this country we 
 certainly possessed the British mastiff, of distinct character, 
 and large size, at least from 27 to 30 inches at shoulder or 
 more, and from Arrian's account, and other data, it would 
 seem that this breed had then been manufactured from larger 
 crosses with the pure pugnaces of Britain and Gaul. Thus 
 
64 THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 Col. H. Smith appears to have made a hasty, and somewhat 
 contradictory remark in suggesting that at the time of the 
 Roman supremacy, but one breed of broad mouthed dogs 
 existed, which were a sort of large bulldog, and he seemingly 
 overlooked the probability that the English mastiff had then 
 been manufactured from crossing the true but smaller pug- 
 naces of England with the imported Asiatic mastiff. As he 
 says " It may be doubted whether there were in Britain two 
 "races of broad mouthed dogs during the Roman era, but it 
 " seems to us there was but one, and in that case the bulldog 
 " was the animal in question, one indeed far superior in size 
 "to the present breed, little inferior to the mastiff, and 
 " probably very like the Cuban race." The latter he describes 
 as follows : Larger than our common bulldog and smaller 
 than the mastiff, stout in proportion, muzzle short, broad, and 
 abruptly truncate, with somewhat of an upward curve, lips 
 pendulous, ears partly so. 
 
 In these remarks Col. H. Smith contradicts somewhat 
 what he previously advanced as to the probable importation 
 of the Asiatic mastiff ; but I have shown from the Romano 
 Britannic pottery that dogs identical with our short faced 
 English mastiffs existed at that date, some of about 30 inches 
 at shoulder. 
 
 Writers of less authority have followed Col. H. Smith, 
 falling into the same error and exaggerating it, some contend- 
 ing the bulldog was the original and only breed, others that 
 the mastiff is an indigenous breed quite separate from the 
 bulldog, neither being exactly correct. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I may draw attention to the 
 fact that it has constantly beei? advanced in a careless off-hand 
 
THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 65 
 
 manner by writers treading on the footsteps of each other, 
 when treating on the mastiff and bulldog, both having laid 
 claim to the same fallacy, that at the time of the Roman 
 dominion over Britain there existed an officer (Procurator 
 Cynegii) who was stationed at Winchester, and that his 
 business was to selecl: British mastiffs or bulldogs, and 
 forward them to Rome to fight in the Amphitheatre. 
 
 Now the most absurd part of this hackneyed statement is 
 that none of its users are able to state any authority for their 
 assertion, except by referring to some predecessor. Camden 
 is the earliest author I know who has treated on this, and 
 from what he writes, it would appear that the error was 
 extant at his time ; yet it will readily be seen from what is 
 said in Gough's Edition of Camden, that the whole super- 
 structure hangs on the translation of a single word, namely, 
 that of Cynoacii or Cynegii. I have never met with anything 
 to warrant any reason for believing such an Officer, Steward, 
 or Agent for mastiffs or dogs of any sort existed, either in 
 any Greek or Latin author coeval with the Roman occupation, 
 and it is only probable that had there been any Roman 
 agent stationed to procure and forward dogs to Rome, some 
 mention or reference to it would have been found in the 
 classics. 
 
 There is nothing in the Monumenta Historica compiled by 
 the record commission that warrants any such assertion, and 
 the passage in Gough's Camden goes a long way to prove it 
 is an error that has crept in and grown. 
 
 Camden under Hantshire writes, upon the town of Winches- 
 ter. ' The city was certainly considerable in the Roman 
 
 K 
 
66 "THE BRITISH PUGNACES. 
 
 " times since it appears that the Emperors had here their 
 " Colonial weaving manufactory, this being the principal of 
 " the British ports and lying, nearest to Italy. In the Notitia 
 " we have, 'Procurator cynegii in Britannis ventensis or ben - 
 " tensis,' where that eminent civilian J.Cunacmsreads 'cyncecii' 
 " which in his Paratitla on the codes he interprets 'sacrum 
 " textrinum or royal weavery.' Of his opinion is Pancirolus, 
 " who writes that these Cyncecii were founded to make clothes 
 " for the emperor ;i:ul the army, and also bed, sail, and other 
 "household linen ; but Wolf-gangus Lazius thinks the officer 
 "had the care of the emperor's dogs here. It is certain our 
 " dogs were celebrated as the best in Europe, insomuch as 
 "Strabo Lib. iv. p. 199, says the)- served as soldiers and 
 " were used in war by the ancient Gauls, and were in great 
 "demand for the sports in the amphitheatre at Rome.'' 
 
 The foregoing is from page i6<S of Camden's Britannica, 
 enlarged by Richard Gough 2nd Edition 1806, and in it there 
 is a note to the effect that ki it cannot be otherwise than 
 "cyncecii if we attend to the company it is in, a list of 
 " superintendents of wardrobes of linen manufacturers and 
 " dyers, cyncecii, lainsicia, and baptica," From this passage 
 in Camden has the whole misstatement seemingly been 
 fabricated. Had the officer in question been a superintendent 
 to procure and forward .British baiting dogs for the Amphi- 
 theatre, his title would have been Procurator Pugnacium Vcl 
 Molossorum. 
 
 However it will be seen there is not sufficient to warrant 
 any careful writer on the mastiff accepting the statement 
 that any such officer existed to procure and forward mastiffs 
 or any sort oi dogs for Rome, and the mistake appears from 
 
THE BRITISH PUGXACES. 67 
 
 Camden to have originated with a supposition or mistaken 
 reading of \Yolf-gangus Lazius of the word cynoecii, who 
 seems to have mistaken the Imperial Linen Draper for a 
 Canine Agent of the Emperors. Rather rough on the 
 old women of writers who he has misled, but such is the 
 result of ignorance and piracy ; where one sheep goes others 
 \vill follow, and writer after writer pirates the misstatements 
 which I have only mentioned so fully to expose. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 The Friar set his fist to his mouth, 
 And whuted whutes three ; 
 Half a hundred good band-dogs 
 Came running over the lee. 
 P>l(ick Letter copy of Itobin Hood and the Curtail Friar. 
 
 AFTER the evidences of the British mastiff left us by the poets 
 and artists at the time when the Roman supremacy over 
 Britain was in the height of its culture and civilization, scanty 
 are any traces of the breed until after the Norrnan conquest. 
 
 The Saxons, a race of rude warriors, terse in their phrase- 
 ology and possessed of little skill in sculpture or carving, 
 apparently found the British mastiff used principally as a 
 watch -dog. 
 
 Saxon sculptures are scarce and very rude, being seemingly 
 only copied from the Roman, and it is not surprising that no 
 sculptured figures of dogs of that period have been found. 
 Two of the most curious, perfect and best examples of pure 
 Saxon sculpture that I have seen are in Chichester Cathedral, 
 Sussex ; they were discovered in 1829, built into the walls, 
 and are supposed to have been brought from the Saxon 
 Cathedral, at Selsea, in Sussex. The subjects are scriptural 
 pieces, and are boldly carved raised figures in a kind of red 
 clay or deep red softish stone, and the long tunics, long curled 
 hair and beards, at once pronounce them to have been 
 executed while the pure Anglo-Saxon style of dress was 
 prevalent, prior to the conquest ; and as Selsea was founded 
 
THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 69 
 
 by St. Wilfrid in 680 A.D., it is probable these Saxon works 
 of art are over 1000 years old, and form a striking contrast 
 when compared to the faultless works of Gibson, R.A., and 
 that of other modern sculptors scattered about the same 
 Cathedral. 
 
 In the Natural History, or rather " Bestinria " as it was 
 termed, of the middle ages, although we find numerous figures 
 of animals in carving, such as the lion, bear, bull, and ram, 
 we find few figures of the dog ; this unfortunate circumstance 
 for the dog lover is easily accounted for, as the animals 
 depicted are in semi-sacred subjects, being all symbolical, and 
 although the early artist depicting Taurus or Aries intended 
 to represent the ancient fabulous animals, they could only 
 obtain their models from the living animals around them. 
 Thus a Durham carver depicting Taurus, would unintention- 
 ally leave behind a reliable portrait of the type of the 
 Teeswater cattle of his day ; while the Herefordshire sculptor 
 would delineate the Hereford bull of his period, whose type 
 is thus handed down to posterity, having been preserved 
 among the crumbling calcelarius remains and dust}' particles 
 ot their breeders who rest around the carvings. 
 
 From the miserere sculptures of Worcester and other 
 Cathedrals, we can obtain the fashion of the dress and 
 appearance of our ancestors, and the forms of our early 
 English cattle and sheep, but the mastiff not being symbolical 
 of any sacred or profane subject is not found. 
 
 One of the great drawbacks to discovery and information 
 from such sources, is the fact that few antiquarians have any 
 real knowledge of the characteristic features of the various 
 breeds of dogs, in fact, they are not dog fanciers or judges as 
 
70 THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 a rule, and unfortunately seldom think of soliciting the 
 opinion of qualified judges when they make any canine dis- 
 covery. 
 
 While until the last few years the majority of dog fanciers 
 were too ignorant and coarse in their tastes to have any 
 regard for such investigation, the educated and thoughtful 
 however, would wish to raise the tone of the fancy, and cause 
 the antiquarian and learned to appreciate the defined points 
 of the various breeds ; while practical, experienced breeders 
 know the value of ascertaining knowledge of old ancestrial 
 types, which are very fixed and hard to eliminate, unless 
 purposely suppressed in a systematic way. 
 
 In the Priory Church of Little Dunmow, in Essex, there 
 was, and probably still is, the figure of a dog, couched at the 
 feet on the tomb of the fair Matilda, the supposed Maid 
 Marian of Robin Hood, and daughter of Robert, 2nd Earl 
 Fitz Walter. This mural tomb, made in the i3th century, 
 was shielded by a dark screen of oak, believed to be coeval 
 with the building which formed merely a southern portion of 
 the Collegiate Church founded by Raef Baynard. The tomb 
 itself is figured in Cough's Sepulchral Monuments. 
 
 Of the mastiff during the Saxon times, there is next to no 
 record, beyond their terse barbarian name for the breed, that 
 of "bandog," evidently bestowed on account of the use they 
 found the mastiff put to in this country. 
 
 There is no mention of this breed in the Forest Laws of 
 Canute, which, when we examine the clauses having reference 
 to dogs, we may easily understand, as owing to the bandog or 
 mastiff being kept perpetually on the chain as a watchdog, 
 they were not at all liable to molest the king's deer, or other 
 
THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 71 
 
 animals of the royal chase, and even greyhounds might be 
 kept by farmers without being hambled or expeditated as the 
 terms were, (i.c. having three of the toes of the fore feet 
 chopped off) providing they were kept ten miles from the 
 forest, according to the Charter of the Forest Laws of Canutus, 
 the Dane, king of England, granted at Winchester in a 
 parliament held there in A.D. 1062. 
 
 The ball of a dog's foot was termed the " pellota,'' and the 
 claw the "ortellus," and to law a dog, that \\as to cut out 
 the ball, or else to cut off the three claws of the fore foot, w r as 
 termed expedite or expaalto. Rambling or hameling of a 
 dog in the forest laws was the same as expediting or lawing. 
 This was not hamstringing or houghing, i.c. cutting the 
 sinews of the ham, as some have explained incorrectly, but 
 simply meant retarding or abating in speed, from the old 
 obsolete word hameled, abated from the Saxon ham elan, to 
 abate. 
 
 Perhaps to account more satisfactorily for the lack of 
 mention of the mastiff during the Saxon times, it is well to 
 remind my readers of the comparatively few works that existed 
 at that period, paper not being invented until the reign of 
 Edward ist, caused all books to be written on parchment. 
 It lias been written that the foundations of our English 
 literature were laid when St. Agustine converted the Saxons 
 to Christianity. 
 
 Under Alfred the Great learning was encouraged for a short 
 time, but the Anglo-Saxon literature died out with just a 
 flicker during the reign of Canute. Few works are extant in 
 the Anlglo- Saxon tongue, writers of that period principally 
 employing Latin, and the scarcity of books in those times 
 
72 THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 may be imagined, when it is asserted that Alfred, king of 
 Northumberland, gave to Benedict Biscop, (a learned priest, 
 who had travelled to Rome to collect M.S.S.) a large landed 
 estate, for one book only. 
 
 It is just possible that /Elfric, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 who died in 1006, may have mentioned the bandog in his 
 Glossary of Latin and Saxon words, but in the general way 
 as Latin was the usual language of literature and correspon- 
 dence until the conquest, any mention of the mastiff would 
 probably be under the Latin terms molossus, villaticus, or 
 catenarius. In Senaca, who flourished A.D. 50, are the 
 following lines: " Iracevis Catenario Cani, ct his quum multiim 
 latvavit objetto cibo mansuescit. Sen Lib. iii. de Ira. And 
 Columella of Cadiz, A.D. 63, also calls the bandog " catenatus 
 janitor," and canis villaticus, classical terms we shall see our 
 English writers made use of. Perhaps a careful research 
 among the few Saxon M.S.S.'s etc., \vould reveal some 
 mention of the breed. 
 
 The mastiff has commonly borne the name of bandog from 
 the time of Canute to the last century, when that undisputed 
 authority on all such subjects, W. A. Osbaldiston, in his 
 British Sportsman's Dictionary, published 1792, ignores the 
 term mastiff, using like a true Saxon the name bandog to 
 define the breed. 
 
 Ban-dog or band-dog is of true Saxon origin, from banda, 
 a chain, or any narrow ligament by which a thing is bound, 
 and doc, a dog, hence banda-doc, or band-dog, a chained dog, 
 and it was the recognised term for the mastiff. Chaucer 
 mentions the bandog. Sir Thos. More, (1500 about) p. 586, 
 c. spells the word bande-dogge. Spencer, in The Shepherd's 
 Calendar, first published in 1579, has, under September, " We 
 
THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 73 
 
 have great bandogs, will tear their skin.'' Shakespeare also 
 says " The time when screech owls fly and bandogs howl." 
 Hen. vi., scene iv., act i. Again " Bowgh wowgh ! the 
 watchdog's bark." The Tempest, scene ii., act i. 
 
 Koch mentions the bandog, bond-dog as an instance of a 
 compound, in which one or both of the elements have been 
 changed, or become obsolete. Koch iii., p. 98. But consider- 
 ing the number of good authorities there are for the spelling 
 bandog; with every deference to Koch, I consider he was 
 mistaken about any elementary change, and the contraction 
 from band-dog is only an instance of natural syncope that we 
 find in most languages. Although in the Promptorum Par- 
 vilorum sive Clericorum Diclionarius, made about 1440, and 
 published by A. Way, in 1865, P a e 43> * s mentioned the 
 bondogge or bonde-dogge molossus, and in a note, Way gives 
 it bonde-doge molossus. 
 
 The bandog (spelt band-dog in this instance) is mentioned 
 in the old English ballad of ' Robin Hood and the Curtail 
 Friar," i.e. a Cistercian monk of Fountains, Abbey, Yorskhire, 
 which shows that the mastiff was used for the same purposes 
 very much as keepers still use them at times. The old lines 
 are 
 
 " The Friar set his fist to his mouth, 
 
 " And *whuted whutes three : 
 
 " Half a hundred good baud -dogs 
 
 " Came running over the lee-." 
 
 " Two dogs at once to Robin Hood did goc, 
 
 " The one behind, the other before, 
 
 " Robin Hood's mantle of Liucolne greenc. 
 
 " Off from his backe they tore." 
 
 * To whute is the shrill whistling noise made by shepherds and boys 
 by putting their fiugers into their mouths and whistling in a certain way. 
 It is much more shrill than the ordinary whistle, and can be heard at a 
 considerable distance. 
 
 L - 
 
74 THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 This mention of the bandog is of little value as actual 
 history, for the statements are plainly creations of the bard, 
 but it is of value, as indirectly it furnishes proof of the old 
 English name for the mastiff in the i5th and i6th centuries. 
 There is an old black letter copy of this ballad in the Pepysian 
 library, printed by H. Gosson about 1610, and as the ballads, 
 jests, and plays of which Robin Hood was the hero, are 
 considered by sucli authorities as Gough and others, as not 
 being much earlier than the date of printing, we may consider 
 the majority will not have been composed before 1400. 
 
 Pope has given Jas Ralph, an American writer, a place in 
 his Dunciad, where he exclaims, " Silence ye wolves," while 
 Ban Ralph to Cynthia howls, and makes night hideous ; 
 answer him ye owls. This was written between 1725 and 
 1744. That polished little diamond Rogers, who reflashed 
 in prismatic shades the gems of others, evidently copied from 
 Shakespeare, the lines in his Pleasures of Memory, where he 
 says : 
 
 " Imps, iii the bam with mousing owlet bred, 
 
 " From rifled roost at nightly revel fed ; 
 
 " When in the bree/e the distant watch-dog bayed/' 
 
 N. Bailey, 1742, give band-dog a dog kept in bands or tied 
 up, a mastiff; and Littleton in the 1677 edition of his Latin 
 and English Dictionary, gives band-dog or ban-dog a molossus 
 vel canis catenarius, and under catenarius chained or linked, 
 and catenarius canis a band-dog or ty-dog. Thus we see in 
 the 1 7th and i8th century bandog was understood to mean 
 the mastiff. It was formerly the custom to keep the bandog 
 or mastiff tied up during the day, and to loose him at night, 
 as may be seen by old records. 
 
THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 75 
 
 Anciently by law the ban-dog had to be muzzled, or to be 
 kept chained up during the day, otherwise the owner was 
 liable to be fined, but this law had fallen into disuse in 
 Elizabeth's reign. 
 
 Mr. Vero Shaw in his book of the Dog, has seen fit to sneer 
 at the ancient bandogs as unlucky brutes, kept always on the 
 chain ; thus showing great historical ignorance of the breed 
 on his part, as dogs fastened up in a yard with a long chain 
 during the day, and let loose at night to roam about the 
 premises at pleasure, would get far more exercise, and conse- 
 quently be far healthier than many of our show specimens. 
 The constant exercise would fully account for their superior 
 legs and feet, points Mr. Yero Shaw himself notes, as shown 
 in old pictures of the mastiff, and in practical exposition of 
 this treatment, I may quote Sir T. G. F. Hesketh's Nero 
 2318 as an instance. This dog took the first prize at 
 Birmingham in 1872, and was a marvel in strength and 
 straightness of limbs, and muscular development, he was 
 constantly on chain as the watch-dog at Park View, near 
 Towcester, and his sire, Nero ist was the watch dog at Rufford 
 Hall, being so savage, that he dare not be let loose. 
 
 We see from Bloomfield's Farmers Boy that it was the 
 custom in England up to 1800 even, to leave the mastiff 
 unchained at night to roam at pleasure, even to go sheep 
 worrying until suspected ; and More in his Antidote against 
 Atheism, mentions the custom of farmers keeping the bandog 
 to protect their premises. Henry More was born at Grantham 
 in 1614, and died in 1687, having been educated at Cambridge. 
 
 Although the origin of the term ban-dog is palpably from 
 being banded or chained, Stephen Skinner deduces it from 
 bana, a murderer. Stephen Skinner born about 1622, was a 
 
76 THE BANDOG OR MASTIFF. 
 
 great antiquary, and a man of very extensive erudition, his 
 great work Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae has always been 
 considered of high authority, and is still a useful work for 
 reference. Skinner was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, 
 and settled as a physician at Lincoln, where he died in 1667. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 When we knock at a farmer's door, 
 
 The first answer shall be his vigilant mastiff. 
 
 More's Antidote against Atheism. 
 
 WITH the Norman conquest, bringing with it a culture of 
 everything in any way connected with hunting, we get further 
 insight to the broad-set, heavy pugnaces or ban-dogs of 
 England, and although neither the artist nor sculptor have 
 left many indications of the type of the breed at that date, 
 old tapestries reveal a few interesting examples. 
 
 There are some dogs figured on the celebrated Bayeux 
 tapestry, attributed to Matilda, the wife of the Conqueror. I 
 have seen no accurate drawing of these animals, therefore 
 cannot pronounce an opinion if the mastiff is among them. 
 The best work on this tapestry is that of the Rev. J. C. Bruce 
 entitled "The Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated." 
 
 There is also some very fine tapestry of the I5th century 
 preserved at Hardwick, in Derbyshire, boar and other hunting 
 scenes being figured. As Rogers wrote 
 
 " The storied arras, source of fond delight, 
 
 " With old achievement charms the wildered sight." 
 
 Pleasures of Memory. 
 
 A careful research among the Anglo-Saxon M.S. of that 
 date might reveal forms of the mastiff. Books in the Saxon 
 language declined after the conquest, and Norman-French 
 became the language of the upper classes, the law, and 
 literature. William ist trying even to abolish the English 
 tongue, causing all laws to be written in Norman-French or 
 Latin. 
 
78 THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 The word mastiff is evidently of Norman introduction, and 
 
 is probably a Gallic form of the Latin word massivus, the t 
 
 being interchanged for the s ; the word being derived from 
 
 massa, a mass, and applied to the breed on account of the 
 
 thick-set massive or masty form of the animal. In the 
 
 Anglicised form mastiff the reduplication of the f seems purely 
 
 English, and etymologists have pointed out, the spelling 
 
 mastif would be preferable, and we find examples of the word 
 
 in the older form mastif and masty. It is specially worthy 
 
 of note that both the Armoric and Spanish have the word in 
 
 the form mastin, and in ancient French it was the same, 
 
 having become contracted into matin. The Italian has also the 
 
 same word with the vow r el ending suffixed (mastino). Mastivus 
 
 cannot under these circumstances be regarded as exactty dog 
 
 Latin, (so called) seeing we find the word in the Italian 
 
 mastino, which is evidently the mastivus, the v and n being 
 
 interchanged. Dr. Caius mentions that Niphus spelt the 
 
 word mastinus. Some have derived the word mastiff from 
 
 mansatinus, properly a dog that stops at the house, but the 
 
 contraction seems very forced and improbable, and there 
 
 exists not a scrap of historical information warranting any 
 
 such derivation. Mastiff seems a corresponding English 
 
 form to the French word massif from massa, the English 
 
 massive or massy. 
 
 Spencer, who wrote purposely in a somewhat antiquated 
 style, used the word mastives and Hudibras has the same. 
 
 Dr. Caius plainly states that the origin of the word mastivus 
 is from the massive or gross (sagina) form of the dog's body, 
 and he states notwithstanding that Augustinus Niphus (who 
 wrote about 1500) wrote the word mastinus, and the word 
 appears plainly to have been primarily of Italian origin. 
 
THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 79 
 
 The term mastiff until after the age of Elizabeth was used 
 for both mastiff and bulldog, being applied merely to denote 
 a house or watch-dog, and it was not until the time of Ben 
 Johnson that the word bandog tell into disuse, except to 
 define a mongrel watch-dog. The bulldog became defined 
 by the sport it was used for, and the word mastiff applied only 
 to the breed we now understand by that name. 
 
 The close alliance that has always existed, and the constant 
 fusion of the two kindred breeds of the greater and lesser sort 
 of bandog or mastiff formerly, caused the same terms to be 
 applied indiscriminately. 
 
 The earliest mention of the word mastivus that I have heard 
 of, is in the Forest Laws of Henry 2nd. Thetyranical forest 
 law system, introduced by William ist, continued during the 
 Norman dynasty, but when the Saxon line was restored in 
 the person of Henry 2nd, the forest laws were ameliorated, 
 and this particular law appears to have been framed from the 
 23 seclion of the Constitution or Laws of the Forest, made 
 by Canute. 
 
 The following extract is from the charter of the forest of 
 Henry 3rd, " of keeping dogs within the forest and expedi- 
 " tating the same, and the forfeiture for keeping them 
 " unexpeditated therein." 
 
 " And therefore farmers and substantial freeholders dwelling 
 " within the forest, may keep mastiffs for the defence of their 
 " houses within the same, providing such mastiffs be expedi- 
 taled according to the laws of the forest. The way of 
 " expeditating mastiffs is done after this manner, viz. three 
 " claws of the fore feet shall be cut off by the skin, by setting 
 " one of the fore feet upon a piece of wood eight inches thick 
 
80 THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 " and a foot square, and, with a mallet, setting a chisel of two 
 " inches broad upon the three claws of his fore feet, and at 
 " one blow cutting them clean off. And "this expeditating (by 
 "some called hambling or lawing of dogs) ought to be 
 " enquired of by the regarders of the forest every; third year, 
 " and to prevent such as are not expeditated, and the owners 
 "of them amerced 35. for keeping such dogs so outlawed." 
 Another term for cutting off the claws, or cutting out the 
 balls of the feet of dogs, was hoze-ing. 
 
 The Rev. Daniel, in his Rural Sports, states, vol. i, "The 
 "court of regard, or survey of dogs, was holden likewise 
 " every third year, for expeditation or lawing of dogs, by 
 " cutting off to the skin, three claws of the fore feet, to prevent 
 " their running at, or killing deer. No other dogs than 
 " mastiffs were to be thus expeditated, for none other were 
 "permitted to be kept within the precindls of the forest, it 
 " being supposed that the keeping of these, and these only, 
 " were necessary for the defence of a man's house.'' Vide 4, 
 Inst. 308. 
 
 From this, we may see the early encouragement which was 
 given towards keeping the mastiff as a guard for premises. 
 
 Idistone, chapter xxii., states that the mastiff was cherished 
 by the Anglo-Saxons, and every two villeins, according to 
 Jesse, had to maintain one of these dogs. The heading hound 
 or molossus being used for chasing the larger animals. I 
 know not on what authority Jesse may have advanced this. 
 
 Strutt states that the oldest treatise on hunting that lie 
 was aware of, was that of Tweci or Twety, grand huntsman 
 to Edward ist. Vide Warton's History of English Poetry, 
 vol. 3, page 221, and Strutt, Lib. i ch. xiii. Strutt states 
 
THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 8l 
 
 that he never saw the original tract by Tvveci, which was 
 written in French, about 1300. The M.S. Strutt quoted 
 from is t in English, and he judges from its appearance, it 
 would be nearly coeval with the original, but the name of 
 John Gyfford is joined to that of Twety. In this tract it is 
 stated that ' the " mastiff" is a good hounde for hunting the 
 wild boar.' Now as Gyffords translation into English of the 
 original French treatise was made soon after 1300, it would 
 be a little previous to the time of Chaucar, and from the first 
 tract might be gathered the original Norman -French word 
 for the English mastiff. 
 
 The M.S. by Gyfford is in the Cotton Library, at the British 
 Museum, Vespasian B xii., but Strutt does not mention how 
 the word mastiff is spelt in this instance. 
 
 Thos. Hearne, the antiquary, in 1725 published Robert de 
 Brunne's translation (made between 1303 and 1338) of Peter 
 I.angtofts Chronicle of England, in which work, p. 189, L 8, 
 the word mastiff is spelt " mastyf," being made to rhyme with 
 hastif. The Promptor'um Parvulorum Sive Dictionarius 
 Clericorum, a very valuable work, made about 1440, gives 
 the word masi-yf or mestyf, the latter being probably only an 
 ignorant variety of spelling the word. 
 
 It is worthy of remembrance that Edward 3rd, who came 
 to the throne in 1327, banished the Norman-French language. 
 
 Chaucer (who was born in 1328, and died 1400) having had 
 a liberal education, being some time at Cambridge, and it is 
 believed studied some time also at Oxford, might be trusted 
 for using the common and correct term for the mastiff, and 
 we find him using the Saxon word bandog, and older British 
 
82 THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 name Alan. Thus the word mastivus seems of Norman 
 introduction, and only to have been Anglicised about 1300, 
 while the majority of Englishmen would use the term bandog 
 long subsequently. 
 
 There are few works between Chaucer and Caxton, but 
 the biographer of William de Clowne makes out that prelate 
 was the most amiable man who ever filled the Abbacy of St. 
 Mary, in Leicestershire. Among his excellent qualities he 
 had great skill in tlu i science of hunting, and in order to keep 
 his kennel well stocked, (for he seems to have experienced the 
 difficulties of rearing puppies well at home) he requested King 
 Richard 2nd to grant him a fair or market, for the sole purpose 
 of buying and selling dogs, which request was granted. 
 
 This may fairly be considered the first dog show or collection 
 of dogs ever got together that we have any record of, and this 
 Rev. dog dealer should be regarded as the patron saint of 
 the English kennel, seeing he was considered the best 
 sportsman in pursuit of the hare in England ; and Richard 
 2nd, his son Prince Edward, and several of the nobility, 
 allowed him an annual pension for the instructions they 
 received from him in hunting. How much the Belvoir, Quorn, 
 and other kennels of hounds owe their origin and excellence 
 to the dog fairs, instituted by William de Clowne, and his 
 skill in breeding, and if (like some more modern clerical 
 gentlemen) he had a taste for adding to his income by a little 
 buying and selling of mastiffs, boarhounds, etc., would be 
 difficult to say. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTH'S REIGN. 
 
 This island of England breeds very valiant creatures ; 
 Their mastiffs are of uninatchable courage. 
 
 Shalt e*pca.Tc. Henry r., act ///., bCi'iic 7. 
 
 THE battle of Agincourt, as Drayton sung in his Polyolbion, 
 
 1622. 
 
 Upon St. Crispins day, 
 Fought was the noble fray, 
 Which' fame did not delay 
 To England to carry. 
 
 Agincourt, glorious Agincourt, that for the second time on 
 Gallic soil raised the bulldog courage of the Englishman to 
 the admiration of Christendom, and to become a National 
 proverb. 
 
 Agincourt, as well as a landmark in English history, 
 furnishes also an important piece of history connected with 
 the English mastiff, for the legend runs, that on Ocl. 25th, 
 1415, on Agincourt's bloody field a favourite mastiff bitch of 
 Sir Peers Leigh (knight of Lyme Hall, nr. Stockport, Cheshire) 
 protected her master from molestation as he lay wounded on 
 the field during the night after the battle, until some English 
 soldiers found him, and he was removed to Paris, where he 
 died, and the mastift, who was in whelp at the time, had a 
 litter of puppies. 
 
 Sir Peers' body was brought back to Lyme for burial, and 
 the bitch and whelps along with it. Sir Peers was buried at 
 
84 THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTH's REIGN. 
 
 the Old Church, Macclesfield, which was founded by Edward 
 ist, in 1279, and dedicated to St. Michael, it was nearly 
 rebuilt in 1740, and there is, or was, a small chapel belonging 
 the Leighs of Lyme Hall, in which was a brass plate, thus 
 inscribed : 
 
 " Here lyeth the body of Perkin A Legh, 
 That for King Richard his death did dye, 
 
 Betray'd for Righteousness : 
 And the bones of Sir Peers his sonue, 
 That for King Henry vth. did wonne 
 At Paris. 
 
 This Perkin served King Edward the third and the Bkick 
 Prince, his son, in all their wars in France, and was at the 
 battle of Cressie, and had Lyme given him for that service ; 
 and after their deaths, served king Richard the second, and 
 left him not in his troubles, but was taken with him, and 
 beheaded at Chester by King Henry the fourth ; and the said 
 Sir Peers, his sen, served king Henry the fifth, and was slam 
 at the battle of Agincourt. In their memory Sir Peter Lcgh, 
 of Lyme, Knight, descended from them, finding the said old 
 verse, written upon a stone in this Chapel, did re-edify this 
 place A.D. 1626." 
 
 The puppies were kept by the family out of a sort of 
 gratitude for the fidelity of their 'dam, and from them, with 
 crosses, introduced frcm time to time, the breed is said to 
 have been kept up at Lyme Hall until the present time. 
 
 I would have my readers remember that Henry 5th, with 
 his army set sail from Southampton harbour on the i3th of 
 August, 1415, and Agincourt was fought on the 25th of October 
 following, being exactly 63 days from Henry 5th's army 
 setting sail ; and as the bitch was capable of being present 
 at Agincourt, and active enough to defend her master, and 
 
THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTH ? S REIGN. 85 
 
 not whelping until some time after reaching Paris, it is 
 palpable she must have got in whelp after leaving England, 
 and seeing the confusion, bustle, and even straits the English 
 army were in previous to Agincourt, it is very improbable 
 any care was taken over the paternity of the said litter, and 
 it is very probable that this Lyme Hall race were cross bred 
 mongrels from the commencement. 
 
 I mention this because certain writers on the strength of 
 the legend have laboured in vain to try to establish a claim 
 for purity of the breed, saying that the Lyme Hall breed 
 presents the true and correct type of the English mastiff in 
 its purity. Although the breed has unquestionably varied in 
 type from time to time, and frequently presented character at 
 variance with any idea of mastiff purity, being highly sugges- 
 tive of a cross with the German boarhound or Great Dane. 
 
 In the drawing-room window at Lyme Hall, is the reputed 
 portrait of Sir Peers Leigh, who met his death w r ounds at 
 Agincourt, and also a representation of the bitch, and in this, 
 and in the old pictures of the family, the breed is represented 
 of a pale fawn colour, but more recently the breed has been 
 of a deep red, which was the prevailing colour of mastiffs in 
 Lancashire formerly. 
 
 The family appear to have kept up the breed by crossing 
 with specimens in the vicinity, and Lancashire has always 
 been noted for the number of bandogs kept to guard its 
 bleaching grounds, etc. But at Lyme Hall no record appears 
 ever to have been kept of the lineage of the race, neither has 
 any purity in type seemingly been cultivated, and the breed 
 has generally presented animals approaching the boarhound 
 in character, being too long in the head, pointed in the 
 muzzle, high on the leg and light in body, for mastiff purity. 
 
86 THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTH'S REIGN. 
 
 The mastiff being present with Sir Peers Leigh at Agincourt, 
 shows that at that date the breed was often the favourite 
 companion and guard of the wealthy, and their courage was 
 to use the words of Shakespeare simply unmatchable a 
 characteristic the bulldog has kept up, if not its larger relative 
 the mastiff in all instances. 
 
 In 1472 Caxton had returned to England and introduced 
 the art of printing, and about that date Albert Durer (of 
 whom Longlellow so justly said 
 
 " Emigravit is the inscription on the tomostone where he lies, 
 Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies." 
 
 brought to a fair state of perfection the art of engraving on 
 wood, to produce woodcuts. Caxton's "Golden Legend" 
 being full of his work. 
 
 According to Berjeau, in 1496 was printed at St. Albans, 
 (from which the work took the name of the Book of St Albans) 
 a treatise on Hunting, by Dame Juliana Berners of Sopewell 
 Priory. She was related to Lord John Bourchier Berners, 
 author of Froissart's Chronicles, Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 and Governor of Calais, under Henry viiith. Juliana Berners 
 was one of the earliest female writers of England, of whom 
 Hollingshed says: "She was a gentlewoman endued with 
 mighty gifts, both of mind and body, and wrote certain 
 treatises on hunting and hawking, delighting herself in those 
 exercises and pursuits." Honest Strutt less gallantly says : 
 She was sister to Lord Berners, and that her treatises on 
 hunting (which was illustrated by Wynkyn de Worde) was 
 evidently compiled from the works of Twici and Gyfford, and 
 the enlargement of their tract, made by the Master of the 
 Game to Henry ivth, compiled for his son, Prince Henry, 
 afterwards King Henry 5th, which work was entitled " The 
 Maister of the Game." M.S. of the Harlean Collec, Vide 
 Strutt, Lib. i, ch. i, xiii. 
 
THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTH's REIGN. 87 
 
 The book of St. Albans contains the earliest printed 
 instance I know of the term mastiff, which is spelt " mastif," 
 and being from the pen of a well-educated person, goes a 
 long way to prove that it would be more correct to spell the 
 word with a single f. 
 
 Shakespeare uses the word mastiff on several occasions, 
 example in Henry vth, acl iii. scene 7. I have not exam- 
 ined any early editions of Shakespeare, thus cannot state the 
 general spelling of the word. 
 
 The learned English antiquary, Sir Henry Spelman, who 
 was knighted by James ist, uses the term mastivus, and the 
 same form is used in " The Laweing of Dogs." 
 
 Man wood in his work on the Forest Laws states that the 
 mastiff derives its name from the Saxon masc the fcse or 
 thief- frightener, but with all respect to Manwood, 1 think he 
 has jumped at an ingenius conclusion, for we find no mention 
 of the mastiff under that name in the Saxon Forest Laws, or 
 any other work, and I have never met or heard of the word 
 mastivus in any author previous to the Norman Conquest, 
 being seemingly little more than a latinized form of the 
 French word massif (masculine) massive (fern.) the theme of 
 winch is mas, a lump or mass. 
 
 It is very probable that when the Britons emigrated to the 
 provinces of Brittany in France, they took some of their 
 mastiffs with them, and therefore the breed would be well 
 known to the Norman Conqueror and his followers, whose 
 love of hunting the larger game, would naturally recommend 
 the mastiff to them. From the Anglicised translation of the 
 Norman- Latin mastivus, we get masty, a thick-set fellow, 
 also a mastiff, (as example in the two maids of Moreclake, 
 
88 THE MASTIFF IN HENRY VTIl'S REIGN. 
 
 1609, Moreclake being an old spelling of Mortlake, near 
 London) also a mastif as printed in The Book of St. Albans, 
 and the old English form mastivc, as example 
 
 '' As savage bull, whom two fierce ruastives 
 
 " When rancour doit with rage him once engage, 
 
 " Forget with wary ward them to await, 
 
 " But with his dreadful horus them drives afar." 
 
 Spenser, 
 Also in Butler's Hudibras 
 
 "For now the mastives charging home." 
 
 Part 1, Canto ii., line 79. 
 
 By consulting the older dictionaries we get some insight 
 into the etymology and accepted derivation, and meaning of 
 the word mastiff among scholars. In S. Patrick's Edition of 
 Ainsworth 1746, under the word mastiff is given, mastiff, 
 masty or masty dog, a molossus. Here we see the word masty 
 accepted for a mastiff down to 1746. In the 1736 edition of 
 Ainsworth, Latin and English, is given band-dog or bandog 
 a molossus or canis eaten arms, and under molossus a mastive 
 dog. 
 
 N. Bailey, in the 1737 edition of his Dictionary, under 
 bandog, gives the definition a mastiff. While in his 1742 
 edition he states as follows: u mastif" (note only single f) 
 French un matin. Barbarian Latin mastivus, a sort of great 
 dog. In L. Desperez edition of Horace, published 1740, 
 under annotation 5, the molossus is explained as canis 
 ingens, Gallice a dogue, Anglice a mastiff. J\J T C\OSSKS ex Epiro 
 iibi populo fuei'e Molossl Strabo, Lib. vii. In A. Boyers' 
 Dictionary, French and English, 1783, is as follows : ''English, 
 mastiff, masty, a masty dog, French, a dog of the largest kind, 
 un matin, un gros chicn ponv la gvarde d'un bassc cour." " Masty 
 
THE MASTIFF IN HENRY 5TH's REIGX. 89 
 
 fellow, F. (a clown) un matin tin paysan, nn rustrc." These 
 definitions of Ainsworth, Desperez, Bailey, and Boyer, are 
 worthy of attention, as they furnish distinct evidence that 
 the idea from 1650 to 1750 was that the mastiff was a large 
 masty or massive house dog of the largest kind, and therefore 
 totally distinct in point of size from the modern bulldog, and 
 however tedious it may be to wade through and master these 
 explanations, they are necessary to any who may wish to 
 understand Dr. Cains, Aldrovandus, Sir. H. Spelman, Ray, 
 and other early Historians, Naturalists, and Antiquarians. 
 Moreover, extracts from the old treatises I have mentioned 
 are at times quoted promiscuously by persons writing on both 
 the mastiff and bulldog, who from their ignorance of the 
 subject, frequently confuse the two breeds. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 While master goes throughout, 
 Sees shutters fast, the mastiff out. 
 
 Kirk White. Summer Eve. 
 
 IN my last chapter 1 traced the mastiff down to the Elizabc- 
 thian age, and in this I purpose reviewing Gains and several 
 old authors whose writings throw light on the breed. 
 
 The learned Dr. Cains, alias Kayes, or Dr. John Kay, M.D., 
 who was born at Norwich, in 1510, and died in 1573, leaving 
 his estate, for elevating Gonville Hall, into what is now 
 termed Cains College, Cambridge. I mention these particu- 
 lars in order to show that Cains was an Englishman, as from 
 gentle Will Shakespeare making use of his name in " Merry 
 Wives of Windsor," some readers might fall into the error of 
 regarding him as a Frenchman, and consequently give less 
 credence to his work. He wrote about 1550, in Latin, a 
 quaint treatise, " De Canibus Britannicus," for the use of the 
 famous naturalist, Conrad Gesner, and from this treatise it 
 would seem Gains had sent Gesner a treatise for private use 
 live years previously, in which, there was fuller mention of 
 the Scotch dogs, and that Gesner had mentioned this former 
 treatise in writing to Dr. Win. Turner, who died in 1568, just 
 three years after Gesner. 
 
 A translation of the second treatise was published in 1576, 
 by one Abraham Flemmmg. from whose introduction it would 
 seem the latter was a bald-headed old gentleman at the time, 
 
gi THE MASTIFF DTRIXG ELIZABETH'S REIGX. 
 
 but a thorough dog lover as well as classical student, for he' 
 mentions his well-kept grass plat being trampled by the feet 
 of his dogs, showing that Cambridge students cultivated the 
 canine race during the reign of Elizabeth. Elemming's 
 translation has been reprinted line for line, and even error 
 for error, and issued by The Bazaar Office, 170, Strand, 
 London, \V.C., from whom it could be had post free for 2/8, 
 and to whom even* praise is due for republishing so interesting 
 a work, both to the antiquarian and dog fancier, and it is a 
 work that should certainly be in the library of every dog lover* 
 
 We learn from Flemming's introduction that Gesner had 
 used Caius's treatise fully, and there is a capital description 
 of the .mastiff, which runs as follows : 
 
 " Of the mastive or bandogge, called in Latin villaticus or 
 " catenarius ; this kind of dog is vast, huge, stubborn, eager, 
 of a heavy and burdenous body, and therefore but of little 
 " swiftness. Our Englishmen assist 
 
 ''nature with art, use, and custom, for they teach these dogs 
 "to bait the bear, etc.'' Cains further mentions that the 
 mastiff " took fast hold with its teeth, and held on beyond all 
 credit." This, together with the fact that the mastiff which 
 fought the lion before James ist, held on to the lion's lip, shows 
 that the mastiff in those days seized and held, that they did not 
 keep chopping, but pinned their victim, like the bulldog. 
 
 Cains also speaks of the mastiff for drawing water, saying : 
 " And these are of the greater and weightier sort, drawing 
 'water out of wells and deep pits by a wheel, which they 
 " turn round-about by the moving of their burdenous bodies. 
 " This kind of dog is called the pack or baggage dog, because 
 with marvellous patience they bear big packages filled with 
 " tinker's tools and metal, for mending porridge pots, etc." 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. Q2 
 
 This custom continued until 1830 to 1840, for Mr. Thompson 
 remembered seeing mastiffs so employed in Yorkshire up to 
 that date about ; and I may point out that a dog no larger 
 than the largest modern bulldog, could not carry any great 
 weight of tinker's tools composed of irons, solder, metal, files, 
 etc. The dog employed plainly being as large as a fair-sized 
 mastiff. 
 
 Caius goes on to say: "Besides the qualities recounted, 
 " this kind of dog hath this disposition natural to them, that 
 " they love their master's liberally, and hate strangers despite- 
 " fully, wherefore to their masters when travelling, they are 
 " a singular safeguard, defending them forcibly against 
 "villains and thieves," I will warn my readers that I have 
 condensed and modernized the language of Caius somewhat. 
 
 From the mention of the vast heavy body it is palpable 
 that Caius was writing of the sort we now term mastiff, and 
 from his mention " that the greater and weightier sort were " 
 used for water drawing, that there was more than one sort of 
 mastiff or bandog at the time Caius wrote, which throws light 
 on Laneham's statement written about 1575, " that the bears 
 were baited by a great sort of bandog." Vide Nicholl's 
 Progress, vol. i, fol. 249. 
 
 From Spencer and Caius it is evident the terms bandog 
 and mastiff did service for the mastiff group generally, the 
 larger sort being the true mastiff, the smaller the progenitor 
 of the modern bulldog. From Berjeaus work, it is plain that 
 a dog very similar to the modern bulldog existed in 1494, Vide 
 plate 9 of the work "A bulldog licking a beggar's sores." 
 This plate was taken from the first edition of " The Ship of 
 Fools," by J. B. Von Olpe. Also plate 13 in Berjeau, repre- 
 sents a short-faced turn-up muzzled bulldog, drawn by the 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 93 
 
 Dutch painter, Israel Von Meckenner, between 1482 and 1492. 
 Also plate 22, a bull bitch, by Lucas Von Leyden, 1516, but 
 the ears in this specimen are larger than in the modern 
 bulldog. Caius gives a supplement explaining the meaning 
 of the various names of dogs. Under the mastiff or bandog 
 section he states that the name mastiff originated from 
 (Flamming has translated it) the fatness of the dog's body, 
 giving the word sagina (a well fed or conditioned animal) as 
 the Latin equivalent for mastiff, remarking " this kind of dog 
 which is usually tied, is mighty gross and fat fed." 
 
 I may say the word sagina does not necessarily imply mere- 
 obesity, as Pliny, Tacitus, and Propertius make use of the 
 word in connection with the food and feeding of gladiators. 
 " Om dabit venalia fata (Vitam sitam) sagana (gladiatoria). Prop. 
 
 For gladiators used to take large quantities of strengthening 
 food, and it may be instanced as an example in which courage, 
 vast strength, and lasting power were combined, that it has 
 been recorded of Col. Fred. Burnaby (of ride to Khiva fame, 
 and a typical Englishman) that he was Homeric in his eating 
 and could dispose of two or three pounds of meat at a sitting. 
 It has also been recorded as an instance of the strength and 
 courage of the noted gigantic Daniel Lambert, who was a 
 great flesh eater, being able to dispose of a leg of mutton at 
 a meal; that on one occasion seeing a mastiff getting consid- 
 erably the worse of an encounter with a bear, he unarmed, 
 strode up to the combatants, and seizing the bear with his 
 hands, shook it until he forced it to quit its hug of the mastiff, 
 which he then dragged away by the neck. 
 
 This recalls Shakespeare's words " just, just, ; and the men 
 do sympathise with the mastiff in robustuous and rough 
 
94 THE MASTIFF DURIFG ELIZABETH S REIGN. - 
 
 coming on, and then give them great meals of beef, they will 
 eat like wolves and fight like devils." Hen. 5th, scene iii., 
 act 7. At first sight this may seem somewhat digressing 
 from my subject, but it is not so, as it not only shows how 
 the mastiff should be fed, but how they were fed in the days 
 when pluck and strength was the ideal standard they were 
 bred to. When dogs are required for courage and muscular 
 strength, they should be fed liberally on flesh. The modern 
 biscuit puffed up, flabby muscled mastiff, is no longer the 
 gladiatorial animal of the i6th century, although it may bo 
 the saginish glutton described by Juvenal, sat. iv., line 67. 
 Although I am aware, according to Col. H. Smith, the fierce 
 dogs of the feudal nobility of Europe, forming packs for 
 hunting the wolf and boar, were invariably fed on bread, 
 referring for a proof of this to our ancient books of Yenerie, 
 the ancient Welsh laws, and " Le Roi Modus" and household 
 institutions of the Dukes of Burgundy. 
 
 Edward the Confessor also received yearly from the single 
 manor of Barton, near Gloucester, three thousand loaves of 
 bread for the feeding of his dogs. Such references are very 
 well, and prove that bread was much used, but it does not 
 disprove that flesh as well was not used. 
 
 Col. II. Smith says " We may infer that food or climate 
 would not truncate or widen the muzzle, nor raise the frontals, 
 nor alter the posterior branches of the lower jaw as in the 
 mastiff.'' The truth of this altogether I am not prepared to 
 admit, believing in the old adage one part breed (i.e. original 
 conformation) two parts feed (i.e. habits and food) for 1 am 
 inclined to think with Thacker on fighting dogs, who says 
 "The fighting dog should have a greater quantity of bone 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGX. 95 
 
 given to him than any other kind of dog, and if the bones 
 were as large as he could crush, it would be better as serving 
 a two-fold purpose ; namely they are his natural food, con- 
 taining much oily and nutritious matter, and will give him 
 as much courage, and support his strength as any food; and 
 secondly there is no method so effectual in exercising the 
 muscles of the jaw, the massiter muscle in particular, by which 
 lie will be able to bite his antagonist more powerfully." 
 
 That the process of tearing raw flesh from joints of horse 
 flesh and dead carcases generally, has a great tendency to 
 improve the character of the mastift's head and neck there is 
 little doubt, I have noticed at tan yards and other places 
 where mastiffs are so fed, their cheek muscles are well 
 developed, the zygomatic arch stronger and more prominent, 
 and the cynodonts larger and longer. 
 
 The word sagina is perhaps the most important particular 
 that an}' part of Cains' s work affords, and strange to say, it 
 has seemingly been overlooked by the various writers that 
 have quoted from Cains from to time. 
 
 The word not only shows that the term mastiff was regarded 
 by a well-read man, writing for the guidance of a naturalist, 
 as derived from the massiveness of the dog's build, but also 
 affords insight of the weight of the breed during the reign of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Turning aside to another author for reference to this word, 
 Camden, who wrote about 1607, states under the Scots, on 
 the word Albini " Let critics consider whether in that 
 11 passage of St. Jerome wherein he inveighs against a certain 
 tk Pelasgian, native of Scotland, we should not also for Alpin- 
 
96 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 " um read Albanium, when lie calls him the monstrous fat 
 " (sagma) Alpine dog, more capable of doing mischief with 
 "his heels than his teeth, etc.'' 
 
 St. Jerome's work, which was published at Frankfort, in 
 1602, I have not seen, the author himself flourished about 
 1414, but the passage is most interesting to the philokunist, 
 as it reads like an instance of the word " sagina " being 
 applied, as descriptive of the gloriously good tempered old 
 Alpine mastiff, whose clumsy dew-clawed heels were liable 
 to do more mischief than they had any idea of doing with 
 their teeth. 
 
 Camden stating that he did not ever remember to have 
 heard of Alpine dogs, would seem that the old smooth St. 
 Bernard or Alpine mastiff, had not in 1607 gained any 
 notoriety, although it has been conjectured by some to have 
 been originally procured from England. When subsequently 
 brought from the Alps to this country, it assisted materially 
 in recussitating the English mastiff from 1800 to 1830. 
 
 It is here worthy of remark that the French appear to have 
 imported from us the word dogue to denote the mastiff and 
 bulldog, which about 1600 they appear to have considered 
 was peculiar to Britain. Menage, a French literary writer, 
 who flourished from 1613 to 1692, and who particularly 
 concerned himself with the derivation of French words, says : 
 " Dogue, a large thick-set English dog, derived from the 
 English word dog." This shows that a French etymologist 
 of the i yth century, considered the dogue or mastiff to be a 
 large, thick-set, English dog. But to return to Caius, it is 
 evident that the mastiff and bulldog were alike classed as 
 bandogs, massivcs, or mastiffs, these terms plainly having to 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH S REIGN. 97 
 
 do double work, hence the confusion many have been thrown 
 into, when they have essayed at tracing out either breed; and 
 it is ridiculous to fall into the error some have, in thinking 
 that neither the bulldog nor mastiff existed separately as a 
 distinct breed about 1550, as Caiiis himself plainly mentions 
 the lighter or smaller sort of bandog or mastiff. 
 
 Cains terms the mastiff also ' canis laniarius," i.e. butcher's 
 clog, so called from its use, as it renders great service to the 
 butcher in taking his cattle when needed/' Here we see 
 plain reference to the ancestor of the bulldog, or as that breed 
 was sometimes called formerly, the beast-dog, Vide Useful 
 Domestic Dogs, plate on page 368 of Dickson's Live Stock. 
 
 \Yc should remember Cains was writing for a naturalist, 
 and endeavouring to class the various breeds into groups, 
 was not so careful as we are now to distinguish the sub- 
 divisions into breeds. One reason for Caius's varied and 
 manifold titles for the various sorts of dogs, may have arisen 
 from the same difficulty that presented itself to Caxton, who 
 stated that the difference between the terms of the educated and 
 vulgar was so great that at times he was puzzled to know 
 what word to employ in his translations, so as to be intelligible 
 to all classes of his readers. Naturalists still rightly follow 
 the plan of classing the mastiff, bulldog, and pugdog, under 
 the mastiff group. In his fifth section "cross bred dogs" 
 Caius mentions the Urcanus (i.e. Hyrcanian) stating it to be 
 engendered between the bandog and bear. This Urcanus 
 was plainly a mastiff, as he states it to be produced in England 
 from a cross with the bandog, being evidently a cross between 
 the bandog and some larger, and probably foreign dog, and 
 it is plainly only a piece of credulity on the part of Caius, 
 
98 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 accepting the reputed Ursine parentage, induced no doubt 
 partly through reading the classical mention of dogs being 
 crossed with tigers in Hyrcania, and lions in Arcadia. 
 
 By some, Cains has been set down as merely a credulous 
 canine biographist, but we 'must bear in mind that he was 
 writing at a time when monsters were universally believed in. 
 And with regard to the canis nrcanns or supposed hybrid 
 between bandog and bear in 1582, M. Pierre Bonaistarau 
 published at Paris, his " Histories Prodigieuses," giving a 
 cut and curious account of one of these supposed ursine dogs. 
 
 This is mentioned in the Penny Cyclopaedia, under the 
 article Bear. It appears M. Bonaistarau had visited England 
 
 during Elizabeth's reign, and was shown two clogs asserted 
 to be a cross between bandog and bear, and both of which 
 were presented to the Marquis de Trans; one of which he 
 gave to Le Compte d' Alpenstan, the other he took to France, 
 and it was from the latter Bonaistarau gives his representation. 
 He states that the animal was extremely savage, and in form 
 between bear and dog. the former being the sire. 
 
 What these supposed hybrids really were it is now difficult 
 to pronounce, without doubt the one in question is represented 
 somewhat bear-like in appearance ; there is a copy of it given 
 in the Museum of Animated Nature, No. 8^.0., and if the cut 
 is to be trusted, 1 should suspect the animal was no hybrid 
 dog, but some species of bear : the drawing however is 
 plainly very rough, disproportionate, and evidently not to be 
 relied on. It is possible that these canes urcani were some 
 foreign dog, possibly the rough coated mastiff of Thibet, 
 which not being well-known at that time, were mistaken for 
 a hybrid between the mastiff and bear, their long wavy black 
 coats not being unfavourable to such a conclusion on the 
 
TIIF. MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH S REIGN. 99 
 
 part of the ignorant and credulous. And although inclined 
 to discredit the possibility of such a hybrid myself, I cannot 
 condemn Cains for stating what was thought possible, and 
 believed in long subsequently. 
 
 In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 40, published 17/0, is an 
 account of some travels in Holland, which runs as follows : 
 u On June 2ist, ijGS, on the road from Delft to the Hague, 
 our observers saw a large black and white dog following a 
 coach, as he seemed to be somewhat remarkable, M. Yanden 
 Hoever de Fienover, who was then acting as Consul of France 
 at Rotterdam, and who accompanied the visitors, informed 
 them that the dog was an offspring of a bear and bitch, which 
 could not be doubted, as he was whelped at the end of a long 
 voyage at sea, in which the bitch and the bear were the only 
 animals on board.'' 
 
 This seems very conclusive evidence, and it is worthy 
 of notice that both in this and in the instance related by 
 Bonaisturau in his Histoires Prodigieuses, the bear was the 
 sire and the mother a dog, which renders it more probable, 
 but I have met with no mention of these supposed hybrids 
 procreating either with dog or bear. 
 
 Having carefully and fairly studied Dr. Caius's work, I 
 consider it is wonderfully accurate considering the age it was 
 written in, and it affords great insight to dogology, and the 
 modern fancier, if he knows anything of Latin, will not find 
 the work so complicated and obscure as some writers have 
 stated, although to understand a work of this sort correctly, 
 a reader should have some knowledge of coeval and precedin 
 authors. 
 
100 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 Flemming spells some of his Latin words very queerly, but 
 that may be pardoned after the transcriptive error that Mr. 
 V. Shaw made, or let pass in his Book of the Dog, Part i, 
 page 3, when quoting from Caiushe says : " Canis Villaticus 
 or Carbenarius. When first I read this, not having seen the 
 original, I judged this carbenarius might have some connec- 
 tion or reference to carbonarius of or belonging to coal, and 
 hence meaning a coal yard dog. I am amused and somewhat 
 surprised Mr. V. Shaw with his boastful B.A. Cantab should 
 have allowed such an error to pass. 
 
 Camden, writing about 1600, throws some light where and 
 how the mastiffs were kept ; he says under London St. 
 Thomas's Hospital, " From thence along the river side 
 westwards, was a row of houses called stews, 
 so called from the ponds for fattening tench and pike ; among 
 these buildings is a place like a theatre for baiting bears and 
 bulls with dogs, and kennels of bandogs, which are so strong 
 and bite so hard, that three of them are enough to seize a 
 bear, and four a lion, etc. Camden states that the Irish 
 wolfdog was similar in shape to a greyhound, and bigger than 
 a mastiff, this shows that the mastiff was not so large as the 
 \\olfdog, an animal that probably averaged about 31 or 32 
 inches. 
 
 After careful reading it would seem as though both Camden 
 and Shakespeare had read and quoted from Caius's work, and 
 other writers of about his date term the mastiff villaticus, 
 written by some vellaticus. According to Varro, R.R. i, 2, 
 countrymen often said vella for villa. 
 
 Harry, the minstrel, or as he is more generally termed 
 Blind Harry, mentions the mastiff in his poem on the " Life 
 of Wallace," statin that hero's life was preserved by one of 
 these dogs. 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGX. IOI 
 
 In the Life of Raleigh, in the History of the .first Colony 
 of Virginia, (1584 about) it is stated that the English soldiers 
 declared that they could not starve as long as they had the 
 two mastiffs, which they might kill and make soup of, and on 
 their return (1585 about) they had resource to their mastift 
 broth ; and although modern mastiff breeders may not be able 
 to dispose of their draft puppies to the butcher, yet the 
 ancients considered a young and fat dog excellent eating. 
 Hippocrates, who flourished 460 B.C., placing it on a footing 
 with mutton and pork, stating that the flesh of a grown dog 
 is wholesome and strengthening, and that of puppies relaxing. 
 
 The brave and accomplished Lord Edward Herbert, of 
 Cherbury,- Salop, mentions the mastiffs kept about 1600 by 
 the Duke of Montmorency. He remarks on hunting in France, 
 " The Duke of Montmorency having given orders to the tenants 
 of the town of Merlon, and some villages adjoining, to attend 
 me when I went a hunting, they upon my summons usually 
 repaired to those woods where I intended to find my game ; 
 the}' entered the woods on one side, w r e on the other side of 
 the said wood, having placed mastiffs and greyhounds to the 
 number of twenty or thirty, which Monsieur de Montmorency 
 kept near his castle." It is worthy of mention that Lord 
 Herbert was the eldest son of a very ancient family, and was 
 born in 1581. at Montgomery Castle, Wales; he was a poet 
 of little merit, but an author of some repute, his English being 
 considered strong and free from the quaint pedantry of the 
 age. Having divided his time between country life and that 
 of various courts, he was calculated toknow^the mastiff when 
 he met it, and to give it a proper designation. 
 
 In Barnaby Googes 1631 translation of a work by Conrad 
 Haresbatch, the mastiff termed the "The bandog for the 
 
102 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S RF.IGX. 
 
 house/' runs as follows : " First the mastie that keepeth the 
 " house, for this purpose you must provide such a one as hath 
 " a large and mighty body, etc." 
 
 From this description we see that mastie, bandog or tie-dog 
 were terms all used to designate the same animal or rather 
 group of dogs, and that those with a large and mighty body 
 were to be selected for watch dogs. This corresponds with 
 Laneham's and Caius's term " bandog of the larger sort." 
 
 Although Googes translation was made in 1631 only, the 
 matter belongs to an earlier date, and accords well with the 
 style of Flemmings's translation of Cains. Before proceeding 
 to show the uses the breed we now term the mastiff was put 
 to, it may give a clearer conception by summarizing the 
 designations of the mastiff and bulldog. 
 
 We see in the time of Cains (1550) the bulldog existed under 
 the term of butcher's dog, and lesser mastiff or bandog, and 
 does not appear to have borne the name of bulldog much before 
 the reign of Queen Anne, and the breed becomes undistinguish- 
 able from the mastiff previous to Elizabeth's reign, until as 
 far back as the classical authors. 
 
 The mastiff or bandog bearing both these titles conjointly 
 with the bulldog down to Anne's reign, about which period the 
 term mastiff became employed only to define the breed we now 
 know by that designation, and it bore the name bandog down 
 to about 1800, when this term used to denote generally a 
 lighter and cross bred animal, and there is ever)- reason for 
 believing that up to 1600 the English mastiff was constantly 
 crossed and recrossed with the bulldog, the main difference 
 being the greater size of the former, owing to larger blood 
 having been introduced into it at an early period, and it is 
 
THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 103 
 
 probable that not until the reign of Elizabeth was there 
 any endeavour to decrease the size of the ancestors of our 
 modern dwarfed bulldogs. 
 
 Alken in his "National Sports" gives an account of the 
 way in which the term bulldog came into use. And Delabere 
 Blaine, who wrote about 1790 to 1810, in his Encyclopaedia 
 of Rural Sports says that " British cultivation has enlarged 
 the proportions of the mastiff greatly from the original breed 
 of the ancients, mentioning the lips characteristically pendu- 
 lous, and to a much greater degree than those of the bulldog, 
 which breed he states without doubt is an artificial animal 
 of spurious origin, and possibly derived from a stunted 
 specimen of the mastiff of rickety habit; and further states the 
 belief of Sydenham Edwards was that the bulldog arose from 
 a cross between the mastiff and pug, and admits the possibility 
 of crossing the Dutch pug (often called the small mastiff) 
 with the English mastiff, and thus producing the bulldog, 
 but suggests this would involve the solution from what source 
 the pug itself was derived. 
 
 The originality however of these three breeds from one 
 common stock need not be doubted, when we see existing in 
 Great Britain the vast cart horse of the shires and fens, and 
 the stunted \Yelsh and Shetland ponies of the mountains and 
 cold barren districts. 
 
 In the reign of Elizabeth the Law took notice of the 
 mastiff, stating ' There are four species of dogs, viz. a mastiff, 
 a hound, (which comprehends greyhound, bloodhound, etc.), 
 a spaniel, and a tumbler. 7, co. 18, a Cro. Eliz. 125. And 
 a trover or trespass lies for them. Cro. Eliz. 125. 
 
 A man hath a property in a mastiff, and where a mastiff 
 ialls on another dog, the owner of that dog cannot justify 
 killing the mastiff. Cro. Eliz. 125. 
 
104 THE MASTIFF DURING ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 It is no justification in trespass for killing a mastiff, that he 
 run violently upon the defendants dog and bit him ; but the 
 defendant should state further, that he could not otherwise 
 separate the mastiff from his dog. i Saund, 84. 
 
 If a person hunt up'on the ground of another, such other 
 person cannot justify killing his dogs, as appears by 2 Roll, 
 Ahr. 567. But this was overruled in the case of \Vadhurst 
 v. Damme. Cro. Jac 44. It was held that a warrener may 
 justify killing a mastiff dog in the warren pursuing conies to 
 prevent his destroying them, and so if a dog run after deer. 
 3, Lev. 28. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 Come men and mastiffs ; some to fight 
 For fame and honour, some for sight. 
 
 Butler. Hudibras, Part 1, Canto 2. 
 
 IT will be seen that the legitimate uses of the mastiff among 
 the Britons were to defend their homes and property, and also 
 to assist in driving cattle, while in times of war they afforded 
 a guard for the women and chariots. The Romans fought 
 animals in their amphitheatres, and from their savage fondness 
 for such sights as gladiatorial shows and pitting animals 
 against each other in all probability arose the intro- 
 duction of baiting animals with dogs in Britain. The 
 antiquity of such sport is shown in Pliny's account of the 
 Albanian dog that successfully baited the boar, lion, and 
 elephant before Alexander the Great some 300 B.C. Vide 
 Pliny Nat. Hist. viii. 64. 
 
 Among ancient nations baiting animals was a common 
 sport, and was practised by the Egyptians, Greeks, and 
 Romans. The amphitheatres at Rome were made of wood 
 until the age of Augustus, at whose desire Statilius Taurus 
 (a cognomen very suggestive of a family of matadors) erected 
 the first durable one of wood and stone combined. 
 
 Thus it is not surprising that little vestige of any are 
 found in Britain, although amphitheatres existed during the 
 Roman dominion at Dorchester, Silchester, and other towns, 
 
IO6 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 of about 200 yards in circumference, and according to Dr. 
 Stukeley (who was termed the Arch Druid on account of his 
 knowledge of British antiquities) there existed the remains of 
 a smaller amphitheatre of about 65 feet, between Richborough 
 Castle and Sandwich. Vide Itinerarium Curiosum, by Wm. 
 Stukeley. 
 
 Baiting wild animals seems to have been a very fascinating 
 spectacle to the Romans, and according to Pliny viii. the 
 bear was imported and publicly baited in Italy, and Claudian 
 mentions the aptitude of the British pugnaces in the following 
 lines: Magna tauvorem fvaClura' colla Britanna." Claudian de 
 Laud Stil. Lib. iii. 
 
 According to Martial and Claudian the forests of Britain 
 produced a quantity of bears, and these continued in the 
 North of England until the eighth century, and according to 
 Gemeticencis nearly to the conquest. 
 
 According to Gale's Scriptores from Doomsday, in the time 
 of Edward the Confessor, the town of Norwich was bound to 
 furnish annually to the King one bear and six dogs for 
 baiting it, but I am not aware how these dogs are described 
 in Doomsday, whether merely as dogs, or if their kind is 
 described. Such dogs were termed canis ursarius (bear dogs) 
 an old name for the mastiff. 
 
 In some of the early constitutions of the Welsh, it is stated 
 of the wild animals that are hunted, only three arc lawful for 
 baiting, of which the bear is one. 
 
 Chaucer mentions that the Alan was good for baiting either 
 the lion or bear. Principally the mastiff was used to bait 
 the bear, but at times even the horse and ass suffered, the 
 latter animal furnishing a spirited combat. Strutt gives an 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. IO7 
 
 illustration of a horse banded by the neck to a' tree, being 
 baited by two large dogs, which were evidently not unlike 
 and quite as large as the mastiff in body, the drawing however 
 is very indifferent. One of the dogs has pinned the horse by 
 the nose. This illustration is from an M.S. in the Royal 
 Library. 
 
 From Stow's Survey, p. 666, it is stated that baiting the 
 bear, bull, or horse in the open streets of London was prohib- 
 ited, under a penalty of twenty shillings, according to one of 
 the city laws. 
 
 According to tradition the Stamford bull-running (a different 
 diversion to bull-baiting) took its rise, in the reign of King 
 John, from William, Earl of Warren and Lord of Stamford, 
 standing upon his castle walls in Stamford, and noticing two 
 bulls fighting, and the owner of one of them, a butcher in the 
 town, set " a great mastiff dog " (as it is worded) upon his 
 own bull, which forced it into the town ; the Earl was so 
 pleased with the sport and tumult that ensued, that he gave 
 the aftermath for ever, for grazing, to the butchers of the 
 town on condition that they annually furnished a bull-running. 
 The original account from which this tradition is taken is in 
 Richard Butcher's " Survey and Antiquities of the Towne of 
 Stamford, in the County of Lincolne," published in 1717, ch. 
 i, pages 76 and 77, being the second edition, an earlier one, 
 now very scarce, was published in London, A.D. 1646, small 
 4-to, which contains some poems. 
 
 In this tradition we see the mastiff described as " a great 
 mastiff dog," and the first bull baiting at Stamford is stated 
 to have been on St. Brices day, Nov. I3th, A.D. 1209. 
 Stamford was also probably the last town in England in which 
 
IO8 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 there was an attempt on the part of the populace to bait the 
 bull openly. 
 
 It is mentioned by Caius and other writers that Henry viith 
 ordered a mastiff to be hung because it had singly coped with 
 and overcome a lion. 
 
 The Rev. Daniel, in his Rural Sports, 1807, vol. ist, says: 
 " Bear baiting was by no means an amusement of the lower 
 " people only, in the latter end of the fifteenth and early part 
 " of the sixteenth centuries." An odd incident furnishes us 
 with a proof of this; an important controversial M.S. was 
 sent by Archbishop Cranmer across the Thames, the person 
 entrusted with it ordered his waterman to keep off from the 
 tumult occasioned by baiting a bear on the river before 
 Henry viiith; the man rowed however too near, and the bear 
 overset the boat by trying to board it, and the M.S. was lost 
 in the confusion, etc. 
 
 Under the Tuclors bear baiting became a royal sport, and 
 assumed recognised rules for what was considered sportsman- 
 like treatment towards both bear and mastiff. Shakespeare 
 says : 
 
 ' Call hither to stake my two brave bears, 
 
 " Are these thy bears? we'll bait thy bears to death, 
 
 " And manacle the bearward in their chains." 
 
 The following was as near as possible the manner of 
 procedure : A stump of wood was sunk level with the ground, 
 into which was fastened a ring, to which the unfortunate bear 
 was made secure with a long chain or rope, the latter being 
 preferable ; the bear was then unmuzzled, several men termed 
 bear-wardens were in attendance. The mastiffs or beardogs 
 {not bulldogs) were fastened around at a convenient distance 
 out of reach, then either one, or more generally two, were 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. IOQ 
 
 slipped without any collar, and if well trained w.ent straight 
 at the bear, trying to knock him backward with the rush, 
 and fastening on to his throat, pin him down and worry him, 
 keeping out of reach of his powerful claws, or still more 
 terrible hug. 
 
 One good determined mastiff has before now proved a 
 match for a bear, but in a general way the bear constantly 
 managed to disable one or both of his assailants. 
 
 Caius states that three mastiffs were more than a match for 
 a bear, and four for a lion, but the latter appear to have been 
 baited only very seldom, and then with picked dogs, bear 
 baiting however was very frequent all over the country. 
 
 In further proof that three mastiffs were sufficient to 
 overcome a bear, my friend, Mr. John Lyall, of Glasgow, 
 (whose fondness for the mastiff, combined with his skill in 
 drawing and painting, together with sound and varied reading, 
 have been the means of much pleasurable intercourse, as 
 well as assistance to me in my investigation of historical facts 
 connected with the breed) kindly sent me a sketch and 
 particulars of an etching some 250 years old, by either a 
 Flemish or German master, representing a hunter, three 
 mastiffs, and a vast bear lying dead. Mr. Lyall describes 
 the mastiffs as having immense skulls, very short, broad, and 
 deep muzzles, their bodies rather lighter than the modern 
 mastiff, but heavier in build than the boarhound. These 
 dogs he judged to have been about 30 inches at shoulder, 
 with great bone, smooth coated, and their ears cropped. The 
 engraving was large, and the dogs drawn large. Mr. Lyall 
 with his usual good judgment in such works of art commis- 
 sioned a party to buy the engraving for him, but it sold high, 
 being one of a lot of an old collector's etchings and engravings. 
 
IIO THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 However the picture shows that 250 years ago it was 
 commonly considered that three mastiffs were more than a 
 match for a bear. In R. Pinson's Antibossicon, published in 
 1521, there are several bear-baiting scenes, which were 
 introduced as a kind of caricature on the assailants. Berjeau 
 in his work, gives a plate of one of these scenes, no. 33. The 
 bear is represented as being assailed by a greater number of 
 mastiffs than was considered fair, two being as I have already 
 explained the recognised legitimate number at the outside, to 
 be slipped at once. These dogs are very roughly drawn, yet 
 their general characteristics are great size, being nearly as 
 large as the bear, their heads are large, with short blunt 
 muzzles, bodies short and stout, sterns short but not docked, 
 and ears cropped. 
 
 In this instance the bear is banded with a rope to a stump 
 in the ground. 
 
 Laneham writing about 1575 of bear-baiting performed 
 before Elizabeth (which was a sport the masculine Queen 
 was greatly addicted to) says : Thirteen bears were provided 
 for this occasion, and were baited by " a great sort of bandog." 
 Vide Nicholl's Progresses, vol. i, fol. 249. 
 
 From Caius we learn that the English trained their mastiffs 
 for baiting the bull and bear, and that the mastiffs wore no 
 collars to protect their throats when baiting the bear. 
 
 Shakespeare says in Hen. vi. scene i : 
 
 " Oft have I seen, a hot swelling cur 
 Run back and bite, because he was withheld, 
 Who being suffer'd with the bears fell paw 
 Hath, clapp'd his tail between his legs and cry'd." 
 And again 
 
 " Why do your dogs bark so ? be there bears in the town ? 
 
 Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Sct'iie 1. 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. Ill 
 
 And the following : " I have seen Sackerson loose twenty 
 times, and have taken him by the chain." According to 
 Malone Sackerson or Sacarson was the name of a noted bear 
 in Shakepeare's time, baited at Paris Gardens. Vide Sir 
 John Davis, Old Book of Epigrams. 
 
 " Publius, a student of the laws 
 
 " To Paris garden doth himself withdraw, 
 
 ' ' Leaving Old Ployden , Dyer, and Broke alone, 
 
 " To see Old Harry Hunkes and Sacarson." 
 
 Another noted bear was Young Blackface, some verses 
 forming a song on whose death, are preserved in a collection 
 of old ballads (most of them imperfect) in the British Museum. 
 Young Blackface was the property of one O. Sullivan, and 
 fought twenty-two double and single combats against the 
 best dogs in the country, but this amounts to nothing when 
 we learn that the most vulnerable part of his throat was 
 protected. This noted champion was at last killed by being 
 fought against three mastiffs at once without his protection, 
 as the iron collar he wore was so called, and which naturally 
 formed a very effectual protection ; he was always fought 
 muzzled. An account of this may be found in Blaines Rural 
 Sports. 430. \Ye see from this that a trained champion bear 
 was no match for three mastiffs. 
 
 Paris Garden was a great resort for bear baiting; among 
 other writers Bishop Hall, the Satirist, wrote "much better 
 than a Paris Garden bear." From Butler's Hudibras may 
 be gathered a fairly accurate account of the manner of bear 
 baiting, by one who had probably witnessed the sport 
 frequently. He says : 
 
112 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 " Twas an old way of recreating 
 
 Which learned butchers call bear baiting, 
 
 A bear at stake 
 
 That at the chains end wheels about 
 
 That none presume to come so near 
 
 As forty foot of stake of bear." 
 
 Part 1. Canto 1. 
 
 From this we see forty feet was the length of the bear's 
 chain. Historical accounts exist of numerous bear baitings 
 which took place during Elizabeth's reign, and it is very 
 possible that Shakespeare himself witnessed the splendid 
 royal sports at Kenilworth, in 1575, of which Sir Walter Scott 
 gives a most graphic fictitious account in the lyth chapter 
 of his novel Kenilworth. 
 
 In Cassell's Illustrated History of England, chapter 14, 
 page 486, there is a picture of bear baiting as practised before 
 Queen Elizabeth. The original from which this illustration 
 was taken is not stated, therefore it would be unwise to hazard 
 any remarks on the dogs, beyond that they are represented 
 with the usual short heads, and of great size, and the picture 
 is well drawn. 
 
 Hertzner, who visited England in 1598, wrote an account 
 of baiting as enacted at that period. He states "there is a 
 place built in the form of a theatre, which serves for the 
 baiting of bulls and bears. They are fastened behind, and 
 then worried by great English bulldogs, but not without risk 
 to the dogs from the horns of the one, and the teeth of the 
 other, etc. 
 
 Samuel Pepys in his Diary, under date August i4th, 1666, 
 says : " After dinner, with my wife and Mercer to the bear 
 " garden, where I had not been I think for many years, and 
 " saw some very good sport, etc." 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 113 
 
 John Evelyn, F.R.S., in his Diary under date June i6th, 
 1670, tells us : "I went with some friends to the bear gardens, 
 where was cock fighting, dog fighting, bear and bull baiting, 
 it being a famous day for all these sports. The bulls did 
 exceeding well, but the Irish wolfdog exceeded, which was a 
 tall greyhound, a stately creature indeed, who beat a cruel 
 mastiff, etc." Here we see both the mastiff and bulldog 
 mentioned together, as present at the bear garden. 
 
 In a very old print (a copy of which an acquaintance of 
 mine sent some few years back to Australia) are depicted three 
 mastiffs and a bear, one is encountering the victim, which is 
 tied to a ring in the ground, while the two other mastiffs are 
 held back, fastened to pulleys on the wall. 
 
 [ Such was the power and activity of the mastiff in Elizabeth's 
 reign, that in 1572, when Lord Buckhurst was Ambassador 
 for a few weeks at the Court of Charles IX. of France, he 
 owned a mastiff which alone and unassisted baited successfully 
 a bear, a leopard, and a lion, and pulled them all down ; and 
 this is not a solitary instance of one mastiff only being 
 employed. George Edwards, the naturalist born 1693, and 
 died July 1773, author of "Gleanings of Natural History," 
 relates that in 1615 an English mastiff killed a tiger in India, 
 in single combat unassisted. | 
 
 In the Miscellanea Curiosa, published in 1723, it is men- 
 tioned that Moorad had a man hung for watching him baiting 
 a bear with a single mastiff. 
 
 The Tower of London was for many years a National 
 Menagerie, from the reign of Henry 3rd. to that of our Sailor 
 King, for a collection of wild animals belonging to the Crown 
 
114 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 was kept within its walls. The origin of this establishment 
 being a present of three leopards made to Henry 3rd, and addi- 
 tions were made from time to time ; one of the most enthusiastic 
 masters of this royal collection was James ist, he enlarged 
 the dens for the animals, and caused an arena to be constructed 
 where fights and baitings might take place for his entertain- 
 ment, and it has been recorded that the first time he and his 
 courtiers visited the Tower to witness a fight between the 
 lions was on March i3th, 1604. 
 
 It is probable that James inherited much of the taste for 
 these wild beast fights from his connections with the French 
 Court, but the attempt was a failure, for the lions acting very 
 differently from those described by Leigh Hunt in his Poem 
 of "The Glove and the Lions," as performed before the 
 French King Francis, refused to fight, although food and 
 other incentives were tried to arouse their pugnacity, and all 
 efforts failing to arouse a combat, the company retired greatly 
 disappointed. 
 
 On a subsequent visit a bear which had proved its powers 
 and fierceness by killing a horse, a child, and several mastiffs, 
 was let into the pit to the lions, who refused to fight, and 
 retreated to their dens as soon as possible. 
 
 Stow relates, by an experiment or baiting made before 
 James ist, at the Tower, a lion was found an unequal match 
 for three mastiffs, but in reality one mastiff only survived the 
 experiment. The dogs were let loose one at a time, the two 
 first were disabled by the conflict and died of their wounds, 
 but the third although severely torn, held on some time to 
 the lion's lip, which when obliged to quit its hold, the lion 
 greatly exhausted, sought safety in flight, and leaping over 
 the dogs, made off into his den. 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 115 
 
 The two dogs soon died of their wounds, b\it the third 
 recovered and was taken care of by Prince Henry; but this is 
 not the fine mastiff introduced into Vandycks Pictures of the 
 Children of Charles ist, although a well-known writer on the 
 mastiff has confused the two. Judging from this experiment 
 it would seem that it would take at least five or six active 
 mastiffs to worry a lion, but the account proves the courage, 
 activity, and holding powers of the mastiff about 1600. 
 
 During the middle ages bear baiting was very popular in 
 England, and frequently took place on Sunday after service, 
 until interdicted by James ist. Paris Garden was a district 
 in the Parish of St. Saviours, Southwark, which contained 
 two baiting grounds, circular structures which are figured in 
 the map of Ralph Aggas, a surveyor and engraver of the 
 1 6th century, whose map was engraved on wood about 1560. 
 
 Stow mentions there were in Southwark two bear gardens, 
 the old and the new, " places wherein were kept bears, bulls, 
 and other beasts to be baited ; as also mastiffs in their several 
 kennels are there nourished to bait them," and he informs 
 us these combats were usually performed on Sundays. 
 
 Edward Alleyn held the office of keeper of the King's wild 
 beasts and master of the Royal Bear Garden, situated on 
 the bankside, in Southwark, and he was styled by the office 
 i; Master of the Bears and Dogs," in letters patent 1620. 
 
 Congleton in Cheshire, was noted for bear baitings, and in 
 the reign of James ist, the town possessed one bear, and in 
 1 60 1 this much valued animal having died, the Corporation 
 in order to raise funds to procure another, decided that it was 
 the right thing under the circumstances to sell their bible, 
 and with the proceeds purchased one. 
 
Il6 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 According to W. Andrews, the following lines were made 
 and printed towards the end of Henry viiith's reign, and 
 show that the canting puritanical spirit was then not lacking. 
 
 " What folly is this to keep with danger, 
 
 A great mastiff dog, and foul ugly bear ; 
 
 And this anent to see these two fight 
 
 And me thinks these men are most fools of all 
 
 Whose store of money is but very small, 
 
 And yet every Sunday they will surely spend 
 
 A penny or two, the bear- wards living to mend 
 
 At Paris Garden. Each Sunday a man shall not fail 
 
 To find two or three hundred for the bear-wards vale, 
 
 One half-penny apiece they use for to give 
 
 When some have not more in their purses I believe 
 
 Well, at the last day their conscience will declare, 
 
 That the poor ought to have all that they may spare, 
 
 If you therefore, go to witness a bear fight 
 
 Be sure God his curse will upon you alight. 
 
 Mr. Andrews states that about a century ago, at Liverpool, 
 it was the custom on the annual election of the Mayor to bait 
 bears ; that the bear was assailed separately by large mastiffs, 
 and if any dog compelled him to yell, or was able to sustain 
 the contest with superior address, he was rewarded with a 
 brass collar. 
 
 It would be very interesting if any of these collars could 
 be brought to light. Lancashire and Cheshire have long been 
 famous for their mastiffs. 
 
 In Stephano Delia Bella's etchings, made at Paris about 
 1642, is shown a mastiff on the top of a bear, having got that 
 animal on its back, the mastiff is nearly as large as the bear, 
 and has a vast head, short blunt muzzle, short stout limbs, 
 and massive body, with small ears, and short stern. 
 
 Strutt gives the following particulars in Queen Anne's reign. 
 It is taken from an advertisement in a collection of bills, etc., 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 117 
 
 in the Harlean Library, no. 15, and runs : " At a bear garden 
 " at Hockley in the Hole, near Clerkenwell Green, this 
 "present Monday, * * two beardogs to jump 
 
 " three jumps apiece at the bear, which jumps highest for 
 "ten shillings to be spent, also a variety of bull and bear 
 " baiting, etc., and a bulldog to be drawn up with fireworks." 
 Here we see the mastiff described as the beardog, (canis 
 ursarius) and the bulldog under that term mentioned; the 
 activity of the mastiffs at that date is shown by their powers 
 of jumping. Another announcement dated 1730, runs as 
 follows : "At His Majesty's Bear Garden, at Hockley in the 
 Hole, Sept. i4th, 1730, Likewise a dog, to be dressed up 
 with fireworks over him, and turned loose with the man in 
 the ground. Also a bull to be let loose at the same time, and 
 a cat to be tied to the bull's tail. 
 
 Gay, who wrote his Fables for the young Duke of Cumber- 
 land about 1725, in the xxxivth fable of "The Mastiffs" 
 mentions Hockley Hole and Mary-bone, both celebrated bear 
 gardens. In the Beggar's Opera, Mrs. Peacham says: "You 
 must go to Hockley Hole and Mary-bone child to see valour." 
 
 The ancient city of Chester was long celebrated for its bull 
 and bear baitings, which took place in the centre of the city, 
 near the junction of the four principal streets, and near St. 
 Peter's Church. Here at the cross, which is supposed to be 
 situated on the site of the Roman Praetorium, the Mayor and 
 Corporation used annually to attend in their official habili- 
 ments, not only to countenance the diversion of the ring, but 
 to participate in the enjoyment of witnessing it. The Mayor 
 having arrived at the Prentice, (the seat of magistry) the 
 court crier commenced a proclamation, which ran thus : 
 " Oyez ! Oyez ! Oyez ! If any man stand within twenty yards 
 
Il8 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 of the bull ring let him take what comes." The usual public 
 ejaculation followed "for the safety of the King and the 
 Mayor of the City." After which the amusement commenced, 
 and the dogs were immediately slipped. 
 
 Dr. Cooper, when Mayor in the reign of George iiird, is 
 said to have put a stop to the attendance ot the corporate 
 body on those days; and Alderman Broadhurst in his Mayor- 
 alty, made an ineffectual effort to suppress these public 
 baitings in the same reign. Professor Lowe mentions that 
 on the accession of George iiird, there was scarcely a 
 considerable town in England in which there was not a bear 
 garden, or some such place set apart for such exhibitions. 
 
 Strutt mentions that asses were also baited at times, and 
 he adds, probably the poor beasts did not afford sufficient 
 sport in the tormenting. This however is somewhat a mistake 
 on Strutt's part, as the French have baited the ass until quite 
 recent times, and the animal affords excellent sport. An 
 example of which was exhibited in a fight between a mastiff 
 and ass, both the property of Mr. Waddington, of Blackpool ; 
 an account of which appeared in the weekly papers, Nov. 8th, 
 1879. And in The Illustrated Police News of Nov. 22nd, 
 1879, there is a rough but spirited engraving, showing the 
 conflict, and shooting the dog, which represents a fine 
 muscular animal, with broad, heavy, blunt muzzle, stout 
 muscular limbs, and fine stern. 
 
 According to the accounts the donkey was a fine young one, 
 and was grazing in the field, when the mastiff rushed at it in 
 a furious manner, and fastenend on to its nose, the donkey 
 did not decline the challenge, but shaking the dog off, bit it 
 about the head and shoulders, trampled and struck it with 
 its fore feet, the dog again seized the donkey, and all efforts 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 1 19 
 
 to separate them were of no avail ; the dog repeatedly fastened 
 on to the donkey's nose, and blood flowed profusely from both 
 animals, and at the end of half-an-hours fighting, the owner 
 appeared on the scene, and fresh attempts were made to part 
 them without success; the owner thereupon decided to have 
 the dog shot, as it had by that time fastened with a firm hold 
 on the donkey's nose. A gun was procured, and the services 
 of a good shot obtained, but so savage was the fight that it 
 was difficult to shoot one animal without killing the other 
 also, at last aim was taken and a bullet put into the dog's 
 head, and it dropped to the ground ; when the smoke cleared 
 away the dog was dead, but the donkey had returned to the 
 charge, kicking, trampling, and biting the dead dog, and was 
 driven off at last with great difficulty. 
 
 It ma}- be useful here to say that there is sometimes consid- 
 erable and unnecessary difficuly in separating large dogs when 
 fighting, or getting them to release anything they have 
 attacked. The most effectual plan is to quietly throw a pinch 
 of snuff on their nostrils, which acts in a most magical 
 manner. But the days for carrying snuff being past, this 
 remedy is not always at hand ; aud the next best remedy is 
 to take a shovel and get a few live coals off a fire, and hold 
 it between the two animals, and if a little flour of sulphur 
 (an article that should be always at hand in every kennel) is 
 thrown on the coals it will soon cause the animals to stop 
 fighting to gain their breath, but one person alone should 
 never try to separate two large dogs when fighting. 
 
 That a good aclive mastiff could kill a bear, was proved 
 at St, Ann's, South Owram, near Halifax, Yorkshire, about 
 1800. A mastiff bitch belonging to Thompson, Esq. (grand- 
 father of the late J. \V. Thompson of St. Anns) was chained 
 
I2O THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 in the yard, when a man travelling with a large and savage 
 bear came to the house, and seeing the dog, was anxious to 
 attack it, the owner sneeringly offered to let the dog have a 
 go at the bear for a shilling ; this was agreed to by Mr. 
 Thompson, and the bear was unmuzzled. No sooner was 
 the dog loosed than she went straight at it, avoiding its attack, 
 knocked it over, and nearly worried it straight off before she 
 could be choked off; the bear's owner crying out all the time 
 that he should be ruined by the brute of a dog. This bitch 
 was the ancestress of Mr. Waddington's dog, and also of my 
 Dreadnought, the latter berhaps the highest couraged, 
 hardest, and gamest mastiff I have ever met with, he was 
 very muscular and active, and in spite of his decided want 
 of size for the present day (being only about 27 inches at 
 shoulder) he secured several prizes over larger and noted 
 prize takers. 
 
 From the historical and poetical mention of bear baitings 
 with the mastiff, may be gathered some idea of the number 
 of them that were kept, their courage, strength, and activity. 
 But as well as for baiting purposes, they were constantly 
 pitted against each other, especially in Lancashire, about 
 Burnley, and Padiham ; they were also much used as watch- 
 dogs for mansions, also to guard wood yards, bleaching 
 grounds, and rabbit warrens, up to the present century. 
 
 Macaulay justly remarks in his History of England : " The 
 Puritans hated bear baiting, not because it gave pain to the 
 bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." And 
 the humanity of Dr. Watts is shown by the lines 
 
 " Let dogs delight to bark and bite 
 " For 'tis their nature to." 
 
THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 121 
 
 The Duke of Devonshire and the people of Tutbury 
 petitioned against the bull running, which was instituted in 
 1374 at Tutbury Staffordshire, and in 1778 it was entirely 
 abolished. On April 3rd, 1800, a bill was introduced into 
 the House of Commons for the suppression of bull baiting, 
 Mr. Windham strongly and ably opposed it, stating the 
 amusement had existed for a thousand years, and that it was 
 a manly sport. Mr. Canning contended that the sport was 
 a most excellent one, it inspired courage, and produced a 
 nobleness of sentiment, and an elevation of mind. The bill 
 was rejected by a small majority, and a similar attempt in 
 1802 failed. However since the last named year bull baiting 
 has been declared illegal, and bear baiting is now a thing of 
 the past ; and although failing to agree with Mr. Canning 
 that it was in any way calculated to produce wobleness of 
 sentiment, or elevation of mind, yet it was calculated to 
 produce some noble mastiffs, and elevate their muscular 
 development. Some writers whose real knowledge and 
 experience of the breed is limited, have somewhat sneered at 
 the idea of a mastiff attacking a lion or bear, and at the 
 accounts of the same ; and while it would be truly ridiculous 
 to think any of the weak loined, straight hocked, short winded 
 London monstrocities could make any sort of fight even 
 against a wolf, it does not alter the fact that the breed in past 
 times were more capable, and could soon be brought back to 
 the grand old type, by selection of the best specimens for 
 breeding, and by appointing gentlemen for judges who do 
 kno\\ what the mastiff was and should be. It is very easy 
 for journalists to make pasquilant remarks, or write cynically 
 on such subjects, but we may remember the prince of that 
 
122 THE MASTIFF FOR BAITING PURPOSES. 
 
 art was only an old shoemaker, and paragraph cobbler. 
 Historical facts cannot be refuted, and the Solomon and 
 water-like jibes and attempts to be satirical only fall back on 
 themselves, showing their ignorance and presumption. 
 
 It will readily be seen for baiting purposes, while size in 
 the mastiff meant power, at the same time mere size without 
 proportionate muscular development and bulk, with the 
 characteristic short head and powerful jaws, was not the 
 standard either aimed at then or to be aimed at now ; and 
 some otherwise fair judges have fallen into the error of 
 considering size an essential in the ma stiff, and have mistaken 
 the true mastiff type, preferring the more extenuated type, 
 derived from a boarhound or Great Danish cross. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 E'en so the mastiff as the meaner cur 
 At times will from the path of duty err. 
 
 lilonm field. Farmer's Boy. 
 
 THE 1 6th century opens like the dawn of clay, throwing a 
 brightening ray of light on the history of most things in 
 England of that period, and among them that of the mastiff 
 is revealed much clearer. 
 
 With the introduction of printing and illustrating by wood- 
 cuts, we get many more examples of the form of the mastiff 
 of that date, and the painter and poet seem to have responded 
 to the effulgent beams of the press. 
 
 At Castle Howard, -Yorkshire, the seat of the Earl of 
 Carlisle, there is a painting by Titian of a mastiff and some 
 cats. In colour the dog is a rich red fawn with a white blaze 
 up the face and w r hite on the forelegs ; this dog has a still 
 more massive frame and larger limbs than the English mastiff' 
 generally, and in character resembles more the Asiatic, old 
 Alpine, and Spanish mastiffs; and seeing that Titian was 
 invited by Charles vth to Spain, and remained in that country 
 from 1550 to 1553, I think it is very probable it was drawn 
 from some Spanish mastiff, as Titian painted numerous 
 pictures while in Spain. The picture itself was obtained 
 from the Cornaro Palace, Venice. 
 
 . Berjeau's work contains a cut of a mastiff bitch and whelps, 
 plate 40. The original was drawn previous to 1591. The 
 
124 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 bitch is a short headed, heavy muzzled animal, with over 
 large ears, which seems a fault common to all Berjeau's 
 examples, her limbs are short and stout, and stern short. 
 The five puppies vary much in character, one being a short 
 round headed, short tailed promising little fellow, such a one 
 as any breeder would like to possess, while the larger brother 
 is indifferent in head, showing at that date even, in the same 
 litter puppies varied in size and type, and that unless the 
 breeder is careful to select nearest to the ideal, the type will 
 degenerate, unless the surer rule of the survival of the fittest 
 is put into execution, which in the mastiff of that date meant 
 the selection of the best performers in the bear garden, 
 whereat the shortest headed and most muscular were sure 
 to bear the palm. 
 
 The cut was taken from Jost Ammoirs work on Hunting, 
 published at Frankfort in 1592. 
 
 Berjeau also gives figures of a mastiff dog and bitch with 
 puppies. The latter from George Tubberville's k ' Noble Art 
 of Hunting," plate 28, also a mastiff dog, from the 1611 
 edition of Tubberville. In the former the bitch is extremely 
 short in muzzle, skull large, body long and deep, on short 
 limbs, and long and low generally, the ears are far too large, 
 long, and round (a characteristic fault in Tubberville' s dogs, 
 amounting to conventionality). The mastiff dog no. 2, plate 
 29, is of the same type as the bitch, his skull being large, 
 forehead wrinkled, muzzle very short, but the ears are again 
 much too large. 
 
 Very little is known concerning the art of painting in 
 England previous to the time when Henry viiith encouraged 
 Holbien in portraiture, and invited Titian to come over. 
 Under Elizabeth it was not much patronized. 
 
THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH S REIGN. 125 
 
 At Ditchley, near Charlbury, Oxfordshire, the seat of 
 Viscount Dillon, there is a painting by Johnson of Sir Henry 
 Lee, and a mastiff that saved his life. This painting was 
 made previous to 1600, and during Elizabeth's reign. The 
 story is one of the many pleasing anecdotes of the fidelity, 
 sagacity, and courage of the mastiff, being briefly this: While 
 Sir Henry Lee was travelling on the Continent, one night his 
 mastiff persisted in coming into his bedroom; the dog had 
 never done so before, and was twice turned out, but finding 
 his way in the third time, he crept under the bed, and his 
 owner to indulge the animal allowed him fortunately to remain. 
 In the middle of the night Sir Henry was awoke by a low 
 growl from the dog, and he perceived the door of his room 
 to be opening cautiously, and a figure stole in with a naked 
 dagger in hand, and was coming towards the bed, when the 
 mastiff sprang out from underneath, and laid the would be 
 assassin low. It proved to be Sir Henry's own valet, who 
 confessed he had come into the room with the intention of 
 murdering and robbing his master, and it was due to the dog 
 alone that the crime was frustrated. 
 
 This true incident formed the theme for the pretty tale of 
 St. Sebastian, a work of fiction by Miss Porter, if I recoiled: 
 rightly. The incident itself w^ould seem almost providential 
 interference to frustrate the murderer, at the same time many 
 such acts of providence that appear almost miraculous, are 
 brought about by natural means. It w r ould be hard to 
 determine how far the circumstance of the dog seeking Sir 
 Henry's company that night was due to what is termed mere 
 chance, or to some instinctive feeling. In animals instinct 
 assumes the place of reason, (or perhaps more correctly, 
 reason in man assumes the place of instinct, which is less 
 
126 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 acute in consequence) and prompts their actions. That dogs 
 know their master by his individual scent, and perhaps by 
 his footstep, I have proved often enough, for at any hour in 
 the night, however dark, I have got up and gone down to my 
 mastiffs, and into their kennels without any light, felt for 
 them, and untwisted their chains, and put little puppies back 
 to their mothers, and some have been animals that would 
 have torn a stranger down at once. That dogs are able to 
 perceive instinctively the temper their owner is in at the time 
 I feel sure. Again, at whatever hour at night I might have 
 come home, or walked about the grounds, my own mastiffs 
 never barked at me, although they would do so at once if a 
 stranger came, and strangely enough, if a stranger was with 
 me. 
 
 That the dog knows his master by his individual scent, 
 may at once be seen by the curious and puzzled air a dog 
 will smell at his master in a new suit of clothes; he probably 
 also recognises his footfall, but it is certain a dog can tell his 
 master's presence at a considerable distance at night, simply 
 through scent, and it is very probable that owing to the 
 contemplated murder and robbery on the valet's part, he was 
 in that excitable state of temperament as to be actually 
 repulsive to the dog that night, which caused the animal 
 instinctively to seek the society of his master. 
 
 There is little doubt that both horses and dogs instinctively 
 feel and are influenced by the spirits and temperament of 
 their masters, and are bold or timid, according very much to 
 their master's nature, and it is not improbable that scent is 
 the medium by which they are influenced, and strangers who 
 are not frightened of dogs are in far less danger from them, 
 than those that are. 
 
THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. I2/ 
 
 However to resume the story, Sir Henry Lee brought the 
 dog home with him, and had a collar made for it, on which 
 was the motto " More faithful than favoured." In the picture 
 the head and neck are all of the dog introduced, and on the 
 collar may be read the words "more faithful." 
 
 Judging from the head, the dog seems to have been a fierce 
 looking animal, the ears are short, in colour he seems to have 
 been a red fawn, with black ears and muzzle, and white on 
 the face. Viscount Dillon, to whom I applied for information, 
 kindly wrote to me, saying the picture was sent to the 
 Exhibition at Manchester in 1855, and photographed, but 
 that he knew of no exact engraved copy. It is the oldest 
 representation in oil of a bona fide English mastiff that I know 
 of, and probably the oldest in existence, for it may be worth 
 mentioning that it was only about the beginning of the i6th 
 century that oil was adopted as a vehicle for painting, being 
 brought into repute by Leonardo da Vinci, who was born in 
 1452, and died 1519 ; and the English school of painters being 
 very limited from the reign of Edward vi. to Elizabeth, 
 consisting of very few besides More, Fred Zuccaro, (who had 
 to quit Rome through having caricatured several officers of 
 the Papal court by representing them with asses ears) Isaac 
 Oliver, and Lucas Heere. Perhaps a careful study of the few 
 existing Fresco paintings in England would reveal earlier 
 forms of the mastiff. 
 
 It has been justly remarked that the poet can depict action, 
 while the painter, can only catch the form for a particular 
 instant ; and up to 1600 we have to rely principally on the 
 poets for the form etc. of the English mastiff, but from that 
 date the brush vies with the pen in handing down the type, 
 and from that date we have an illustrious array of painters. 
 
128 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 The Stuarts appear to have been thorough mastiff admirers. 
 Edmund Howes (in his continuation of Stow's Annals, 
 published in 1615, and again in 1631) narrates the circum- 
 stance of the lion baited at the Tower of London with three 
 mastiffs (brought from the bear garden) On Mar,ch i3th, 1604, 
 before King James, his Queen, and Henry, Prince of Wales ; 
 and it was Prince Henry who is stated to have said of the 
 mastiff which then worsted the lion: "He that had fought 
 the king of beasts should never fight a meaner creature." I 
 have given these dates as a modern writer on the mastiff has 
 incorrectly stated that it was Charles ist who made this 
 speech, but as Charles was born only in 1600, he was at the 
 time a mere child of about four years old, but of this misstate- 
 ment more hereafter. In 1621 about, James ist prohibited 
 bear baitings on Sundays, in his Book of Sports. 1 625 brought 
 Charles ist to the throne, and like his father and brother he was 
 a good sportsman, and fond of dogs. We find him advertising 
 through the press for " a bob tailed, cropped eared, black- 
 mastiff," which had strayed from the Royal kennel. James 
 ist gave little encouragement to painting, but Charles ist 
 among setting on foot other benefits to England, tried to 
 introduce a love for painting and fine art generally, and 
 owing to his patronage, he has bequeathed to us one portrait 
 of a mastiff in his reign; for in 1638 about, Vandyck made a 
 painting of the children of Charles ist, together with a large 
 and somewhat mastiff-like dog. From the children's statue 
 it is easy to discern at once that the dog was of vast size, he 
 seems to have been a deep red fawn, with the usual white on 
 the face and legs, his ears were cropped somewhat roughly, 
 and not so close as in most instances. This dog appears to 
 have been a court favourite, as there is another portrait of 
 its head, introduced by Vandyck, by the side of Killegrcw. 
 
THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. I2Q 
 
 Greenhill, a talented portrait painter, is said td have made 
 several copies of Vandyck's picture of Killegrew and dog, and 
 to have copied it so accurately and like the original, that 
 good judges were frequently known to mistake the copy for 
 the original. :: ' I have some photos of the dog's head, taken 
 from a drawing made by Lieut. Col. J. Gamier, R.E. " The 
 breeder of Governor's sire," writing to the Field Newspaper, 
 fell into the error of regarding this dog painted by Vandyck 
 as the one that coped with the lion before James the First, 
 and J. G., who I take to be the same party, repeats this 
 historical jumble in writing to The Field of Dec. nth, 1875, 
 page 660. The incorrectness of this however is patent, and 
 displays great carelessness, as a period of over twenty years 
 must have separated the two dogs, and I am unaware that 
 there is any historical mention of the latter animal, and have 
 some doubt of its being really an English mastiff, thinking 
 it very probable to have been an importation, having too 
 much of the boarhound character about it for mastiff purity. 
 It is therefore very empirical assuming this dog to fre a 
 reliable representation of the type of the English mastiff at 
 that date. 
 
 From the foregoing pictures we see it was the custom to 
 crop the ears and shorten the tail of the mastiff in- Charles 
 ist's day, which fashion remained up to 1835 at least ; Squire 
 Waterton's (the Naturalist) Tiger and Mr. Lukey's first 
 mastiff Countess being thus mutilated, and from the life-like 
 boarhounds of Sneyders we see it was also the Continental 
 custom. Sneyders dogs are very natural, and the Dutch 
 painters excelled in animals and scenes of everyday life, and 
 their pictures are painted with the idea that truthful represen- 
 tation will please. 
 
 * I noticed a fine painting of Killegrew and dogs in the noble collection 
 of Lord Lecousfield, at Petworth House, Sussex, and the Duke of St. 
 Albaus has or had another, said also to be by Vandyck. 
 
130 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH REIGN. 
 
 There is a splendid Ulmer mastiff by Sneyders at Burleigh 
 Park, near Oakham, which I had the pleasure of inspecting, 
 through Mr. Finch's kindness. There is also a fine painting 
 of a cropped eared, xanthic fawn coloured, black eared, black 
 muzzled mastiff at Belvoir Castle, by the Flemish artist 
 Weeninx, who died 1621, aged only thirty-nine. Thus we 
 may estimate the picture would be painted about 1610. It 
 represents a mastiff just having killed a wolf, a hunter has 
 come up and is in the act of blowing a horn, the dog is 
 standing on a fallen butt of a tree, and is barking ; it has the 
 short head and blunt muzzle, and is of vast size, with ponder- 
 ous limbs, and would hold its own on the show bench at the 
 present day. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that in nearly all the early paintings 
 of the mastiff, they are marked with the white blaze up the 
 face and white legs, also that black was a mastiff colour about 
 1600. In the Glasgow Corporation Galleries of Art is a 
 painting entitled Horse Shoeing, by P. Wouverman, who 
 died in 1668; there is a mastiff" introduced into the picture, 
 with a noble head and white paws, but the picture in its 
 lights and deet> shades reminds the beholder of his contem- 
 porary Rembrandt, who was the son of a miller near Leyden, 
 and he studied scenes of homely life like our own Landseer, 
 and thus represented nature truthfully. 
 
 Sir Robert Sibbald in his work " Scotia Illustrata," 
 mentions the molossus or English mastiff, when enumerating 
 the quadrupeds of Scotland. Strange to say like Caius, 
 Turner, and Gesner, Sir Robert was a physician, and both 
 the church and medical profession have always had a partiality 
 for the mastiff. 
 
THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH S REIGX. 13! 
 
 Sir Walter Scott in a note to one of his novels- mentions a 
 relic he possessed, namely a mastiff figured on a piece of iron 
 that formed part of a fire grate that belonged to Archbishop 
 Sharp, and as that worthy was murdered in 1679, it would 
 have been cast some time previous, and would furnish a very 
 fair idea of the type of the mastiff in Scotland at the time Sir 
 Robert Sibbald wrote. I endeavoured to trace this relic, 
 without success, as Sir C. Maxwell Scott wrote to me in 1876 
 on the subject, saying he was sorry that he was unable to 
 trace it for me. 
 
 We see Sir Robert Sibbald terming the mastiff the molossus, 
 and Dryden, who translated Virgil's Georgics about 1666, 
 says : 
 
 " Nor last forget thy faithful dogs ; belt feed 
 
 " With fattening whey the mastiff's generous breed." 
 
 In the original the word is molossus, translated by Dryden 
 into mastiff. 
 
 In " The Gentlemen's Recreation," in four parts, viz: 
 Hunting, Hawking, Fowling, and Fishing, published London, 
 1686, is some mention of the mastiffs. It states, page 34, that 
 the English mastiff is an Indigena or native of England, and 
 in page 46 that "The King of Poland hath a great race of 
 English mastiffs, which in that country retain their generosity, 
 and are brought up to play upon greater beasts." In page 
 106 it mentions that the wolf will carry off a porker with ease, 
 unless stopped by mastiffs or horseman ; and page 107, " When 
 the wolf is hunted with hounds, he flieth not far before them, 
 and unless he be coursed with the greyhound or mastiffs, he 
 keepeth the covert ways," and again page 118, on Bear- 
 hunting ; it ' recommends mastiffs to be mingled with the 
 
132 THE MASTIFF FROM ELIZABETH'S REIGN. 
 
 hounds for more speedy execution, stating: "for they will 
 pinch the bear and provoke her until at last they bring her 
 to bay," etc. 
 
 In further reference to the mastiffs owned by the King of 
 Poland, Col. H. Smith mentions two mastiffs, standing 30 
 inches at shoulder, according to his own measuring, that had 
 belonged to the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 THE MASTIFF IN THE iSrn CENTURY. 
 
 A mastiff pass'd iuflam'd with ire 
 His eyeballs shot indignant fire. 
 
 Gay. IX. Fablt. 
 
 PEXXAXT in the preface of his Synopsis states that at Ray's 
 date (1697 to 1700) Natural History was only beginning to 
 dawn in Britain. All honour is therefore due to the black- 
 smith's son, as through his Zoological writings, he laid the 
 foundation of the classification of the animal kingdom. Ray 
 correctly uses the word mastivus for the mastiff, and states 
 that the largest dog he had ever seen was the Irish greyhound, 
 which surpassed even the mastiff in size. 
 
 I have more than once had occasion to make reference to 
 the Irish wolfdog, or great rough Celtic greyhound, a breed 
 that probably seldom stood over 32 inches at shoulder. 
 
 At Easton Neston Hall, near Towcester, are some ancient 
 frescoes, which Sir T. G. F. Hesketh kindly invited me to 
 see ; on one of them are two vast dogs of the deerhound type, 
 and as these frescoes were painted at a time when the Irish 
 wolfhound existed, it may be regarded as throwing consider- 
 able light on the real type and size of that breed. The 
 subject of the Irish wolfdog has been carefully gone into by 
 that experienced and enthusiastic breeder Capt. G. A. Graham 
 of Rednock, Dursley, Gloucestershire, whose researches and 
 investigations have been published in an interesting brochure 
 entitled "The Irish Wolfhound." In this work Captain 
 
134 THE MASTIFF IN THE I Sill CENTURY. 
 
 Graham estimates the usual height of the mastiff at 30 inches, 
 that of the Irish wolfdog 33 inches at least, but in these 
 measurements he has probably rather overestimated the 
 original height of both these breeds. 
 
 Gay, who published his Rural Sports in 1711, followed by 
 his amusing Fables, furnishes us with so many particulars 
 concerning the mastiff as to render it obvious that he was not 
 only a good sportsman, but an intimate judge of canine life. 
 
 Gay wrote his fables for the young Duke of Cumberland, 
 and finished them just before his death, and they were sub- 
 sequently published from the M.S. belonging to his patron 
 the Marquis of Queensbury. In his viiith Fable, part ii, he 
 admirably adopts the 407111 and following lines of the third 
 book of Virgil's Georgics. In his xxxivth Fable, "The Mastiff" 
 we see portrayed the pugnacious character of the breed. In 
 the earlier editions of his Fables we find various representa- 
 tions of the mastiff. 
 
 In the 1746 edition, the mastiff in Fable ix. is represented 
 with cropped or rather rounded ears, much the same as in 
 Vandyck's painting, the head is short, and the hair somewhat 
 rough about the stern and back. 
 
 The mastiff in the xxvith Fable has the ears cropped like 
 the modern bull-terrier, has the white blaze up the face, 
 and is much smoother in coat than the fighting mastiffs in the 
 xxxivth Fable. 
 
 These dogs are generally depicted as having rougher and 
 harder coats than the breed has now, their heads are very 
 short and round, the stop well defined, and muzzle short and 
 blunt ; these are all drawn by G. Wooton, and engraved by 
 G. Von Gucht. 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE l8TH CENTURY. 135 
 
 The honest surly temper of the mastiff, and its dislike to 
 strangers is well depicted by Gay in his xxivth Fable. 
 
 " He next the mastiff's honour try'd 
 41 Whose honest jaws the bribe defy'd, 
 44 He stretched his hands to proffer more 
 " The surly dog his fingers tore. 
 
 Of the mastiff's existence in Scotland, and the trusty 
 vigilant nature of the breed, we may learn from a scarce old 
 book, published in Edinburgh in 1715, entitled "A Geograph- 
 ical Historical description of the shire of Tweed-dale (i.e. 
 Peebles) with a miscellany and curious collection of selecl 
 Scottish Poems, by A. P., M.D., the author being Dr. 
 Alexander Pennecuik. In this work is the following : " On 
 the minister of Newland's bold mastiff Turk, whom his master 
 slew in passion with a stroke of his foot." 
 
 " Howl and lament, ye Newland Tykes and Currs, 
 
 " Ye who for lesser matters make great sturr's ; 
 
 " Bark with a hideous noise and direful moan, 
 
 " For * Tories Turk, your Captains dead and gone. 
 
 44 The trusty punier of the Newland pease, 
 
 4i Lyes breathless, oh ! and none knew his disease, 
 
 " His awful looks the traveller did affright, 
 
 " The vagabond by day, the thief by night, 
 
 44 With vigilance and care he kept the store, 
 
 " And seldom wandered from his masters door, 
 
 44 No beggar, yea, no Laird, durst make their entry, 
 
 44 Without leave asked of this valiant sentry, 
 
 44 Hell's porter, Cerberus, though fierce and cruel, 
 
 4> Durst never face this hero at a duel, 
 
 44 Now he is past both physic oyl and plaister, 
 
 44 And murdered lyes by his too cruel raaister, 
 
 " Who yet may vow, and swear to his last breath 
 
 " He had no hand in his kind mastiff's death. 
 
 * The minister's name was Archibald Tory. 
 
136 THE MASTIFF IN THE l8TH CENTURY. 
 
 In 1722, Sam Croxall, D.D., published his translation of 
 ysop and other Fables, and introduces the mastiff in Fable 
 xix., stating "A lean hungry half starved wolf happened to 
 meet with a jolly plump well fed mastiff." Here we again 
 see indirect mention made of the (sagina) plump, fat, thick-set 
 appearance of the mastiff. Again in his Fable of " The 
 Country Mouse and the City Mouse" (which is also given 
 by Horace, Lib. ii., Satire iv.) we have mention of the mastiff's 
 terrific bark. 
 
 The mastiff is frequently mentioned by writers of that date. 
 Smollett in his Roderick Random, published 1748, describing 
 the siege of Carthagena, (March 1741) says : "After all a 
 " sufficient number remained to fall before the walls of San 
 " Lazero, where they behaved like their own country mastiffs, 
 " which shut their eyes, run into the jaws of the bear, and 
 " have their heads crushed for their valour." This simile of 
 Smollett's is plainly borrowed from Shakespeare's Hen. v., 
 act hi., scene 7. 
 
 Coming to a later date, in the old ballad of Cumnor Hall, 
 telling of the tragedy of Amy Robsart (which was first 
 published about 1775 in Evan's Ancient Ballads, and which 
 has been attributed to Wm. Julius Mickle) is the following 
 mention of the national watchdog then so universal a 
 favourite. 
 
 " The mastif howl'd at village door " 
 " The oaks were shattered on the green 
 ' Woe was the hour for never more 
 " That hapless Countess ere was seen ! " 
 
 This ballad on Cumnor Hall is given in the preface of Sir 
 W. Scott's novel of Kenilworth, Cumnor or Cumner Hall 
 
 itself was about 3 miles from Oxford. In a field adjoining 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE l8TH CENTURY. 137 
 
 the church some remains of the ancient manor house were 
 still visible a few years since, but owing to their dangerous 
 condition most of the ruins were pulled down In 1810. 
 
 The introduction of the Newfoundland, and subsequently 
 St. Bernard, helped considerably to banish the old English 
 mast iff from our country houses. The great Linnaeus, writing 
 about 1740, terms the mastiff, Canis Molossus. Vel Anglicus 
 Vel Bellicosus syst 57. It is worthy of remark that Linnaeus 
 had visited England, and thus had an excellent opportunity 
 of examining the breed for himself. 
 
 In 1750 the eminent zoographer and antiquarian, Thomas 
 Pennant, published his British Zoology, in which he mentions 
 the mastiff, and treating on this breed he says : " Very strong 
 and thick-made ; a British kind." Here we see reference to 
 the thick-set form which caused the breed to be named the 
 massive or mastiff apparently. 
 
 In the catalogue of names of dogs given by Dr. John Gmelin, 
 M.D., (who died 1805) in his improved work of " Systema 
 Naturae" of Linnaeus, which seems to be one of the most 
 correct, he says : "canis molossus or bulldog with projecting 
 chin, and sides of the lips pendulous, dusky snout and strong 
 robust body; also canis Anglais or mastiff with great head," 
 etc. 
 
 Smith in his History of Waterford, 1774, states that the 
 Irish greyhound was much taller than the mastiff of that date. 
 
 In the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1777 is an extract from a 
 letter, written from St. Germans, April 3oth, 1777, which 
 states that a few days previous to that date an English 
 gentleman accompanied by his mastiff came to some public 
 gardens near Paris ; the dog in accordance with the rules was 
 
 T 
 
138 THE MASTIFF IN THE l8TH CENTURY. 
 
 refused admission, and the owner in consequence left him in 
 charge of someone outside. Soon after the gentleman finding 
 his pocket had been picked of his watch, requested permission 
 to bring the dog in, who he stated would soon find the thief, 
 the request being granted, the gentleman made signs to his 
 dog expressive of what he wanted finding, the animal imme- 
 ;diately traversed the garden, seeking among the company 
 .until he detected the culprit, who his owner insisted must be 
 the person, and who on being searched was found not only in 
 possession of the watch in question, but six others were 
 discovered in his pockets. This occurence is mentioned in 
 Jesse's Anecdotes of Dogs, without giving the source from 
 ^yhence it was derived, and Daniel, vol. i. gives also a 
 garbled account of it, and 1 mention it as it not only shows 
 ,that the English gentry about 1750 to 1780 constantly kept 
 ,the English mastiff as a companion, but it also shows the 
 sagacity as well as keen sense of smell the breed possesses 
 
 when they care to exert the latter faculty, 
 t' 
 
 In 1753 was born at Cherryburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
 
 Thomas Bewick, a man destined to reanimate the method of 
 illustrating works by woodcuts ; he has left many delineations 
 of the English mastiff. 
 
 His careful, life-like, and spirited engravings of animal life 
 arc well known, and his woodcuts furnish an excellent example 
 of the type of the mastiff from 1780 to 1810. About 1800, 
 when the mastiff had become very scarce in its purity, the 
 term bandog was used to define a mongrel wa c hhdog, such an 
 animal as would arise from a cross between the old English 
 mastiff and the sheepdog or Farmer's cur, and such were very 
 much the sort of watchdogs used by Farmers from 1750 to 
 1800. 
 
THE MASTIFF IX THE l8TH CENTURY. I3Q 
 
 Bewick gives a capital cut of one of these lighter mongrel 
 mastiffs. Bewick represents the mastiff with and without 
 cropped ears. In his History of Quadrupeds the mastiff is 
 represented with ears uncropped, but in the tail pieces of 1784 
 and 1797 they are figured cropped. These little details 
 furnish a sign of the spirit or fashion of the day. 
 
 The best woodcut of the mastiff by Bewick I have met with 
 is in his Beauties of Natural History, published between 1780 
 and 1790; I have a cop} 7 of this somewhat scarce little work, 
 and in it the mastiff is depicted with a very broad skull, short 
 muzzle, with very pendulous lips, small ears, long low body, 
 being longer and low r er in proportion than in any of Bewick's 
 subsequent woodcuts. This like nearly ever}' specimen of 
 the mastiff depicted by Bewick (which are all very uniform in 
 type) has white on the face, neck, ribs, flank, legs, and stern. 
 
 This amount of white in all the mastiffs of that and preceding 
 date may have been due to the white stirp of Alan blood, but 
 more probably to a great extent to the amount of in breeding 
 then practised. The age of Railways and Railway ideas had 
 not commenced, and all animals were much more localized, 
 thus we see in most of the old English breeds of dogs and 
 cattle a great amount of white. 
 
 The good Railways (owing to the facility they offer to 
 travelling) have done to human life, causing movement from 
 place to place, and in consequence a greater mixture of 
 population, and variety, and change of water, and of food 
 produced in different localities, they have also done for our 
 animals. Forced in and in breeding in consequence of 
 localization has ceased. Railways, Shows, and the intellect 
 of breeders have broken down the barriers of environment, 
 
140 THE MASTIFF IN THE iSTH CENTURY. 
 
 and the ill effects of consanguinity, stagnation and degeneracy, 
 and with them much of those marked peculiarities of family 
 feature, which caused local breeds, amounting almost at times 
 to sub varieties. 
 
 Scientific experiment in breeding shows that where in-and-in 
 breeding is pursued whether intentional or compulsory, after 
 a time Albinoism will set in, white markings will appear, 
 which will be succeeded by colourless or white specimens if 
 the in-breeding is continued. It was no doubt owing much 
 to consanguinity on account of localization that the wild cattle 
 of Chillingham, Lyme, and Chartley became almost white, 
 and that the uniform white markings were stamped so indelibly 
 in the Hereford cattle, and much of the white markings in 
 the mastiff arose probably from the same cause. 
 
 In all Bewick's mastiffs the stern is turned over the back 
 more or less, a point common in the breed up to that date ; 
 the heads are in every case broad, muzzles short and blunt, 
 and stop well defined. 
 
 A short list of the principal figures of the mastiffs by Bewick 
 may be of assistance. The earliest I have been able to 
 discover is in 
 
 The Beauties of Natural History 1780-1790 
 
 The Mastiff and Thief. Select Fables 1784 
 
 The Mastiff in History of Quadrupeds 1790 
 
 Tailpiece to the Wood lark in Land Birds 1797 
 
 Fighting Mastiffs, two positions, and mastiff with boy on back, in tailpiece 
 to History of Quadrupeds 1790 
 
 The latter shows what a powerful large, dog the mastiff was 
 that Bewick drew from, if we compare the relative size of the 
 mastiff with the boy, who appears some ten years of age at 
 least, by his dress, form, and action. 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE l8TH CENTURY. 14! 
 
 The 1792 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica contains 
 a cut of the Mastiff by Bewick, but this edition is very scarce, 
 and the dog is precisely the same as that figured in Bewick's 
 Quadrupeds. The 1797 edition of the Ency. Britannica 
 contains a cut of the mastiff, plate 118, drawn by A. Bell, and 
 engraved by Wai. This dog has considerably less of the true 
 mastiff character, and marks the decline of the breed, which 
 commenced about 1750 to 1800; the dog shows more of the 
 hound type, the limbs however are very massive, but the 
 drawing is inferior to that of Bewick, the hind legs being very 
 badly depicted, the animal has however the characteristic 
 white on face, neck, breast, flank, legs, and tip of stern. 
 
 Bewick ends his article on the bandog by saying : " The 
 generality of dogs distinguished by that name seem to be 
 compounded of the bulldog, Danish mastiff, (i.e. Great Dane) 
 and the bandog." This seems to show that while Bewick 
 recognised the term bandog to mean the mastiff, yet the 
 generality of mastiff-like watchdogs of his day had been very 
 much crossed, mongrehzed, and debased in type. 
 
 Of Bewick himself we may say he possessed something of 
 the humour of his great predecessor Hogarth, who like him, 
 was in his youth an engraver, having been employed to 
 engrave silver tankards ; but Bewick was a lover of nature, 
 and followed more closely perhaps the homely style of 
 George Moreland, who died in 1806, leaving some splendid 
 representations of canine form in his day. 
 
 Over the life-like humour of these great masters it has 
 justly been said, an artist who neglects expression gives no 
 just representation of character even though he should take 
 nature for his model. While their animals cause us almost 
 to anticipate their next movement. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 " He must lack the gentle grace 
 That marks the best of human race 
 Who cannot see a friendly face 
 In mastiff, hound, or setter.'' 
 
 Eiiza Cook. 
 
 O- 
 
 CUVIER, writing about iSoo, rightly classes the English mat iff 
 among the Dogues, the chief features of which are he says 
 " shortness of top jaw, projection of the lower jaw beyond 
 the upper, causing the teeth to be undershot, height of 
 forehead, depth and breadth of stop, general width and 
 shortness, and massiveness of head, limbs short and stout, 
 and body robust." Cuvier rightly arranged the dog into 
 groups by the shape of the head, and length of the jaw. 
 
 If people breeding dogs, or assuming to judge other people's 
 animals, would only avail themselves of the labours of 
 Naturalists like Cuvier, sooner than following their own 
 ignorant fancies, likes and dislikes, and the vulgar error and 
 partiality for overgrown specimens of gigantic stature, we should 
 see the true type more common and dogs better and more 
 uniformly judged. As it is usually some pig-headed old gen- 
 tleman, who may have happened to have bred a few dogs, 
 (when competition was nothing like so keen) in his younger 
 days, which he rightly fancies he never saw the like of since, 
 sets up for a judge, and at other people's expense, airs his 
 ignorance of natural history and canine type generally ; but 
 at the same time clearly exhibits his own stubborn self- 
 opinion, so often present with defective knowledge of the 
 subject in question 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 143 
 
 In further confirmation of the type about 1800. Frank 
 Adcock, Esq., (Solicitor, and well-known to his skill in 
 breeding and thorough knowledge and excellent judgement of 
 the bulldog), kindly sent me the following extract, which he 
 stated he had met with in the course of his reading : 
 "The Mastiff, 1800." 
 
 "Of a very powerful make, twenty-eight to thirty inches 
 "high, broad chest, head large, lips pendulous and thick? 
 " ears small and hanging down, coat short and smooth, color 
 " all tanned or brindle, with a black muzzle, a dark spot over 
 " each eye, and these colors varied \\ith white. I have ex- 
 " amined several, and I have found them invariably a little 
 "underhung, the lower jaw beyond the upper." 
 
 This is one of the most concise, at the same time most 
 accurate, descriptions, of the true English Mastiff I have 
 met with. 
 
 Some would-be mastiff judges wish to ignore the typical 
 shortness of the muzzle and undershot jaw, but the reason 
 why the mastiff was and should always be undershot, is 
 obvious, and all dogs used for baiting purposes should be so, 
 as it gives them a natural advantage, being able to get a 
 firmer hold and to breathe more freely when the muzzle is 
 short, and thus hold on longer. Our ancestor's would naturally 
 select the best performers to breed from, thus it will readily 
 be seen by the mere selection of the fittest how the true type 
 was cultivated. Of late years however a few empirical would- 
 be mastiff dictators, losing sight of the ancient uses of the 
 mastiff, have seen fit to condemn the undershot jaw, disregard- 
 ant of the fact that specimens slightly undershot always look 
 the best, having as a rule a more truncated muzzle. 
 
144 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 Bloomfield in his poem " The Farmer's Boy," published in 
 1800, throws some light on the treatment of the mastiff in his 
 day, and it is recounted of the poet Byron, that during the 
 two years he was at Cambridge, (1807 about) he annoyed the 
 Dons of the College by among other freaks, keeping bulldogs, 
 and a bear in his rooms. 
 
 In 1810 was published the second edition of John Bignall's 
 work " Letters on Natural History," in it is a woodcut of a 
 mastiff of the true old fashioned type, he is fastened to a 
 kennel on a sea wharf. This dog shows the true short head, 
 blunt muzzle, and pendulous lips ; he has also the white blaze 
 up the face, and the ears are cropped. 
 
 From this date there are numerous pictures of the mastiff 
 in various works, some showing the true type, others very 
 plainly crosses with the St. Bernard, boarhound, and blood- 
 hound; and it remains only to notice the most typical, or 
 those that are portraits of the ancestors of our present mastiffs 
 according to the date ef their being made. 
 
 Some of the ancestors of most of our present race of mastiffs 
 
 can be traced back to about 1810, and the history of the breed 
 is best shown by tracing the existence, systems, and successes 
 of their most noted breeders. 
 
 In persuance of this plan, about 1800, Thompson, Esq., 
 Commissioner, living at St. Ann's, on the site of the ancient 
 chapel of St. Ann's in the Briers, in the parish of South 
 Owram, near Halifax, Yorkshire, possessed some fine mastiffs, 
 which he kept as a protection to his house and a rabbit 
 warren. 
 
 He had been a mastiff breeder and fancier for years previous 
 to that date, but left no record of his dogs, and all that is 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 145 
 
 known of them is due to what his grandson, the late Mr. J. W. 
 Thompson, (also of St. Ann's) could ascertain from the old 
 servants of his grandfathers, his mother, and old people living 
 round, and especially from John Crabtree, of Kirklees. But 
 the stories of their courage, affection, and sagacity, although 
 exemplifying the generous nature of the breed, would only 
 occupy space to recount. 
 
 Among the mastiffs owned by Mr. Thompson about 1800, 
 that left descendants were " Sail " a jet black bitch, with ears 
 cropped, and standing about 27 inches high : also " Trusty," 
 a black bitch with a streak of white up the face, and white 
 paws ; she had a remarkably fine coat, was very broad and 
 muscular, her head was very broad, short, and massive, and 
 she was of vast size ; a son of hers (sire unrecorded) went to 
 the Wynn's of Nostal Priory, Yorkshire ; he was a fawn, 
 named "Lion," and lived to a good old age, and was the sire 
 of Sir Geo. Armitage's Duchess, alias Venus, a daughter of 
 Venus, the property of Henry Crabtree, then gamekeeper to 
 Sir E. Dodsworth, Bart. Both Sail and Trusty were bred by 
 Mr. Thompson. Another of Mr. Thompson's mastiffs was 
 " Rose," she stood about 27 inches high, of a dark silver 
 brindle colour, with white blaze up the face ; she was purchased 
 about 1813 from some canal boatmen, their story being that 
 she ran after the boat along the towing path, with a long 
 broken chain trailing after her, and that they drew her into 
 the boat by the boat-hook, and had brought her out of 
 Cheshire. Mr. Thompson, although he suspected they had 
 stolen her for him, being aware of his liking for the breed, 
 purchased her with some misgivings. About 1815 or iSiGhe 
 mated her with a yellow fawn dog named " Bold," an animal 
 
146 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 procured by his owner, a Mr. Robinson, from Bold Hall, 
 Lancashire, being one of the noted strain of English mastiffs 
 kept up at that fine old residence. 
 
 Of this race of mastiffs, Col. Wilson Patten, writing to me 
 in 1873 sa id : " I do not know of any picture of a Bold mastiff, 
 "nor do I know in whose hands any specimen of the breed 
 "now is. The breed is distinct from that of Lyme Hall in 
 " two respects only. The Bold mastiff is a light tawny colour, 
 " that of Lyme Hall is much darker, almost amounting to red, 
 "the former has a light, the latter a black muzzle. In these 
 " latter years there have been crosses between the two, 
 " much to the advantage of both. 1 ' 
 
 Writing later in the same year he said : " The Bold breed 
 " of English mastiffs has been in the Bold family for several 
 "centuries." Col. Wilson Patten kept the breed up himself 
 in a measure when residing at Bold Hall. There is an 
 anecdote of a mastiff of this breed in " The Natural History 
 of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak in Derbyshire,'' by 
 Charles Leigh, M.D., printed at ye Green Dragon, Oxford, 
 A.D. 1705, it runs: "Anecdote of a Mastiff Dog." "He 
 "belonged to the Honourable Peter Bold, of Bold. This 
 " mastiff still attended his master in his chamber during a 
 "tedious sickness, being a consumption of the lungs. After 
 " this generous gentleman expired, and his corpse removed, 
 " the dog almost each moment entered the room making a 
 " mournful noise, and prosecuted his researches several days 
 "through all the rooms of the house, but in vain, he then 
 " retired to his kennel, from whence he would not be courted, 
 " but refusing all manner of sustenance, died there. Of this 
 ' ; I was an eye witness, being through the whole course of 
 " the distemper concerned for that honourable gentleman." 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 147 
 
 Thus we see the Bold breed traces back beyorid 1705, and 
 it is worthy of remark, to use the words of a dear and talented 
 friend. " In Dr. Legh's work there is one omission which 
 ; ' tells significantly against the magniloquent theories about 
 ' the mastiffs of Lyme Hall, for as Dr. Leigh was a kinsman, 
 " he shews a natural pride in describing a breed of hornless 
 " cattle, which the Leghs of Lyme Hall at that time possessed, 
 ' ; but as to remarkable clogs of any sort, mastiff or cur, he says 
 " never a word, although he mentions Peter Legh of Lyme, 
 " then possessed red deer in the park, and that John Legh of 
 Addington, at his park at Stiperly. * had a large sort of 
 " sheep, clothed rather with hair than wool, each sheep having 
 4i four horns, some of them an extraordinary size, the two 
 " horns near the neck are erect, like those of goats, but longer, 
 " the two next the forehead being curved like other sheep, 
 " their flesh agreeable, yet differing from mutton." 
 
 Mr. Robinson's Bold was a very savage specimen, at least 
 when on chain ; the story being that Mr. Robinson wishing to 
 stop a footpath, and having no power to do so legally, thought 
 to try the effect of 
 
 (i A cry of hell-bounds never ceasing bark, 
 
 " With wide Cerberean mouths full loud and rung. 
 
 " A hideous peal." 
 
 And so procured Bold and a large bulldog, and chained these 
 t\vo dogs with kennels so near the footpath, that they could 
 almost reach people if they made use of the path. The result 
 was as he anticipated, people were so frightened of the dogs, 
 
 * These were probably some of the many homed Iceland breed 
 mentioned by Goldsmith in his Nat. Hist., or The Wild Sheep of the 
 Faroe (Danish Faar-oen i.e. Sheep Islands) whose flesh is dark, and 
 venison-like iu flavour. 
 
148 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 that they discontinued using the path, and in course of time 
 Mr. Robinson, was able to close it. From this Bold and 
 Commissioner Thompson's Rose was born Lion, (either in 1815 
 or 1 6, ) a dark brindle dog, he was given to Mr. Holdsworth, of 
 Ashdale Hall, near Elland, Yorkshire, who was Mr. Thompson's 
 relative by marriage. Mr. Holdsworth's Lion was consider- 
 ed by the Thompsons, one of the finest specimens they ever 
 bred, and the late John Crabtree, told me he was a rare speci- 
 men, having an enormous head, and was very muscular and 
 fine in the coat, and weighed izj-o-lbs. Mr. Thompson, left it 
 on record, that a full sister to Mr. Holdsworths, Lion, was 
 kept by a Tanner, in the neighbourhood of Halifax, by 
 the name of Freeman, and that she weighed i5o-lbs, and in 
 a single combat beat a bear, that this was no exaggeration but 
 a facl, and that he could (in 1874) produce living witnesses 
 who could corroborate this statmement. 
 
 Beyond these particulars little record exists of Commissioner 
 Thompson's Mastiff, and the traced descendants passed out of 
 the family until 1827-1830 when the late J. W. Thompson 
 obtained the strain back in " Dorah," born in 1826 from the 
 late John Crabtree, keeper at Kirklees Hall, Yorkshire, the 
 seat of the Armitage family. 
 
 John Crabtree made Kirklees classic ground to the mastiff 
 fancier considerably over six feet in height, handsome in face 
 and figure, with the courage of a lion, and true courtesy of 
 the gentleman, " Old John Crab" as his friends loved to call 
 him, was one of nature's noblemen. 
 
 In the ancient Park is the site of the building in which Robin 
 Hood, the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon, was bled to death 
 by the order or ignorance of his near relation Elizabeth de 
 Stanton, then Prioress at Kirklees In the Illustrated Sporting 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 149 
 
 and Dramatic news of August nth, 1877 is an engraving of 
 the gate house of Kirklees Priory, in which Robin Hood 
 died, with the window from which he is said to have shot his 
 last arrow to show where he would be buried. In the illus- 
 tration John Crabtree is represented seated on the wall talking 
 to another keeper ; although small it is a capital likeness, 
 showing his tall figure and long silvery beard. There is also 
 in the same number a picture of the grave of Robin Hood, 
 which is at the top of the park, over the brow of the hill. 
 Truly the bold outlaw, or his historians must have shot with 
 a long bow, and a strong one, for the arrow to have carried 
 so far. But the real facts as far as I can judge, are, that 
 although there seems little doubt that Robin Hood met his 
 death, and was buried somewhere in Kirklees Park, yet the 
 stones covering his reputed tomb have undoubtedly been 
 moved at different times, and were seemingly placed more as 
 a cenotaph to advise the traveller Robin Hood as dead and 
 buried, rather than to mark the exact spot where his body 
 lay. 
 
 About 1820 John Crabtree commenced as a mastiff breeder, 
 having in 1818 or 1819 set some traps in the park for foxes. 
 He was somewhat surprised and not a little puzzled in seeing 
 securely caught one morning, a fine brindle mastiff bitch, 
 broad in head, chest, and loin, small in ear, and long and low 
 in body, with (in Crabtree's opinion) a dash of bull blood in 
 her. How to get her out of the trap was the difficulty, but 
 taking off his shot-belt he fastened it round her neck and 
 then let her out, and led her up to the Hall for the inspection 
 of the Sir George Armitage of that date. John said he asked 
 what he was to do with her; the worthy baronet in true 
 feudal style, evidently considering all found trespassing 'on 
 
150 THE MASTIFF IX THE I QTH CENTURY. 
 
 his estate by right should be forfeited to his use, said peremp- 
 torily enough (old John remarked to me) " Take her to the 
 gun room, John, take her to the gun room, lock the door, and 
 say nothing about her to anyone." This, to own the truth, 
 John remarked, suited his own inclination; at the same time, 
 not wishing to keep the dog, if he could trace that she 
 belonged to anyone in the locality ; he made a little enquiry, 
 and ascertained that a mastiff answering the description had 
 been seen the day before, passing through with some carts, y. 
 that had come out of Lancashire for teasels (carduus fullemrm, fw( 
 which were at that time used for raising the nap on woollen ' rt 
 cloth) and Crabtree had very little doubt but that she had come 
 from one of the Lancashire Cloth Mills, places where the mas- 
 tiff was kept in considerable numbers in past years, both for 
 fighting among each other, and as watch dogs. No enquiry 
 however was ever made after the bitch, and thus John Crab- 
 tree was started in mastiffs. In 1820 or 1821 he crossed this 
 bitch which he caught in the trap and named Duchess, with 
 Mr Holdsworth's Brindle Lion already mentioned, from this 
 alliance came a litter, among which was Bet, who John 
 Crabtree gave to a Mrs. Brewer, of the Three Nun's Public 
 House, Kirklees. The quaint old sign still exists, and I have 
 spent several happy hours under the roof of the little Inn 
 at different times' not worshipping Bacchus by imbibing 
 
 " Inspiring bold John Barleycorn," 
 but feeding Mnemosyne, hearing of many 
 
 " A touzie tyke, black, grim, aud large ;" 
 
 listening to old John Crabtree and James Thompson talking 
 over their mastiffs, making notes, elucidating and compiling 
 the pedigrees. A dog puppy of the same litter as Mrs. 
 Brewer's Bet, Crabtree gave to Gibson of the Woodman Inn, 
 Bradley, Yorkshire ; Gibson being a sort of watcher for the 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 151 
 
 Kirklees keepers. In 1823 Crabtree mated. Mrs. Brewer's 
 Bet with Tiger, the property of Chas. Waterton, the natur- 
 alist, then living at Walton Hall, near Sandel. 
 
 This Tiger was procured in Ireland, he was a red fawn 
 upstanding animal, cropped eared, and bob tailed, and 
 standing over 34 inches at shoulder, according to Crabtree's 
 own measuring, and in Crabtree's opinion he had much 01 
 the boarhound in his appearance, but he knew nothing of the 
 dog's pedigree or antecedents, and it is very possible he was 
 a descendant of some of the Great Danes, kept by Lord 
 Altamont, and erroneously designated Irish Wolfhounds by 
 some. 
 
 However from Waterton' s Tiger and Mrs. Brewer's Bet 
 among others was Venus, a fawn, who Crabtree sent to his 
 brother Henry, who was then keeper for Sir E. Dodsworth, 
 Bart., of Newland Park, near Normanton, Yorkshire. Another 
 puppy, also a yellow fawn called Tiny, was kept by a Mrs. 
 Scott. 
 
 Henry Crabtree's (or as she is sometimes styled Sir E. 
 Dodsworth's) Venus was crossed with Lion, a fawn coloured 
 dog, the property of the Wynn family of Nostal Priory. This 
 Lion was as I have already mentioned of Commissioner 
 Thompson's strain. 
 
 John Crabtree had a puppy back from this cross, and named 
 it either Venus or Duchess, his memory would never serve 
 him to remember which, but she was a fawn coloured animal. 
 Mrs. Scott's Tiny (all yellow fawn without any white) was 
 crossed with Gibson's Nero (a dog regularly used on the 
 Kirklees estate for keeper's work) and from this cross John 
 kept a puppy, known as Sir Geo. Armitage's Old Tiger, a 
 
I5 2 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 fawn with a white face. It is worthy of notice that this 
 was a cross between uncle and niece, and produced a dog 
 with the white face, although the parents and grandparents 
 had been free from it. 
 
 Ini826Dorahwas whelped, being by Sir George Armitage's 
 white faced Tiger out of Duchess alias Venus. 
 
 It will be seen by glancing at Dorahs pedigree, that she was 
 inbred, especially to Holdsworth's Lion and Watertons Tiger, 
 following the latter in colour being a deep red fawn. 
 
 Crabtree let Mr. J. W. Thompson have Dorah when 
 the latter started breeding between 1830 and 1833, after that 
 date Crabtree replenished his Kennel generally with puppies 
 of Mr. Thompson's breeding, although in after years when the 
 latter withdrew for a time, he bred sufficient to keep the strain 
 from becoming extinct with him. 
 
 Strangely enough the last mastiff Crabtree had, was one I 
 bred and gave to J. W. Thompson, at whose death it was 
 purchased for Kirklees, and the last time I visited Kirklees, 
 (1882) Old John being dead, the old dog was the only 
 remaining link to remind the visitor of the numerous 
 mastiffs that have made the Kirklees Woods and hollows 
 resound with their bark. The dog was chained under a fine 
 old oak tree in front of the Hall. The Housekeeper who 
 answered our ring at the door, begged me not to go near the 
 dog lest he should bite, but anxious to examine his mouth, 
 relying on the noble temper of the breed, I fearlessly went up 
 and patted him, although he could not have recollected me, 
 being a mere puppy of some two months old when it left my 
 kennel. He was a Jong bodied specimen with the white blaze 
 up the face, but not quite up to my standard in head. It will 
 be seen John Crabtree's personal efforts as a breeder were 
 
THE MASTIFF IN THE IQTH CENTURY. 153 
 
 displayed between 1820 and 1830, after which his strain was 
 kept up and improved much by the talent and fancy of Mr. 
 W. J. Thompson, who writing to me May I5th, 1873, 
 remarked : " The Kirklees blood would never have been so 
 " well preserved or suited with crosses but for my own exc r- 
 "tion, etc." 
 
 Again April i8th, 1873, Dorah and her sire Tiger were a 
 cross from the Waterton blood, and they crossed with nothing 
 only through my own interests ever since. 
 
 As a breeder, Crabtree had not the advantages of more 
 recent times, no shows at which he could see better specimens 
 than his own, or at least specimens superior in som,! poi its 
 to what his o\vn breed were ; he had not the advantage of 
 emulation, aroused by fellow competitors, whose critical eyes 
 c^uld detect and mention faults, no ideal standard to breed 
 up to, beyond what his own judgment might suggest, and his 
 successes depended on good natural judgment, and by taking 
 advantage of obtaining a cross at any time when he saw a 
 specimen that took his fancy. Holdsworth's Lion for head 
 and general character, fortunately a pure bred dog on his 
 sire's side at least, and YYaterton's Tiger for size. 
 
 John Crabtree was no mere ignorant keeper, constantly 
 associating with real gci.t \ . who : e U .-it 3 
 during the shooting season, aist 1 .. ly n ,,ci i ; ^ r,n-' 
 he understood wh^t cio^b \\LIX aiai sh< i;la b-.. a;- \ve;i 
 man of his date. While Mr. \\ yc. ham was tciuaii a.t A >. iv c^, 
 he had two Alpine mastiffs brought uvcr to him m lo-^ . y 
 the late Mr. Chas. Lia.Lciimg from Switzerland. TLu& \ r;.l 
 tree had an opportunity of ccirpanng the Alpmo . .. u e 
 
154 THE MASTIFF IN THE IQT1I CENTURY. 
 
 English mastiff, but was not at all impressed with the " big 
 boned, loose jointed, badly made foreigners," as lie used to 
 term them. 
 
 In later years Crabtree was not roused to emulation either 
 by Mr. Thompson or others winning with descendants of his 
 dogs at shows as they sprung up. With to a certain extent 
 limited means, lie bred his mastiffs for keeper's work; muscu- 
 lar power and activity was his ideal, combined with a vast 
 head, but such points as squareness of muzzle and pendulosity 
 of lips, he had no idea of cultivating. 
 
 He seemed to have no idea of again resorting to the 
 Trentham kennel for a cross, although lie considered it was 
 due to Ackroyd's Dan (who came from Trentham) that the 
 breed was so much improved in head, in Bully and his 
 descendants. 
 
 In later years the Kirklccs mastiffs became somewhat small, 
 and although short in head, and very small in ear. with great 
 muscular development, and a high bred appearance, yet were 
 somewhat too pointed in muzzle and weak in jaw, defects 
 Crabtree admitted at once on seeing my Champion Empress, 
 who he nevertheless said was not full enough in the skull to 
 his liking. John Crabtree may justly be regarded rather as 
 a sustainer or conservator of the English mastiff than as a 
 restorer, talented or enthusiastic breeder. His idea was to 
 keep and breed the- pure, mastiff on which he prided himself 
 having no idea of crossing with the bulldog. 
 
 The late J. \\ . Thompson left the following anecdote ui 
 
 the Kirkiees strain behind him in a brief M.S : "The Kirklccs 
 mastiffs have always as a rule maintained their traditionary 
 reputation for courage and gentleness. In years gone by 
 
TIIK MASTIFF IX THE IQTII CEXTTRY. 155 
 
 when the keepers had so often to contend against the nocturnal 
 visits of determined and desperate gangs of poachers, these 
 dogs proved themselves to be of the greatest service during 
 the hard struggles for master)*, being trained to depend more 
 upon their wrestling power and activity, than ferocity. Their 
 gentleness and forbearance were equally characteristic, as an 
 instance : The village children are often fond of rambling 
 through the woods and meadows in spring and early summer 
 for the purpose of gathering childhood's flowers, and the 
 keepers were sometimes under the necessity of putting a check 
 upon these youthful trespassers during the breeding season, 
 as they accidently disturbed and destroyed numbers of 
 pheasant and partridge nests. To give a more decided effect 
 the services of one of the dogs named Tiger have often been 
 required. Now one would suppose that a dog standing some 
 30 inches high, would be rather too formidable an antagonist 
 to be set upon children, but such was his gentleness and 
 sagacity, that Mr. Crabtree could send him alone at a distance 
 of even half a mile, and long ere he could arrive personally 
 on the spot, Tiger would have gathered the whole of these 
 young trespassers into the corner of a field without the 
 slightest injury to any, quietly squatting himself down in 
 front of his prisoners and waiting the arrival of Mr. Crabtree, 
 but should any attempt to escape, his watchful eye would 
 soon detect the breach, and by an admonitory growl and gentle 
 push with his fore paws bar the passage. This is not a 
 solitary instance of their instinctive acuteness, and I could 
 irive others. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Tl'PE OF THE ENGLISH 'MASTIFF ABOUT 1820. 
 
 The deep mouth'd mastiff bays the troubled night. 
 
 Kirk White. Clifton Grovf. 
 
 IN 182.. " The Sportsman's Cabinet," and " The Sportsman's 
 R pjsiiory '" were both published, and in them is given a 
 plate of a mastiff chained on a wood wharf, on the banks of 
 the Thames ; it was engraved by J. Scott from a drawing or 
 painting by P. Reinagle, A.R.A. I endeavoured to trace out 
 the original picture or s etch through the Rev. Hichens, 
 (own- r rind bn c der of some go( d mastiffs) who kindly 
 intv n led h.rcs< 11 in ih, n- tt< r. i ut he was unable to do so. 
 Thcr io a wry ruiigh -,nd inferior copy of this plate in Mr. 
 Veru Shaw's Book of the Dog, part ii., page 45, and in page 
 42 a slight mention is made of the engraving. 
 
 Reinagle excelled as a canine painter, and the engravings 
 in the Sportsman's Cabinet and Repository are a treat to any 
 lover of the dog. The head of the mastiff is remarkably fine, 
 the dog has also the true mastiff carriage, and there are few 
 specimens superior to it in character at the present day. The 
 dog had the characfteriotic white on the face, neck, legs, and 
 stern ; there is a slight roughness about the end of the stern, 
 not unfrequent in the mastiff from 1750 to 1850, dir- perhaps 
 to an infusion of Alpine mastiff blood. 
 
 In 1824 Sir E. Landseer (then aged 22) painted "The 
 Angler's Guard," being the figure of a mastiff and greyhound; 
 
TYPE OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF ABOUT l82O. 157 
 
 this painting was lithographed by W. P. Sherlock in 1828. 
 The original picfture was presented to the nation by J. 
 Sheepshanks in 1857. 
 
 In Captain Thos. Brown's work Biographical Sketches and 
 Authentic Anecdotes of Dogs, published in 1829, is a cut of 
 a mastiff engraved by Austin, from a sketch by Capt. T. 
 Brown. The same is also figured in The Field, Book of 
 Sports and Pastimes of the British Islands, published 1833. 
 The head in this dog is very typical, the stern is carried over 
 the back, the same a^ in nearly all Bewicks, from which we 
 may gather that the downward carriage of the tail was a point 
 introduced subsequent to 1830. 
 
 In " A History of British Quadrupeds," by Thos. Bell, F. 
 R.S.F.L.S., etc., published 1837, is figured a mastiff, drawn 
 and engraved by Dicks and Vasley. In this specimen the 
 white on the face, neck, paws, and end of stern is again shown ; 
 the stern is also slightly rough at the end, but has more of 
 the downward carriage ; this dog is long and low, slightly 
 deficient in depth of chest, lips very pendulous, a characteristic 
 that modern breeders and judges have lost sight of, some even 
 regarding it as derived from the hound, and condemn it in 
 consequence, but this is a mistake, in fact a piece of ignorance ; 
 the Asiatic mastiffhas it, and these old pictures of the English 
 mastiff exhibiting dogs perfectly free from any trace of 
 houndiness, show that the English mastiff (previous to the 
 introduction of the tighter skinned Boarhound blood) had it. 
 
 In the hound the lips of the lower jaw hang down at the 
 corners of the mouth, and there is more or less a fold of loose 
 skin that falls from immediately behind the eye, to the corner 
 or end of the mouth, which causes the deep hanging flews, 
 s o termed from fluod, to flow, because this fold of skin acting 
 
158 TYPE OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF ABOUT l82O. 
 
 as a canal causes a certain amount of moisture or slavering, 
 always to be present in dogs in which this peculiarity of the 
 true hound is strongly marked, as in the bloodhound ; the 
 mastiff should be quite free from anything of the sort. In the 
 true mastiff, also in the bulldog, the portion of the lip that 
 covers the cynodonts should be' very pendulous, the upper lip 
 falling forward and hiding the lower lip, and any appearance 
 of the inner hairless skin or true lips, while the corners of the 
 mouth (which in the hound hang, showing the indented 
 hairless inner lip, forming the flew) should in the mastiff 
 group be puckered up, giving a pouting appearance, as if the 
 animal had a gum boil or swollen face. 
 
 I give precedence to this homely sort of language because 
 it is comprehensive, and all my readers will more readily 
 understand it, and it lias the advantage of being English, 
 although it may perhaps call forth a sneer from those \vho 
 would use dog-latin terms, the radical meanings of which they 
 often could not define themselves. I>ut to describe more 
 technically, while the lips should be deeply pendulous the 
 zygomatic muscles in the mastiff should be stronger and less 
 relaxed than in the hound, causing the corners of the mouth 
 to be more confined. 
 
 The mastiff was still constantly to be found at the homes 
 of the farmer and English gentleman about 1800. \Ye see 
 this in Washington Irving s description of Ready Money 
 Jack Tibbets Farm House in Bracebridge Hall, published 
 1824. " The fat superannuated mastiff lay in the sunshine at 
 the door," and Fenmore Cooper writing about 1830, mentions 
 the mastiff in The Pioneers. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 
 
 Hark ! Alpine mastiffs at the convent gate 
 Summons the brethren from their slumb'ring state. 
 Attended by the pious monks they tread 
 The frozen paths, if but to find the dead ; 
 So pass the lives of Bernard's dogs 'till years 
 Behold them buried 'midst their master's tears. 
 
 ,17. JL Wyi 
 
 BEFORE further tracing the history of our English mastiff 
 through the noted restiscitators, it \\ill be advisable to make 
 a slight disquisition in reference to the old Alpine mastiff, 
 which was one of the crosses not unfrequently introduced 
 into the mastiff about 1835 and probably previously, and as 
 this breed differed considerably from even the smooth coated 
 modern St. Bernard, it will be as well to give such particulars 
 as will reveal their type, and account for the influence they 
 exercised on our mastiffs. 
 
 I have pointed out that the Alpine dog whether termed 
 mastiff or St. Bernard, was seemingly unknown to Camden, 
 and therefore conclude the breed will not have been imported 
 into England until subsequent to 1600, and perhaps not until 
 the igth century even. 
 
 Stonehenge in The Dogs of the British Isles, under the 
 St. Bernard, states that the portrait of Bernard de Menthon 
 (who was a Savoyard) is still in existence, and that his dog 
 is depicted on the same panel, and that the dog appears to 
 have been a bloodhound ; but as the benevolent founder of 
 
160 THE ALPINE MASTIFF 
 
 the Hospice flourished about 960, and died in 1008, aged 85, 
 I cannot think the painting can have been taken from life, 
 however it shows that the bloodhound (probably selected 
 from its keen sense of smell) was one of the earliest varieties 
 kept at the convent. 
 
 Subsequent to this a dog more nearly approaching the 
 Spaniel type occupied the convent kennels, and was probably 
 identical with the Italian wolfdog, used by the shepherds to 
 defend their flocks in the mountains of Abruzzo. The instinct 
 of finding sheep and travellers buried beneath the snow is 
 seen in the Scotch colley, and sheepdogs generally, and it is 
 probable that the instinct for searching for travellers buried 
 beneath the snow in the Alps was in the St. Bernard, derived 
 from these white, long haired animals, and the modern rough 
 St. Bernard has probably a large percentage of their blood, 
 mixed with that of the smooth mastiff of the Alps. About 
 1820 the old rough variety almost died out through some 
 epidemic. 
 
 Youatt writing of this variety, calls it the Alpine Spaniel, 
 stating it to be peculiar to the Alps and the district between 
 Switzerland and Savoy. Col. H. Smith states that he had 
 made drawings of several, which were all white, with black 
 or fulvous spots, and head and ears resembling the Spaniel 
 in type. Capt. T. Brown in his work gives a cut of one of 
 these Alpine dogs, representing a Jarge sort of Spaniel. 
 Martin, whose work (now very scarce) was published in 1845, 
 rightly classes these dogs as belonging to the Calabrian 
 variety. 
 
 One characteristic, which has long been a subject of dispute, 
 namely the dewclaw, and is common to all the varieties of 
 sheepdog inhabiting mountainous districts, clearly points the 
 
THE ALPINE MASTIFF. l6l 
 
 derivation of the St. Bernard from a sheepdog ancestor, and 
 this rudimentary claw has been transmitted through the St. 
 Bernard to the English mastiff, and is generally accompanied 
 with coarser bone, a longer coat, and more pointed or sheep- 
 dog type of head, and although admissible, as there is no use 
 disqualifying a dog otherwise good because he shows this 
 mongrel characteristic, yet they generally disappear with 
 careful breeding. 
 
 \Ye also find another breed closely resembling the Spanish 
 mastiff existing in the Alps, and owing to the similarity in 
 type, there is every reason for believing the old Alpine mastiff 
 was identical with the Alan, and probably derived from Spain. 
 Col. H. Smith mentions this second closer and shorter haired 
 variety, and gives a coloured plate of one of them. 
 
 This . dog, named Bass, belonged to Sir Thomas Dick 
 Lander, having been brought from Great St. Bernard in 
 1837, and his portrait was taken by Stewart between that 
 year and June, 1^39. The coloured plate, no. 6, shows an 
 animal agreeing in nearly every particular with the Spanish 
 mastiff I saw at Bill Georges, about 1863, except the colour 
 of the patches on the head and ears, which are tan instead of 
 black, otherwise both were nearly all white in colour, the head 
 is massive, muzzle blunt and truncated, lips pendulous, ears 
 medium sized and pendulous, barrel well rounded, limbs very 
 ponderous, stern carried up. The clog resembles a vast white 
 mastiff, with stop well defined, but somewhat longer in head 
 than the English variety should be. 
 
 Richardson, who wrote about 1647. mentions that he had 
 been at considerable trouble to ascertain the true type of the 
 St. Bernard or Alpine mastiff, and was impressed \vith the 
 
 w 
 
162 THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 
 
 idea that the original breed was a large and powerful mastiff, 
 short coated, deep jowled, and. fawn coloured. 
 
 In 1815 Thomas Landseer etched an Alpine mastiff, which 
 w r as brought over to Leasowe Castle that year ; the original 
 drawing belonged to J. S. Morgan, Esq. 
 
 In 1820 Sir E. Landseer drew his noted picture " Alpine 
 Mastiffs Reanimating a Traveller." The original picture 
 belonged to S. Addington Esq., and John Landseer engraved 
 it in 1831. The male specimen has a thoroughly character- 
 istic mastiff head, being broad and short, and the muzzle 
 blunt, it has the white blaze up the face-, and the- ears are 
 small and carried half-erect. 
 
 In 1825 Sir E. Landseer made a drawing of an Alpine 
 
 mastiff, which was engraved the same year by Thomas 
 
 Landseer, and a plate of it was given in "The Annals of 
 Sporting." 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the Alpine mastiffs drawn by 
 Sir E. Landseer are generally so termed. 
 
 In 1820 Sir E. Landseer made a dra \ving of a St. Bernard 
 dog, of which there is a woodcut made' by Thompson the 
 same year. Landseer also drew some 1 St. .Bernard dogs, 
 which were engraved in 1829 by \V. K. Smith for a set of 
 Roger's Italy, although the complete edition of that poem was 
 not published until 1836. 
 
 Between 1835 and 1845 an engraving was issued from a 
 portrait by Landseer of a smooth coated Alpine mastiff, 
 standing 31 inches at shoulder, and measuring 68 inches from 
 nose to tail, and of a tawny red colour, tin's is important, as 
 i lecords the size oi the Alpine mastiff at that date. 
 
THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 163 
 
 In 1829 a vast light brindle dog of the old Alpine mastiff 
 breed, named L'Ami, was brought from the convent of Great 
 St. Bernard, and exhibited in London and Liverpool as the 
 largest dog in England. Clarke of Holborn (himself a great 
 lover of dogs') made a splendid coloured lithograph of this 
 dog's head ; these are now very scarce, the one I saw belonged 
 to my late friend J. \V. Thompson, and Lieut. Col. Gamier, 
 R.E., made a copy from another, from which were taken 
 some photos, some of which, together with the negative, 
 eventually fell into my possession, but in these photos, owing 
 to the indifferent shading, the dog appears a very dark brindle, 
 whereas the lithograph shows him to have been very light, 
 the ground colour being of a light yellow fawn, otherwise the 
 photograph is a very accurate copy of the original lithograph. 
 L'Ami had the ears cropped close to the head, which was 
 remarkably large, and skull round, rather than flat, muzzle 
 very short, broad, and blunt, the lips pendulous, the flews 
 pronounced, and heavier than they should be. 
 
 I have already mentioned Captain Brown, wiio in his work 
 published in 1829, represents the St. iiJernard of the Spaniel 
 type, and have also mentioned the Alpine mastiffs given by 
 Col. H. Smith, drawn about iS^S. Between that year arid 
 1840, Couchez, alias Turk, a reputed Alpine mastiff, was 
 brought over from Italy, he was a red smut, and first owned 
 by Geo. White of Knightsbridge, and subsequently by Captain 
 Waldegrave, an elder but illegitimate brother to the Lord 
 \Yaldegrave of that date, into whose possession Couchez 
 subsequently fell : and it was then a Sunday morning amuse- 
 ment among certain noble patrons of dog fighting who believed 
 less in the Homilies of St. Chrysostom which inform us. 
 
164 THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 
 
 " Cani siuiilis csi volnptns : si pellas fugit ; si nutrias pcrmanct." 1 
 (Horn. iii. Ad Antioca) than in Dr. Watts' maxim 
 
 " Let- dogs delight to bark and bito," 
 
 for they delighted to pit other dogs against the redoubtable 
 Couchez, who although often much smaller than his antagon- 
 ists, was always victorious. 
 
 The measurements of this short muzzled, broad skulled 
 champion were: height about 30 inches, weight 130 Ibs. 
 
 Couchez as a fighting dog was simply (to use the language 
 of Shakespeare) unmatchable. 1 have some photos of him 
 from a copy of an old oil painting, and from his photo, colour, 
 and other characteristics, I am inclined to believe that he had 
 a cross of the Spanish bulldog in him : however his blood 
 enters into most mastiffs of the present day, as he was the 
 second cross Mr. Lukey made as \ve shall see further on. 
 
 In 1^47 Richardson published his book on the dog, and 
 gives an illustration of an Alpine mastiff, the property of a 
 Mr. W. Flood. This was seemingly a very fine coated 
 animal, the stern being fine, tapering, and free from any rough 
 hair, the ears are rather large and heavy, the 1 forehead is full 
 and broad. This woodcut is valuable evidence, as it shows 
 there was little difference between some of the old Alpine 
 mastiffs and the English breed, except the greater size in 
 some specimens. 
 
 Some years ago now, noticing what 1 thought to be a very 
 fine English mastiff bitch in a vard, I asked about her 
 parentage and breeding, and was rather surprised to hear 
 she was an Alpine mastiff, for I thought the breed was quite 
 extinct ; her head was remarkably short and grand, her size 
 and bone might have told me that she had Alpine blood. 
 
THE ALPINE MASTIFF. 165 
 
 .-ind she had the white blaze up the face; I -was informed 
 that she would never breed, otherwise should have tried to 
 have purchased her. 
 
 Jesse writing in 1846, states that the Alpine mastiffs were 
 at that date generally of a milk white or tabby colour, and 
 gives a very fair illustration of the breed, drawn by \A . R. 
 Smith. 
 
 About 1840 Mr. Lukey owned a specimen named Lion, 
 which came from the convent, and his ears had been cropped 
 to prevent the chance of their getting frost-bitten. I have a 
 photograph of this dog, taken from a drawing, and a friend of 
 mine has a coloured sketch of him, presented to her by Mrs. 
 Lukey. The dog's muzzle was apparently very short and 
 blunt, forehead broad, and whole head generally short and 
 full, and the eye too full. 
 
 An old writer says : " I have seen several specimens of the 
 noble Alpine breed ; their size equal to that of the largest 
 mastiffs, the muzzle deep, and ears pendulous, fur rather long 
 and wiry, the eye full and expressive, and form of body and 
 limbs showing great strength. I have now stated sufficient 
 to show that between 1800 and 1850 there were repeatedly 
 brought from the monastry of St. Bernard and the Alps, 
 thoroughly typical specimens of the mastiff, and also crosses 
 between this Alpine mastiff and the rough or sheepdog 
 variety. ( )ur English mastiff has been more or less alloyed 
 with the blood of these two varieties, producing greater size, 
 coarser and more porous bone, accompanied often with inferior 
 loins and general muscular development. The dewclaw, as 
 also sometimes the sheepdog or wedge-shaped type of head 
 being introduced through the cross. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN 
 MASTIFF. 
 
 Know thou, () stranger to the fame 
 Of this much lov'd, much honour'd name ? 
 For none that knew him need be told 
 A warmer heart death ne'er made cold. 
 
 It. Ittiniif. 
 
 O 
 
 JAMKS WIGGLESWORTH THOMPSON of St. Ann's, Southowram, 
 Yorkshire, commenced breeding mastiffs between 1830 and 
 1832, as near as can now be ascertained. According to his 
 own statement lie \vas born in 1818, but those who knew him 
 intimately state it was several years previous; he died April 
 i5th, 1875. ^ e na( l a weakness to try to conceal his age, but 
 was constantly unintentionally revealing in conversation 
 cognizance of events which showed that he was older than he 
 wished people to think. This reservation on his part as to 
 his exact age, was the cause of rather shrouding the dates of 
 his earlier operations in mastiff breeding in obscurity. 
 
 However he left it on record that "he was quite a lad," 
 only about 14 years of age, and then living with his widowed 
 mother, when he first started keeping mastiffs, procuring 
 "Juno " from seeing an advertisement of !>ill Georges, and 
 it is certain that this Juno was the first mastiff he ever owned. 
 He wrote May igth, 1873, that "Juno was bought from Bill 
 George by my brother ; she was one of the finest bitches I 
 ever saw, long bodied and very massive, with a very long tail, 
 was brindle in colour, and rather rugged in coat." Her 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN MASTIFF. 167 
 
 pedigree and antecedents were unknown to Mr. Thompson, 
 who mated her with a dog named Tiger, belonging to a 
 Captain Fenton, and from the alliance obtained a puppy he 
 named " Hector," who he stated was the grandest headed 
 specimen he ever bred. 
 
 It was singular enough that Mr. Thompson should procure 
 Hector's dam from Bill George, and then give their lineal 
 descendant Tiger (so noted for his grand head) to Bill George, 
 but Mr. Thompson remarked that George had always behaved 
 very straightforwardly in all his dealings with him, (the 
 character he seems to have obtained from all who dealt with 
 him) and not caring to keep Tiger himself, the dog being 
 somewhat crippled and crooked in his legs, through having 
 fallen into a tan pit, and getting nearly drowned as a puppy, 
 he made George a present of him. 
 
 Soon after purchasing -'Juno," Mr. Thompson procured 
 Dorah frqrn John Crabtree, she was born in 1826 for certain, 
 but was then getting aged ; he mated her also with Tiger, 
 belonging to a Captain Fenton, then quartered in Halifax for 
 a short time. This Tiger was a fawn, with very black ears, 
 and a most typical animal according to the account of Mr. 
 Thompson, who writing to Bill George October igth, 1870, 
 (being a reply to the first application Bill George had ever 
 made to him for the pedigree of Tiger, so little were pedigrees 
 thought of or required until I made a stir into such particulars 
 with Mr. Hambury, I having written to George to ask how 
 the clog was bred) stated that ik Captain Fenton's dog Tiger 
 was one of the largest and finest coated lie ever saw." 
 
 This Tiger of Captain Fenton's had full and peculiar eyes, 
 which I elicited quite accidentally one day about 1874, when 
 
1 68 THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN MASTIFF 
 
 looking through my kennel with Mr. Thompson, and coming 
 to Branch, bred by him, but then my property, he having 
 pressed me to accept the splendid but somewhat small animal, 
 1 asked him to what dog he attributed her full eyes to have 
 been derived from ; after thinking a few seconds, he replied 
 that he could trace them back to Fenton's Tiger, who had the 
 same peculiar look. The pedigree and breed of that dog Mr. 
 Thompson knew nothing about, never having troubled to 
 enquire at the time. 
 
 1 would here wish to point out, as it shows the incorrectness 
 of the idea some have, that the English mastiff has been so 
 much improved by cultivation by Mr. Lukey and subsequent 
 breeders, that Mr. Thompson himself (who bred Cautley's 
 Quaker, who beat anything Mr. Lukey could bring against 
 him, and who obtained the sobriquet of " The Champion of 
 England," also Bill George's Tiger, notedly the best headed 
 dog of his day before the public, and the sire of Bamford's 
 Wolf, whose head perhaps has never been surpassed, if 
 equalled) considered " Hector," by Captain Fenton's Tiger, 
 the grandest headed dog that he had ever bred, and also 
 one of the largest. 
 
 The English mastiff has not been so much improved as 
 some people ignorantly think, it has simply been resuscitated, 
 and in some instances from very doubtful blood, as 1 purpose 
 showing. Eor several reasons I have tried to trace Captain 
 Eenton out, but have failed hitherto, and fear he must have 
 been dead long since, as it must have been between 1830 and 
 1833 that he was at Halifax. 
 
 One thing that fixes the date of Mr. Thompson's commence- 
 ment nearer to 1830 than 1833, is the fact that he had a litter 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN MASTIFF. 169 
 
 out of Dorah, (born 1826) by Hector, the son of Captain 
 Teuton's Tiger, and Juno from Bill Georges. Subsequently 
 to this Mr. Thompson purchased Cymba, a fawn mastiff, 
 from some gentleman in Surrey, but he never asked for her 
 pedigree. In a letter dated May i9th, 1873, ^ ie states: 
 ''Cymba I bought from a gentleman who lived near London, 
 she was a large bitch with a bullet head, small ears, smooth 
 coated, and fawn coloured." Writing also July 24th, 1873, 
 he stated : k% Cymba came from some part of Surrey, and her 
 owner's name \Yickens, a perfect stranger to me, but I believe 
 an ardent fancier ; Cymba stood 26 inches." 
 
 On the advice of Mr. Statham, Y.S. of Derby, (who was at 
 that time a breeder of Mr. Edge's noted strain of Strelly 
 pointers) Mr. Thompson sent Dorah to Sir Robert Wilmot's 
 fawn mastiff named Lion, according to Mr. Statham's account, 
 the finest mastiff he had ever seen, and a dog of great size. 
 Mr. Thompson gave John Crabtree a puppy out of this litter 
 which Was named Bess. From Dorah and Captain Fenton's 
 Tiger came Lion, kept at Arthrington Hall, Yorkshire, and 
 from that dog out of Cymba came Thornton's Juno. 
 
 All these mastiffs were bred previous to 1849, in which 
 year Mr. Thompson went to see for the first time, the kennel 
 of his great rival, Mr. Lukey, then at Morden, and there saw 
 Xero, Nelson, Boxer, Lion, Bruce ist, and between fifteen 
 and twenty female specimens. Mr. Thompson then selected 
 and purchased a dark brindle puppy, which he named Bruce, 
 being one of the same litter as Mr. Lukey's blue brindle 
 Bruce ii. Mr. Thompson returned this dog to Mr. Lukey 
 when about twelve months old, not being satisfied with him, 
 and having bred from him at ten months he informed me. 
 
1 70 THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN MASTIFF. 
 
 It is therefore evident that Dr. Ellis's Lion, son of this 
 Bruce and Mr. Thompson's Juno, was bred in 1850 or 1851. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Thompson sent an agent to inspect the dogs 
 at Lyme Hall. In his short Essay he says : " Opinions are 
 " so conflicting in reference to the Lyme Hall mastiffs, that 
 " in 1856 I purposely sent a man to see this proverbial kennel, 
 "and his report was that they were of the true boarhound 
 "type, of a red colour, having no similitude to Mr. Lukey's 
 " fine old strain. About 1840, writes a friend and breeder of 
 " good repute, 1 personally visited Lyme Hall for the purpose 
 " of testing the ubiquitous reputation this breed had obtained, 
 " and found them a myth, in fact nothing more than a few 
 " dogs of the boarhound type, and of a rufus colour/' 
 
 Again writing March 25th, 1873, M r - Thompson remarked: 
 " I agree with Mr. Lukey and others that the Lyme Hall 
 "breed is a myth; I sent a man more than 15 years ago 
 " purposely to see their stock, and they had then nothing but 
 " a large high standing greyhound looking dog of a red or 
 " rufus colour, with rather a thick bushy stern. Mr. Lukey 
 " called personally some thirty years ago, and he hands me 
 " by letter, the same description of the dogs as my man gave 
 " me." Mr. Thompson further wrote May I5th, 1873 : "So 
 " many lies are told about the Lyme Hall breed, that I have 
 "no faith whatever in any assertion. When you find men 
 " basely asserting they are of the Lyme Hall breed, and you 
 " can clearly prove such tales to be mere invention, you lose 
 "confidence; several instances, have come under my notice 
 " for years back, indeed you may rely that Lyme Hall mastiffs 
 " are a traditionary myth.' 1 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS OF THE MODERN MASTIFF. 17! 
 
 About 1840, Col. H. Smith writing for the Naturalist's 
 Library, on the Dog, vol. x., followed Caius by denominating 
 the mastiff group as canes urcani, and gives a cut of a skull, 
 showing the head of a mastiff with a considerably undershot 
 jaw. He points out, that of all domestic dogs, it is a group 
 marked with characteristics of a distinct origin ; noting the 
 arch of their skulls, and structure of lower jaw, he 
 also mentions their semi-erect: ears, their thick neck, and 
 short muzzle. 
 
 In 1845 W. C. L. Martin issued his work on the dog, in 
 which there is a most typical cut of the true English mastiff, 
 the carriage of the dog is most characteristic, the head is 
 simply superb, muzzle broad and short, lips very pendulous, 
 forehead broad, stop very deep, cheeks well developed, the 
 ears however are somewhat large, but not houndy, the stern 
 is also somewhat rough. In this work of Martin's there is 
 the cut of the skull of a mastiff, and the specimen from which 
 it was drawn (which would be previous to 1845) was plainly 
 very much undershot, which furnishes additional proof that 
 the English mastiff of that date was so. In page 12 of the 
 1859 edition of Stonehenge on the Dog, is figured the skull of 
 a mastiff, which although smaller is seemingly a copy from 
 the cut in Martin's work. 
 
CHAPTKR XVII. 
 
 THE GRKAT BREKDKRS Mr. LUKKY. 
 
 "It is not a bark, loud, open, and free '' 
 
 ' As an honest old watch-dog's bark should be." 
 
 Jngoldsby Legend*. " The Witches' Frolic." 
 
 I MUST now ask my readers to retrace a few years with me, 
 in order to follow the career of the more noted, but not 
 greater breeder, Mr. Thompson's contemporary, Mr. T. H. V. 
 Luke) 7 of Wimbledon Park and Morden, Surrey, and subse- 
 quently for many years of Locksbottom, Kent. Mr. Lukey 
 was the son of a Kentish Squire, and was born in 1804, and 
 died August i8th, 1882. As a young man he went into the 
 Coal trade, having his place of business in Milford Lane, 
 London, and was from his youth fond of dogs, being a breeder 
 and fancier of the King Charles' Spaniels, which brought him 
 into contact with most of the better class of the London Dog 
 Dealers of that date, among them Bill George, George White 
 of Knight sbridge, and Frank Redmond of the Swiss Cottage. 
 
 I mention these particulars in order to show that Mr. Lukey 
 was no novice in dogs when he commenced keeping mastiffs 
 in 1835, in the following manner he informed me : 
 
 Walking along the Serpentine, in London, one morning, he 
 noticed a magnincient black mastiff, accompanied by a man- 
 servant in livery, andenquiringwhosedogit was, he learnt that 
 it belonged to the Marquisof Hertford, and that its name was 
 " Pluto." Mr. Lukey thereupon thought he should like such 
 a dog, and calling upon the Marquis, he asked permission to 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 173 
 
 breed from the dog ; his lordship remarked v that before 
 granting any such request, he must see the female Mr. Lukey 
 proposed mating with his dog, whereupon the future great 
 mastiff breeder had to confess that he had no such animal 
 then, but meant to procure one, if the Marquis would grant 
 his request ; his lordship laughingly dismissed him, saying 
 that he liked his impudence, but if he thought well to bring 
 a bitch, if she met his approbation, he should mate her with 
 Pluto. On the strength of this Mr. Lukey employed George 
 White of Knightsbridge to procure as good a bitch as money 
 could secure, and White obtained a brindle with cropped 
 cars and tail, for which Mr. Lukey gave him ^40, with the 
 condition White was to have a puppy some time ; this animal 
 was of foreign blood, being one of the old Alpine breed, her 
 ears having been cropped to prevent their getting frost- bitten. 
 On Mr. Lukey presenting her to the "Marquis for inspection, 
 his lordship gibingly asked if he had stolen her, owing to her 
 mutilated appearance, but finally gave his consent to Mr. 
 Lukey 's breeding from Pluto with this bob-tailed specimen, 
 on the consideration that lie was to have a puppy, which Mr. 
 Lukey did in due course, the result being only two brindle 
 bitch puppies, one of which he offered to the Marquis, who 
 declined it, as there were so few, saying he should only have 
 cared for a dog puppy ; Mr. Lukey then handed the puppy 
 over to White according to agreement ; White sold her to 
 someone in Scotland, and she was accidently drowned in 
 either the Fryth of Forth or Clyde, in her journey from London 
 to her Scotch purchaser. The other puppy Mr. Lukey kept, 
 and a friend from Scotland being on a visit to him at the 
 time, they chose the name of " Yarrow " for her. 
 
 Mr. Lukey resold the mother to George White for the same 
 sum lie had given for her, namely ^40. 
 
174 THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEV. 
 
 Thus was Mr. Lukey started as a mastiff fancier. The 
 next specimen he owned was a dog called Lion, imported 
 from the convent of Mt. St. Bernard. Mrs. Lukey presented 
 a varnished water colour life-sized portrait of this dog to my 
 friend Miss Walker ; it shows a fawn with ears cropped 
 nearly to the roots, the skull is very full, and jowl deep. 
 
 In due course Mr. Lukey crossed Yarrow with the smooth 
 Alpine mastiff Couchez, alias Turk, whom I have previously 
 mentioned, and at that time in possession of George White, 
 but subsequently Lord Waldegrave's property. 
 
 I have given these particulars thus fully, as in the 1859 
 edition of Stonehenge, there is an incorrect account of the 
 order of crossing, which is repeated in the 1872 edition of the 
 Dogs of the British Isles, by Stonehenge. 
 
 The note signed T. L. in Stonehenge (1859 edition) states 
 that the foundation bob-tailed bitch came from the Duke of 
 Devonshire's stud ; this is quite possible, as several of the 
 Alpine mastiffs were kept at Chatsworth in years gone by. 
 
 Whether the account was garbled by Mr. Lukey purposely, 
 or accidently, or made up from notes supplied to the editor^ 
 and thus confused, I am not able to say, but the incorrectness 
 of it is patent, when it states Pluto and Turk were the only 
 crosses Mr. Lukey made use of; entirely ignoring the element 
 of " The brindle dog kept by White, who was mated with 
 Yarrow, and from which cross came the mother of Lukey's 
 Bruce ii.'' Finding from Mr. Thompson's account, that 
 there must be some error, I investigated the matter fully, and 
 found that Mr. Lukey had in 1849 told Mr. Thompson exactly 
 the same particulars as he told me the first time I met him. 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 175 
 
 I well remember the kind hearted, generous old fancier, 
 with his short burly figure, so thoroughly English, proposing 
 a short walk across the common, taking his dogs with him ; 
 he insisted on our calling at a posting house, and much to my 
 horror ordered a gallon of beer ; I was quite young at the 
 time, and not accustomed to imbibing any quantity of liquor, 
 but he would have my quart flagon filled. I asked him 
 numerous questions about the pedigrees of his dogs, and 
 finding he was somewhat confused, took pencil and paper, 
 and made notes, whereupon (in somewhat an uneasy manner 
 I thought) he asked if I was going to write a book about it ? 
 He kept pressing me to drink the beer, which I had no 
 intention of doing, and watching my opportunity, when his 
 back was turned, I emptied my flagon into his, a boyish and 
 not very manly expedient perhaps, but the result was satis- 
 factory to both parties, as I kept my head clear, and he 
 quaffed the lot with the greatest relish seemingly, and no 
 inconvenience or alteration, beyond that it caused him to be 
 more voluble and communicative. I mention these particulars 
 for a two-fold reason, first to take the opportunity should 
 these pages ever fall into the hands of a youthful fancier, to 
 show him the folly, and want of manhood really, in not 
 refusing flatly to imbibe more than he is accustomed to. In 
 thorough but mistaken good nature many old fanciers press 
 a youngster or fresh acquaintance to partake freely, the result 
 unhappily being that many men get led into bad habits, and 
 their moral conduct and self respect ruined through their 
 ' acquaintance with the fancy " as it is termed, but should be 
 more correctly " by their acquaintances in the fancy." On 
 the part of everyone, it is only courtesy to offer one's guest, 
 and a stranger, the best refreshment one's means admit of, 
 
176 THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 
 
 but it is not really either gentlemanly or kind to press liquor. 
 While on the part of the youthful fancier or stranger, it shows 
 a decided want of manhood and a want of that intuitive self- 
 respect which every real gentleman possesses, when they arc 
 led or persuaded through company to partake of more than 
 their head will carry, or retain all their faculties. 
 
 Whenever any man enters into a public fancy of this kind, 
 either dogs, horses, poultry, or even cattle, he will be subject 
 to temptations, and it remains for him to strike out his own 
 line ; at the same time for those who fall into excess contin-. 
 uaJly, I can only express my utmost disgust, as well as pit}', 
 for after twenty years experience as a mastiff breeder, 
 exhibitor, and a public judge, I must say it is a fancier's own 
 fault if he lets his hobby lead him astray or into bad company. 
 It is the men who lower the fancy, not the fancy which 
 necessarily lowers the man. In these remarks I am not 
 writing a temperance lecture merely, nor do I believe (like 
 some fanatical philanthropists or reclaimed drunkards) in 
 total abstinence, or see the necessity or advantage of it ; my 
 object is to vindicate the fancy, and elevate it in my own way 
 as far as lies in my power, how far or otherwise, others may 
 coincide with my views. 
 
 But to return to my subject, 1 found that Mr. Lukey had 
 written April 23rd, 1851, as follows to Mr. Thompson (who 
 had complained of the coarseness of the coat in a puppy he 
 had purchased from Mr. Lukey.) 
 
 " With regard to an}' cross of Newfoundland, I can posr 
 " tively assure you that I never under any circumstance, bred 
 " from a rough coated dog ; I have no doubt but he will shed 
 " brindle, but should he prove black, it is easily accounted 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 177 
 
 "for; the pup's mother was by my Nero, (the dog with a 
 broken leg, since dead) out of my Countess, a fawn, broad 
 11 chested bitch, rather heavy, and her father was Bruce. 
 " Nero's mother was got by the Marquis of Hertford's Pluto, 
 " a better bred or larger dog I have never seen, or one 
 " showing more character ; he was so great a favourite with 
 "the Marquis that lie always travelled with him, and was 
 " shot by the Arch Duke John of Austria's keeper, a strong 
 " but certainly not rough coated one, the pup himself was 
 " got by my Young Bruce, town brother to the dog you had).' 
 Signed T. H. Y. Lukey. To J. W. Thompson. 
 
 1 may point out that Nero, (the broken legged dog) whose 
 grandsire was Pluto, as Mr. Lukey states in this letter, was 
 full brother and same litter as Bruce ist. by Couchez, and 
 alter reading this letter I wrote to Mr. Lukey for a correct 
 version ; he replied June 23rd, 1673 : " ^ v Dear Sir. Countess 
 " cost 40, bought of White of Knightsbridge, she had only 
 " two bitch puppies by Pluto : 1 sold Countess back to White 
 " for ^40, and he sent her into Scotland for the purpose of 
 " giving height and power to the degenerated Scotch deer- 
 -hound. It was the old Duke of Gordon's nephew who 
 " bought her." Signed T. H. Y. Lukey. 
 
 I wrote to Mr. Lukey again on the subject, and his reply 
 dated 28th June, 1873: -My Dear Sir, Yarrow was from 
 Countess, by Pluto, Bruce ist. by Couchez, out of Yarrow. 
 - he was at that time the property of George White, who sold 
 him to Capt. Waldegrave, at whose death he came into 
 possession of his brother, the Earl, who married his brother's 
 * widow, the daughter of Braham, the singer. Bruce 2nd 
 was In him, out of a bitch bred from Yarrow, by a brindle 
 
 v 
 
1/8 THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEV. 
 
 " dog, belonging at that time to White. I bred two puppies 
 " from Ansdale's dog, a reputed Lyme Hall, but they both 
 " died without issue.'' Signed T. H. A'. Lukey. 
 
 Again writing July 5th, 1873, he stated: " 'Hie only dogs 
 " 1 have ever bred from were; ist Pluto, 2nd Couchez, 3rd 
 "(iarnier's dog, 4th King, 5th Bruin." T. H. V. Luke}'. 
 In this letter lie overlooks having crossed with White's brindlc 
 dog, also having bred from Ansdale's Leo. 
 
 In the 1859 edition of Stonehenge, in the footnote signed 
 T. L., there is another statement altogether nnreconcilable 
 with the correct pedigree of Wallace: it is that his grandsire's 
 name was also Wallace, this is plainly another misstatement 
 of Mr. Lukey's, unless, as is possible, an error crept in 
 through the printers omitting the "great" before the word 
 grandsire. 
 
 In the 1872 edition of the Dogs of the British Isles, there 
 is an nbsurd error in page 145, making Countess appear the 
 daughter of Mr. Bruce's Duchess, whereas it should read. 
 " By Bruce, out of Duchess." 
 
 These 1 inaccuracies are easily accounted for, when it is 
 known that Mr. Lukey never kept any written memoranda of 
 his breeding operations. 
 
 Mr. Thompson in his short essay on the mastiff wrote : 
 " For establishing the true mastift character, for grandeur of 
 "head, and massiveness of form, no breeder has surpassed 
 " Mr. Lukey, few carve out for themselves a position of any 
 " ordinary merit as breeders, Mr. Luke}' was an exception, 
 "he displayed consummate foresight and skill in purchasing 
 "from Mr. White the brindle -bitch, and putting her to the 
 " Marquis of Hertford's Pluto, a finer and more splendid 
 
THH GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 179 
 
 mastiff Mr. Lukey told me he had never seen." This is 
 standing testimony that the mastiff has not been so much 
 improved as some people have thought. Here we see Mr. 
 Lukey himself stating he never saw ;i finer specimen than 
 the dog he commenced breeding from. Again Mr. Thompson 
 wrote : " Mr. Lukey told me in 1851 the Marquis of Hertford's 
 " Pluto was black, and was the largest and best mastiff in all 
 points he ever saw. I believe I am justified in saying that 
 14 Mr. Lukey was indebted in a great measure to this dog in 
 ' producing his fine breed, Pluto being the sire of Yarrow, 
 the dam of Bruce ist, he was also grandsire of his splendid 
 <; dog Nero.'' 
 
 1 have now given sufficient evidence to show that somehow 
 the account in Stonehenge is not quite accurate. However, 
 we may gather that the Marquis of Hertford's Pluto was a 
 dog of vast size, hardish, or as Mr. Lukey phrased it "strong" 
 coat, and black in colour : nothing is known of his nationality, 
 but from his vast size, colour, and hard coat, with a tendency 
 to throw roughish coated descendants, resembling the New- 
 foundland somewhat in character, I should suspect that he had 
 a large percentage of Asiatic or Thibetian blood in him, and 
 there is little doubt that he was not a pure English mastiff". 
 However, he was crossed with Countess, an Alpine mastiff, 
 selected for her size and height to resuscitate the size of the 
 deerhound ; while Couchez was also foreign blood, and a 
 comparatively small dog. standing hardly 30 inches, and 
 weighing not more than 130 Ibs. 
 
 Thus the foundations of Mr. Lukey 's kennel were principally 
 Alpine or foreign mastiffs, and not the true old English breed 
 either in blood or type, being larger, coarser in bone, and not 
 so muscular as the British variety. 
 
l8o THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 
 
 Mr. Lukey had been breeding for nearly fifteen years, and 
 had inspected the Lyme Hall kennel, when Mr. Thompson 
 visited him in 1849 for the first time; the latter wrote: 
 " Though but a lad, was an ardent and enthusiastic admirer 
 " of this noble animal, T thought no breeder could carry out 
 " the object of his ambition with a greater probability of 
 " success than by crossing my own finer toned down kennel 
 " (although equally as high bred) with his majestic strain, 
 " and the result proved the correctness of my judgment, 
 'Countess (the clam of Governor) being a direct descendant 
 " from this cross." 
 
 Writing to me April 28th, 1875, Mr. Thompson stated: 
 " Mr. Lukey 's former stud were much more massive and 
 " coarser than mine, and perhaps more character as far as 
 " magnitude went ; he has often written to me to say what 
 " beautiful puppies the bitch 1 sent him threw with his 
 " Bruce/' 
 
 I may here point out that Mr. Lukey's old strain had vast 
 size and a coarse coat, points probably inherited from their 
 foreign ancestry. His Bruce ist, although a large dog, and 
 deep bodied, like many of his others was deficient in muscle-. 
 Mr. Thompson allowed me to copy a letter Mr. Lukey wrote 
 to him, dated Morden. May nth, 1851, which shows the vast 
 size of Mr. Lukey's strain, and his appreciation of a short, 
 good head ; it ran : "If you have a square, short headed 
 " bitch puppy, I should very much like to have her : 1 like 
 " the colour of the bitch Lady. I think when in good condi- 
 tion the blue brindles are very handsome, but a mnssive 
 " head covers man) 7 other defects with me. I put the tape 
 " round Bruce's head before the ears, with the tape tight it 
 " marks 27 inches." T. H. V. Lukey. To f. \V. Thompson. 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. l8l 
 
 The size of Mr. Lukey's old strain may be gathered from 
 the following measurements : 
 
 Wallace stood 33 inches at shoulder, girthed 50 inches, and 
 weighed 172 Ibs; Nelson at twelve months old stood 33 inches, 
 and weighed 158 Ibs; Bruce ist stood 31 inches, girthed 48 
 inches, and weighed 160 Ibs : Bell, a broad muzzled muscular 
 bitch with half erect ears, who died in 1857, weighed 143 Ibs. 
 Mr. Thompson in a letter remarked : " I had a son of old 
 Bruce 73 inches in length." Bruce 2nd in August, 1850, 
 stood 31 inches, girthing 41, and in May, 1856, measured 27 
 inches round the head ; Nelson, a dark brindle Mr. Lukey 
 had, in October, 1861, stood 33 inches, and weighed 158 Ibs. 
 
 I may here point out that these weights and heights show 
 that in proportion to their stature, many of Mr. Lukey's old 
 breed were sadly deficient in weight, owing to want of muscle, 
 broad backs, well formed loins, and good hind quarters, their 
 chest measurements being very good. 
 
 Mr. Lukey's Bruce ist was a dark brindle with almost 
 black head, and a white streak up his face; Mr. Lukey had 
 a splendid oil painting of his head, by Harrison Weir, an 
 artist whose talent and works, justly high as they are esti- 
 mated by some, are yet not sufficient!} 7 appreciated by the 
 present generation, but in a historical light alone posterity 
 will value his works as highly, or more so. than we now do 
 those of Bewick. 
 
 The painting of animal portraiture in an artistic point of 
 virw is not sufficiently practised or studied by Royal Acade- 
 micians, although the general public would be far more 
 impartial and competent judges of the merits of such subjects, 
 than the majority are of ideals taken from the classics, In 
 
152 THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 
 
 the creation and conception of subject many otherwise fair- 
 artists are very undynamic, and have to borrow and pirate 
 their conceptions from the mind of the poet and historian, 
 and in pictures like those of Moreland, Hogarth, Bewick, 
 Ansdell, and a few others we see the beauty and power of 
 the painter's mind, as well as skill in handling the brush. 
 
 Mr. Lukey informed me that Harrison Weir took two 
 portraits of Bruce ist, one for himself, and the other he 
 presented to Mr. Lukey, who very kindly allowed me to have 
 his copy photographed, and 1 still possess the negative. 
 
 In 1857 G. F. Pardon published his little book on Dogs, 
 and in it, page 156, is figured a mastiff by H. Weir; this is 
 an interesting little cut, as Weir had then seen and studied 
 Mr. Lukey's mastiffs, taking them for his models, and this 
 specimen is remarkably like the type of Mr. Lukey's Bruce 
 ist, also his descendant Peveril, and it may be accepted as a 
 good example of Mr. Lukey's type of that elate, although I 
 am unaware if it was merely an ideal or a portrait. It shows 
 the white blaze up the face, and white on breast, the bones 
 are enormous, and stern somewhat coarse. The second 
 edition of Wood's Natural History, published in 1854,, 
 contains another cut of the mastiff by H. Weir, with the tail 
 curled over the back, as in Bewick's examples. The larger 
 edition of Wood's -Natural History contains another cut of 
 the mastiff by Weir ; the head in this specimen is remarkabl}' 
 short, full, and grand, the limbs are very massive, and show 
 an animal inferior in no respect to our best modern specimens. 
 
 In all Weir's mastiffs of about that date the skull is very 
 grand, the muzzle characteristically short and blunt, but the 
 coarseness about the stern and coat shows indication of the 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY. 183 
 
 old Alpine blood, so does the large coarse bone and slight!}' 
 deficient muscular development, the dewclaw is olso fre- 
 quently portrayed. 
 
 H. Weir constantly introduced a small dog by the side of 
 the mastiff in his pictures, this like many other little features 
 in his works is very instructive, furnishing a good idea of the 
 relative size of the dogs. 
 
 Bruce 2nd was a blue or slate coloured brindle. and Mr. 
 Lukey bred from him considerably more than from Bruce ist, 
 having at that date a greater demand for puppies for foreign 
 exportation, sending them to Egypt, Xapaul. and other 
 countries. 
 
 Up to 1850 Mr. Lukey's strain were mostly brindle. after 
 that date he and Mi. Thompson interchanged puppies, and 
 the latter proved himself to be really the more talented breeder 
 of the two. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND 
 MR. THOMPSON. 
 
 ^Nature, in her productions slow, aspires 
 By just degrees to reach perfections height. 
 
 SoincrviUc The Chanc, Lib i. 
 
 MR. THOMPSON, by blending his own strain with that of Mr. 
 Lukey, produced Saladin, a dark brindle dog of great power, 
 of whom lie wrote, " Saladin, (the sire of Mr. Cautley's 
 "Quaker,) was axlog of great muscular power and activity, 
 " with immense strength of jaw, and although standing not 
 " more than 31 inches at shoulder, could jump a stone wall 
 "often or twelve feet with ease. He has been seen to take 
 " the dead body of a black-faced sheep in his mouth, and 
 "jump a wall of four feet with it. Dan. his sire, was a dog 
 ''of equal activity, but not so large." 
 
 Mr. Lukey, on the other hand, produced nothing of note 
 between 1849 and 1859, except Wallace, a blend between his 
 own and Mr. Thompson's strain. So much had Mr. Lukey's 
 strain fallen off, that when asked to furnisli a specimen for 
 illustration in the 1859 edition of Stonehenge, he had to name 
 Wallace as the best representative of the breed, a dog deriv- 
 ing much of his character from Mr. Thompson's strain, and 
 then the property of Mr. Weller of Derby, who informed me 
 that Wallace was not a large dog, being at the outside not 
 more than 28 inches at the shoulder ; thus, although very 
 symmetrical, considerably smaller than Mr. Lukey's old type, 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEV AND MR. THOMPSON. 185 
 
 and more resembling the Kirklees strain. This. dog was the 
 sire of Druid Peveril and Dr. Kerr's Lion, the latter although 
 never exhibited, was, although not quite so large, yet far the 
 best specimen of the three, but his stock proved very small. 
 These three dogs were bred by Mr. Elmsley, out of a fawn 
 bitch the property of a Miss Arkness. being a cross-bred 
 animal, out of a fawn mastiff bitch by a deerhound sire. 
 Nevertheless, the three were perhaps the truest representa- 
 tives of Mr. Lukey's old strain, that have been seen of late 
 years, and that grand dog Cardinal, exemplifies Mr. Lukey's 
 original strain very much both in faults and perfections. Miss 
 Arkness that was. informed me that Wallace had a much 
 ' shorter, broader, and grander head than any of his sons." 
 and he inherited the semi-erect ear of Mr. Thompson's strain, 
 which is discernible in the engraving, in which it is shown 
 that he was much lighter in bone, and more muscular than 
 Mr. Lukey's original sort. 
 
 Both Saladin and Wallace must be considered a fusion 
 between the two great breeders' strains, embodying much of 
 lie good points of each. 
 
 Countess, born in 1859, was perhaps the best specimen, 
 (except Beauty 2355) Mr. Lukey ever bred or owned, slu- was 
 a direct cross from Mr. Thompson's strain, which she resembled 
 both in type and colour, possessing far more of the real old 
 English, and less of the Alpine or Asiatic type, than Mr. 
 Lukey's old sort. Although comparatively small dogs, it is 
 not saying too much in affirming that Quaker and Countess 
 were the two best mastiffs of their day, and met with univer- 
 sal approval on the part of Judges, and their excellence was 
 due far more to the skill and judgement of Mr. Thompson 
 than to Mr. Lukey's acumen. 
 
 z 
 
[86 THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKKY AND MK. THOMPSON. 
 
 Countess revived for a time Mr. Lukey's drooping laurels, 
 but was beaten by Duchess 2365. a daughter of Bill George's 
 Tiger, and therefore Mr. Thompson's strain ; and the decided 
 superiority of the Quaker and Tiger blood, has, and will, 
 maintain itself, in spiteof their being somewhat small perhaps 
 in some peoples" opinion, but as Mr. Thompson rightly laid 
 down, the true English mastiff is not so large a dog. Thirty 
 inches at shoulder being the maximum of the height of the 
 breed, and Mr. Lukey's original strain attaining sometimes 
 as much as ^3 inches, were not, strictly speaking, English 
 mastiffs at all. 
 
 In 1859, Mr. Thompson bred Fan ist. a winner ot several 
 prizes ; also the famous Quaker 2330, which he sold as a 
 puppy to Mr. Henry Cautley of Bramley, near Leeds. In 
 1861, Quaker carried all before him at the Birmingham Show, 
 and a portrait of him appeared in the Illustrated London 
 News in December, 1861, being one among a group of prize 
 dogs, drawn by H. Weir, who very cleverly, by way of con- 
 trast, placed the prize bloodhound by his side. Instructive 
 talent of this sort should be paid its due. The drawing 
 shows that Quaker carried his ears partially erect, a charac- 
 teristic of the true old English mastiff as shown in Bewick's 
 cuts. 
 
 Quaker was not only the best mastiff in England of his day, 
 but also perhaps the very best bred specimen then extant, 
 his pedigree tracing back to Bold, and Mr. Thompson's 
 grandfather's mastiffs of about 1800. Air. Cautley, the owner 
 of Quaker, has owned some good specimens of the mastiff, 
 his dogs have not been large, but he bred and selected the 
 true type, and the old Yorkshire breeders generally, have, not 
 been so led away by mere size. 
 
THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. I.UKKV AND MR. THOMPSON. 187 
 
 In 1872, I wrote to Mr. Thompson that the dog Tiger then 
 owned by Sir Geo. Armitage, and sire of my Fan iii, was not 
 large enough for the modern fancy. He replied in a letter 
 dated November 21, 1872, " Tiger, I will allow, is not so 
 massive as some I have seen, but notwithstanding, he is a 
 " fashionable high-bred animal, free from that rugged coarse - 
 * ness of coat and other properties which we often see.'' 
 Writing October 28, 1871, he said, "Mr. Ackroyd's Dan, 
 (sire of Saladin,) was not a large dog, perhaps 28 inches at 
 " shoulder, but had a grand true mastiff head, a beautiful 
 " coat, fine, straight tail, and great muscular power.'* 
 
 Again writing December the 24th, 1875, he said of Bill 
 George's Tiger, " Tiger's ears were neither very small nor large 
 " but somewhat thin in texture, and laid flat to the head, so 
 * also Dan, the sire of Tiger's dam. whose ears were fine. 
 " neat, and half erect.'' 
 
 The following extracts from Mr. Thompson's letters and 
 essay, will give the reader a very clear insight of the true type 
 of the British mastiff, as well as show the thorough knowledge 
 of the variety that great Yorkshire breeder possessed. Ever 
 courteous in his manners, the following lines of Horace are 
 truly applicable to him : 
 
 " Dignum laude virnw Musa vciat mori." 
 
 With regard to mere size, in a letter dated January 7th, 
 1873, ne wrote, " I am no advocate for tall and leggv dogs 
 " but it appears to be a fashionable characteristic with some 
 "judges. Plenty of substance, good coat, head and tail, are 
 ' features which ought to be encouraged in preference to long 
 " heads and legs, light bodies, and twisted tails." It is 
 worthy of remark the stress Mr. Thompson always laid on 
 
l88 THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. 
 
 the fine coat and straight thin tail, points which rendered his 
 strain remarkable. Writing September ist, 1873, ^ e sa id, 
 " Size is the rage, and the writing up of this monstrocity has 
 "done more injury to the pure points than will be easily re- 
 deemed.'* Again December 8, 1873, " Deformity, deficiency 
 " of muscular power, narrow muzzles, and also the great want 
 'of a just and proportionate head, are defects which want 
 " eradicating. I have always thought it was a mistake giving 
 such a palpable lead to mere size over points of far more 
 ' importance.'' Writing March, 1873, " In regard to size, 1 
 " care not how big a mastiff may be, if he is proportionate, 
 " well gaited, firm on his pins as we say in Yorkshire, for it 
 44 a dog has not good legs and feet, he is useless. Somekeep- 
 ki ers and others make such a muddle of crossing, I fear the 
 " avidity to breed great size, will prove a failure, and in the 
 " end will produce a disproportionate, ugly, and useless 
 " animal." 
 
 In his Essay on the breed, he says, " The rage for size has 
 " in some instances done harm, viz., by producing tall, leggy, 
 * coarse animals without a proportionate form of head and 
 ' frame to keep pace." Again, " It is marvellous what avicl- 
 ' ity some breeders display in seeking progeny from a dog 
 " because he is large, and possibly the winner of a few prizes, 
 'at the same time not possessing one other point worthy of 
 14 notice. A sire dog should exhibit what constitutes the true 
 " mastiff points, he should have no spurious pedigree, purity 
 " and high breeding are indispensible necessities. A good 
 " head is one of the most essential points, a small thin ear. 
 ''slightly erect at root, improves the character of the head." 
 
 In a letter dated March 25th, 1873, ne wrote. " 1 agree for 
 the most part, \\ith your general remarks as to what you 
 
THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. 189 
 
 " consider the true type. The points, with two or three ex- 
 kt ceptions, are good. I should give more for a good stern, 
 and also more for good legs and feet. I should also give 
 " fewer points for height. The ponderous size has come from 
 ' the Great Dane, or from the Asiatic cross. As to dewclaws, 
 I would ignore their admission by all means. If you can 
 " obtain great size without sacrificing stamina, courage, 
 " activity, and a well balanced proportionate head, you are 
 right, but if you realize great size at the expense of these 
 attributes, you are wrong." 
 
 Again April 22. 1873, " Mr. G's opinion goes to prove that 
 ' the English mastiff cannot maintain its superiority for size, 
 " without the aid 'of imported specimens. For instance, he 
 " admits Lion to have been bred in America, L'Ami, Couhez, 
 the Chatsworth dogs, and others, were all of foreign extrac- 
 " tion, and from the introduction of this blood into England 
 ' we are indebted for keeping up size. The old English mas- 
 tiff without the aid of foreign assistance, was never a large 
 "dog." 
 
 Again April 8th, 1873, " I am not prepared to say what 
 'Mr. G.'s convictions may be about the English mastiff 
 being able to maintain his superiority for size, without the 
 " aid of imported specimens, but I do know that the whole 
 pith of his observations tend to show that Mr. Lukey's and 
 his own owed their descent to foreign extraction. 
 
 Further, he wrote May 26th. 1873, " A dog standing 30 
 inclit-s, head marking 26 or 27 inches, and proportionate 
 " frame, and strong and active on his legs, would be the height 
 " of mv ambition. 
 
igO THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. 
 
 That Mr. Thompson had no objection to the bull cross, 
 may be seen from the following, dated January 2gth, 1873 : 
 lt l also called upon John Turner, who informed me there was 
 " a very fine dog at Keighley, which he proposed breeding 
 " from. He is by Bradford Quaker, and out of a large bull 
 " mastiff bitch with the right character of head and ear, but 
 " perhaps not so large as you would want." 
 
 In his Essay on the Mastiff, he wrote, " About 1840, our 
 ' k breed of British bulldogs were much larger than the gen- 
 " erality of our present race, standing 20 inches high at the 
 " shoulder and more ; and I cannot see, being so identical in 
 " character, that the cross would in an)- way deteriorate the 
 " mastiff with the exception of size." 
 
 Again, " As to the judiciousness of crossing the mastiff with 
 " the bulldog, I must leave every breeder to follow the bent 
 " of his own individual opinion, as no private notions of my 
 "own would be sufficient to meet the varied tastes of all, 
 " at the same time I may perhaps be justified in saying, that 
 " it does not always follow, as has been asserted, that the 
 " bullet head and projection of the lower jaw is a sure cri- 
 " tenon of the bulldog cross. L'Ami, considered to have 
 " been one of the finest and most majestic of smooth Alpine 
 "mastiffs ever exhibited, had the bullet head and undershot 
 " jaw, so had Couchez, in fact, our largest and most eminent 
 " mastiffs have had this peculiarity. I have also seen hounds, 
 "pointers, terriers, and other kinds so formed, and even in 
 " human beings we find this peculiarity of the lower jaw. but 
 " surely no one would have t he audacity to say this is inherited 
 " from a bulldog cross ? Undoubtedly not, it is a natural 
 " production." 
 
THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON igl 
 
 Again, " I feel no hesitation in saying, that a- fair amount 
 - of our modern mastiffs owe their descent to foreign extrac- 
 " lion. The short truncated muzzle does not come solely 
 " from the English bulldog, but no doubt has been partially 
 " obtained from a cross with the Dutch mastiff indigenous to 
 " Holland. A mastiff dog or bitch deficient in muzzle, is not 
 "as a rule to be depended upon for transmitting the broad 
 ki thick muzzle to its offspring, and the perpetuation of these 
 " essential points from generation to generation, is no doubt 
 " the great secret of breeding." 
 
 Writing July 24th, 1873, nc stated, " The type of head 
 varies in almost all kinds of dogs. For .instance, I have 
 " had pointers as much undershot as Branch, indeed, with a 
 "perfectly truncated muzzle, I have also seen hounds, with 
 " the truncated muzzle. Old Tiger's jaw slightly projected, 
 " as did also some others of my old stock, *and one of the 
 " handsomest bitches Mr. Lukey had, was so formed ; she 
 " was chained at the warehouse in Milford Lane. A good 
 " broad forehead, with deep furrow, I admire. Again, if the 
 " muzzle is not too long, but deep, broad, and massive, I 
 "want no better formed head than your Peeress (2393). 
 
 He wrote again October 2ist, 1874. ' ^ breeders in 
 time to come, are not so blindly prejudiced and infatuated 
 with mere size, they will see the necessity of perpetuating 
 " a broader and shorter muzzle, with greater uniformity of 
 " outline." 
 
 Writing March ist, 1873, * le stated, " I shall appreciate a 
 " copy of your own private view:- in reference to the good 
 "points of the mastiff, perhaps as a whole we shall not differ 
 " materially." Further, March 4th, 1873, " ^ty Dear Sir, 
 " 1 ever feel a delicacy, nay sensitiveness in holding an 
 
TQ2 THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. THOMPSON' AND MR. LUKKY. 
 
 " argument with a friend, although perhaps it is right to 
 " express respectfully one's own opinion. I write you both 
 " from experience and earnest conviction, I never bred a 
 "mastiff with dewclaws, nor would I keep one if I knew it. 
 ' l The addition is a blot on the purity of this grand old breed, 
 " indeed the very sight of them gives me the shivers. My 
 '* grandfather, father, and brother, who have kept individually 
 " packs of harriers, large studs of greyhounds and mastiffs, 
 " ever held these unnecessary appendages in abhorence. I 
 "have known otterhounds, rough terriers, and other long 
 " haired mongrels subject to this pest, but a pure greyhound, 
 "pointer, and the grand old smooth coated mastiff never. If 
 * you think any mention of dewclaws in my pamphlet would 
 tk be objectionable, I will gladly erase it. 1 will read over 
 " your remarks in favour of admitting dewclaws, but nothing 
 " can shake my conviction." 
 
 Again, March igth, 1873, " '^ le hitch has also dewclaws, a 
 sure sign of impurity." 
 
 The dewclaw has long been a vexed question, both in the 
 mastiff and St. Bernard, and there is little doubt it is a sure 
 sign of mongrelism, loose breeding, and crossing, and in the 
 mastiff it usually denotes St. Bernard blood, having been 
 introduced originally through the sheep-dog cross in the St. 
 Bernard. With the strong feelings and convictions in the 
 minds of many against dewclaws, it is hardly worth a sane 
 writer's while to try to influence the question one way or the 
 other. It is certain that close breeding without crossing has 
 the tendency to eradicate this useless abnormal redundancy 
 of toes, in the mastiff, St. Bernard, or any other breed. 
 
THE GREAT BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. IQ3 
 
 It is certain that many mongrel dogs are troubled with 
 them ; and this deformity is not merely confined to the canine 
 race. At the present time I have a male kitten which has 
 double thumb claws and dewclaws as well ; his mother has a 
 redundancy of toes : her mother had double dewclaws, but 
 the thumb claws were single, yet the nail or claw in each 
 was double. 
 
 I see no advantage in disqualifying an otherwise good dog 
 because he has dewclaws, but have noticed that both mastiffs 
 and St. Bernards with them are usually less straight in their 
 hind legs than dogs without them. The so called cat hams 
 being very common to dogs with dewclaws. In the St. 
 Bernard this deformity may amount to a characteristic of the 
 breed ; in the mastiff they are admissible, but should be bred 
 out. "Writers and fanciers who do not seem to know the 
 difterence between the old English mastiff and the Alpine 
 mastiff with its longer and wedge shaped head, may have no 
 objection to dewclaws. 
 
 Mr. Thompson wrote, " 1 have seen mastiffs of exceptional 
 " character with more or less white on them, and think any 
 '.'judge ignoring a dog simply for this reason, would display 
 " fastidiousness to a fault, I even think that a dog which is 
 ' slightly hail shot about the ears and sides evidently shows 
 ' that he has been produced from stock carefully and closely 
 " bred. 
 
 In this opinion Mr. Thompson stumbled closely on the 
 fact that in-breeding has a tendency to weaken the colouring 
 matter, and produce white patches or spots, but white spots 
 or patches are no sure proof of purity of blood, they merely de- 
 note chat close breeding has taken place. The bloodhound is 
 
 AA 
 
IQ4 THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. THOMPSON AND MR. LUKEV. 
 
 often hail shot, owing no doubt to their excessive in-breeding, 
 and mastiffs with a known bloodhound cross often inherit 
 these white spots from their bloodhound ancestor. 
 
 Writing April 22, 1873, Mr. Thompson remarked, "Venus, 
 " the bitch I gave John Crabtree, had a white face. Saladin's 
 " dam had eight puppies to Dan, and all clear of white with 
 u one exception, and that was a brindle bitch with white 
 " blaze up the face." 
 
 August 29, 1873, "There is one characteristic in the mastiff 
 " which I should like to see again, and that is high courage. 
 " I often think of Saladin, he inherited no cowardly disposi- 
 tion, but possessed the essence of docility, and the bravery 
 " of a gladiator." 
 
 Apri] 1 5th, 1873, " There are two or three items in Mr. G.'s 
 "letter which I observed, and about which I will say a word 
 " or two; If I mistake not, size is a point which is so neces- 
 " sary in his opinion, that he would not hesitate crossing with 
 " either boarhound, wolfhound, or any other hound, providing 
 "lie can realize his object, i also differ with him about the 
 '- character and points of the head, still he states there is 
 ki nothing more quickly affected by impurity in blood. There 
 " is another point about the head I cannot exactly agree with, 
 " which is this, however well a head may measure, outward 
 " appearances are such very necessary points, that hidden 
 " treasures can never wholly supply, in fact immediately a 
 " dog comes before you, the eye naturally wanders in search 
 "of this grand outward necessity; you do not want to use 
 " the tape like a tailor, or lilt the skin as lie slates, to give 
 " the forehead more breadth ; the formation should be there 
 "without this extra manipulation to produce the effect and 
 
THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. 195 
 
 " characteristic. I think if a head measures a little more, if 
 "the formation is defective it loses cast, again I do not like 
 " a very long bod}', for it is often attended with weak, light 
 " loins.'' 
 
 In his essay he says, ' If we breed mastiffs 32 or 33 inches 
 " high at the shoulder, and the head is not proportionate in 
 " size, the principle of breeding is at fault, for it is evident 
 "this extra size must have a comparative ratio of girth of 
 " forehead and muzzle, or otherwise you diminish the essential 
 'character and grandeur of the head. Again, I should not 
 "consider a mastiff standing 32 or 33 inches high at the 
 " shoulder and marking only 27 inches round the head so good 
 " or proportionate a dog as one standing from 29 to 30 inches, 
 " and marking 26 inches round the head. In my opinion size 
 11 ought not to be the one idea. The breeder will do well to 
 " mark and sustain the ample forehead, the full prominent 
 ' cheeks, small ears, the thick broad muzzle, and pendulous 
 "lips, nor should he forget to note the stout muscular legs 
 " and thighs, the brawny shoulders, deep and massive frame, 
 '' and short glossy coat. I have no doubt by judicious care 
 "in breeding it is possible to produce a mastift large in size, 
 " massive in build, strikingly grand in head, the muscles hard 
 " and sharply developed, and the skin nearly approaching in 
 " quality the beautiful coat of the greyhound. I have a strong 
 " prediliction for quality and select breeding." 
 
 These remarks show the breeder whose skill produced the 
 best mastiffs in England of his day, and, how much can be 
 learnt from these pithy remarks of the Yorkshireman, whose 
 judgment eclipsed that of his more noted contemporary, Mr. 
 Lukey. 
 
196 THE NOTED BREEDERS MR. LUKEY AND MR. THOMPSON. 
 
 In concluding this chapter it will be,as well to mention that 
 several of H. Weir's conventional sketches of the mastiff (not 
 portraits) which have appeared since 1870 particularly, have 
 been of a very houndy type, a type exemplified in Miss Hale's 
 noted Lion, who about 1870 was a very fashionable animal 
 under some judges, and H. AYeir seems to have somewhat 
 pandered to the taste or caught the infection to a certain 
 extent. It is a type very captivating to the artist, as in the 
 lines of the head in the bloodhound (the typical hound) there 
 is a dignified majestic expression, which perhaps in some 
 people's idea, is of a higher scale of intelligence, and therefore 
 more captivating to the eye, than the lowering formidable 
 appearance of the true surly old English mastiff, when free 
 from the hound taint. 
 
 I can excuse an}" artist falling into the error, at the same 
 time would like to destroy every picture of this cross bred 
 mongrel type, miscalled mastiff. Sir Edwin Landseer could 
 and did paint to perfection mongrels with poetic expression, 
 but then he was never guilty of labelling them or trying to 
 palm them off on the public as anything but mongrels; but 
 the davs for mongrelism are I trust past, or at least numbered. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 EARLY DOG SHOWS. 
 
 I pass the wars that spotted lynxes make, 
 With their fierce rivals for the female's sake ; 
 The howling wolves ; the mastiff's am'rous rage, 
 
 Dry den. Georgics, Lib. in. 
 
 WK have now arrived at the days of early Dog Shows, the 
 first, having taken place in June, 1859, and with them we may 
 trace the commencement of photographing noted specimens. 
 It is needless to say photographs from life are of far more 
 value to the breeder than drawings, however good and 
 truthful the artist, for to say the least, there are few who do 
 not insert a mannerism of their own ; at the same time I 
 disdain the worked up fancy portraits, which are some- 
 times dishonestly used by owners of noted dogs for obvious 
 purposes. Such portraits are often simply a public swindle, 
 the worst points being too often toned down, and fancied 
 beauties and perfections inserted, not because they exist in 
 the specimen, but because it may get a few pounds out of 
 the pockets of the unwary public, and put money into that of 
 the unworthy owner of the dog ; and such a debasement of 
 art is truly monstrous. 
 
 In 1861 Mr. Lukey took First Prize at Leeds with his 
 Countess; Mr. Lukey had some photos of her, taken from 
 life. Lieut. Col. J. P.. Gamier, R.E., made a very character- 
 istic drawing of her, although (judging from the photo from 
 life, of which I have a cop} 7 ) hardly massive enough, and too 
 licfht in bone. 
 
igS EARLY DOG SHOWS. 
 
 Mr. Lukey in possession of this grand animal failed to mate 
 her judiciously, being carried away with the vulgar error for 
 great size ; he crossed her with Lion, a dog bred in America, 
 a longish headed and somewhat leggy animal, with little 
 pretention to true mastiff character, showing according to his 
 breeder's own admission, unmistakeable signs of the boar- 
 hound type. The infusion of this mongrel blood nearly 
 ruined Mr. Lukey's dogs, causing him to lose ground, which 
 he never thoroughly recovered ; Mr. E. Hanbury wresting 
 the premier position from him a position that clever breeder 
 has honestly held, and well merited, off and on ever since. 
 
 There were three dogs from the Lion and Countess cross, 
 namely, Mr. Ashton's Lion, Mr. Lukey's Governor and 
 Harold, the latter, a white faced specimen, taking after his 
 mother in type, and a reversion to Mr. Thompson's strain. 
 " The breeder of Governor's sire " admits that this dog was 
 the finest male specimen he had ever met with, and therefore 
 superior to anything of his own breeding, and was perhaps, 
 except Quaker, Tiger, and Countess, the best specimen of the 
 English mastiff he had up to that time ever set eyes upon. 
 
 Mr. Gamier worked up a drawing of Countess and Lion, 
 with their offspring Harold and Lukey's noted Governor ; of 
 this group photos were taken, and there is also an engraving 
 of Governor in the 1872 edition of Stonehenge, but it is more 
 of an artist's ideal than a faithful portrait, as far as the head 
 goes, giving the idea of a much squarer muzzled, shorter 
 headed dog, than the photo taken from life shows. Garmer's 
 portrait of Governor in the foregoing group was worked up 
 from the photo from life, and appears a very truthful and 
 useful copy of the original, and can be relied on as showing 
 the real type of his head. 
 
EARLY DOG SHOWS. 1 99 
 
 Governor appears to have taken after the boarhound type 
 m his progenitor Adam ; he grew eventually to be a taller 
 specimen than his brother Harold, standing 33 inches at 
 shoulder, and weighing 180 Ibs, girthing only 40 inches, 
 measuring 28 round the skull, length of head 15 inches, 
 namely, skull g, muzzle 5^ ; this being at least i inches too 
 long in the muzzle, and as I had these measurements from 
 Mr. Lukey himself, (who admitted the dog's deficiency of 
 girth of chest, and wretched long muzzle) they may be relied 
 upon ; in fact Governor, grand large dog as he was, neverthe- 
 less was unquestionably too long in head and pointed in 
 muzzle, and instead of possessing the short square head of 
 the true English mastiff, he inherited plainly from his sire, 
 the wedge shaped head of the boarhound, Great Dane, and 
 Alpine sheepdog type, and such for the most part was the 
 type of head he begot, throwing large animals, but leggy, and 
 showing too much of the extended figure, approaching nearer 
 the greyhound type. 
 
 Mr. Lukey mated Countess with her own son Governor, 
 and obtained a long headed boarhound-like leggy dog from 
 this alliance, which he named Harold ; this dog was the 
 ancestor of the Shah, but died young, having hung himself. 
 Mr. Lukey had his head stuffed and offered to make me a 
 present of it. 
 
 However among his numerous un satisfactory offspring (for 
 like many other very large dogs he was a decided failure at 
 the stud) Governor begot Rufus, whose mother, Jenny, the 
 property of Mr. Sam Horn of Kettering, was one of the then 
 few remaining old English mastiffs. I asked Mr. Lukey if 
 she had any pedigree, "pedigree" he replied, "she had a 
 pedigree as long as your arm, that the man sent with her, but 
 
200 EARLY DOG SHOWS. 
 
 I lost it." I then went purposely to Kettering to see Mr. 
 Horn, who told me he had lost her written pedigree, but that 
 he had obtained her from a person at Sudbury (whose name 
 I now forget). I made a purpose journey to Sudbury and 
 Chartley to try to discover the pedigree, but all I could 
 ever ascertain was that she was bred at Sudbury, from stock 
 originally obtained from Lord Vernon's and the Trentham 
 kennels, and among others her breeder had sent his two last 
 specimens over to Phoenix Park, Dublin, which cleared him 
 out of the breed. 
 
 Mr. Horn's Jenny was evidently of the Trentham strain, 
 (the Chartley mastiffs having been obtained also from Trent - 
 ham) and thus allied to Dan, the grandsire of Mr. Cautley's 
 splendid Quaker. The cross of Horn's Jenny fortunately 
 restored the shorter head to Mr. Lukey's strain, Rufus being 
 a very grand headed specimen, although low standing, and 
 somewhat deformed ; and accidentally he was the means of 
 transmitting the purest and best mastiff blood left in the 
 kingdom, as Mr. J. K. Field really wished to breed from 
 Governor with Nell iii. who was a daughter of Cautley's 
 Quaker, out of a very fine bitch, owned by Wm. Guppy, the 
 noted King Charles fancier and toy dog dealer of Prince's 
 Street, London ; her mother was a mastiff bitch belonging to 
 Lord Darnley, but her sire's pedigree is not on record, and 
 it has been rumoured that he was a bull-mastiff. 
 
 However while this bull cross in Old King 2301 lias never 
 been thoroughly investigated, much less proved, it is certain 
 that both from the dam of Rufus, and also his mother's sire, 
 he inherited some of the purest and best English mastiff blood 
 that existed. 
 
KARI.V DOG SHOWS. 2OI 
 
 But to re.vert to Mr. Lukey as a breeder, although it is a 
 hold and perhaps somewhat startling assertion to make, still 
 I fail to see that he made any really great improvement in the 
 breed, and am inclined to think that he bred as good or even 
 better specimens at the commencement of his career, than he 
 did in his meridian, and had he lived in later times, when the 
 breed became more fashionable and plentiful, there is no 
 reason for believing that he would have made any greater 
 fame as a breeder than others have since. 
 
 Much mav be learnt from an impartial investigation of the 
 practices of these early breeders, especially if we can but 
 divest our minds of that glamour of extra judgment and skill 
 which rolls like a cloud over the past, and while hiding their 
 failures, allows their successes to burst through in strong 
 light. In himself Mr. Lukey beyond doubt was a good judge 
 ot what a mastiff should be, possessing a trained eye for make 
 and shape, and a quick perception of the characteristic points: 
 he had a dread of a bad loin, and informed me that was his 
 sole reason for never having bred from Bill George's Tiger, 
 who he remarked was the best headed dog of his day: 
 and when he crossed his last star, but not least noted prize 
 winner, his superb Beautv. with her half-brother my Monarch 
 2317, he said, "that although his head was grander than he 
 expected to meet with, and beat that of his Baron both in 
 type and measurement, yet he was the worst loined dog that 
 he had ever bred from." It may be laid down as certain 
 that the two cardinal points Mr. Lukey ever kept in view 
 were a well formed head, and broad loin in the sires he used: 
 seeking these perfections in the individual animal rather than 
 in any study of pedigree, a point he seemed to me very 
 indifferent about, so long as the animal suited his judgment. 
 
 PB 
 
2O2 EARLY DOG SHOWS. 
 
 Looking at his various crosses and blendings I am inclined 
 to regard Mr. Lukey as a breeder who made his mark through 
 perseverance, a large kennel, and little public competition, 
 possessing a clear and quick judgment, but little or no 
 theoretical skill, ever acting as though from the sire he saw 
 and selected, he would obtain the properties that animal 
 exhibited. Yet although long pedigree extending back to 
 remote ancestors is in itself often a captivating illusion, still 
 a pedigree properly made use of, is a guide to the intelligent 
 breeder, and a synoptical review of the past ancestry, may 
 furnish ideas, and save the breeder many failures and foul 
 crosses. 
 
 It is worthy of note that Mr. Lukey never kept any 
 written pedigree of his dogs, and although at times (like all 
 really successful breeders) he bred regardless of affinity, he 
 had no objection to a distinct cross. 
 
 It should be a significant warning to modern breeders that 
 in crossing, he introduced a foreign and distinct type, and 
 ignorantly made use of the male offspring arising therefrom, 
 thereby losing his old type, and with it the high position he 
 then held, as Mr. Cautley with Quaker (bred by Mr. Thomp- 
 son) and Mr. Hanbury with his daughter of Bill George's 
 Tiger, beat him thoroughly, and between 1860 and 1869 Mr. 
 Lukey had to be content with a secondary position, and 
 seeing his vast Governor generally beaten by his smaller 
 sized dam. 
 
 In 1869 m Beauty, Baron, Bounty, and Bell (all by Old 
 King) Mr. Lukey's lamp of fame threw out a final flicker ; 
 their dam being a mixture of Governor, Tiger, and Mr. 
 Lukey's old strain, but these were never equal to the trio Mr. 
 
EARLY DOG SHOWS. 20$ 
 
 E. Hanbury bred, namely, Taurus 2340, Hebe, and Herpa, 
 by Old King, out of a daughter of my Wolf, who was by Bill 
 Georges Tiger. 
 
 What showed that Mr. Lukey's ability as a breeder was 
 not so acute as some have been led or led themselves to 
 suppose, was the fact that with Beauty, Bounty, and Treasure, 
 and two daughters of the latter, by Mr. Hanbury's Griffin, 
 (the sire of Rajah) from these fine brood bitches he failed to 
 breed a single prize specimen, in fact their offspring were 
 such thorough failures that I believe their descendants have 
 quite died out. 
 
 Of Mr. Lukey's geniality and cordial hospitality I cannot 
 speak too highly, for he ever made me (and I believe other 
 lovers of the mastiff as well) welcome, and I enjoyed my visits 
 to him much ; straightforward, honourable, and generous in 
 his actions, I am sure that any little inaccuracies that he 
 made at times in his dogs pedigrees, arose from defect in 
 memory and having no stud book to refer to. When a 
 breeder has had as many dogs pass through his hands as Mr. 
 Lukey or myself, it is easy to get confused as to the exact 
 breeding of some, and thus misstatements are often uninten- 
 tionally made ; yet external facts alone bore evidence to the 
 several errors I have pointed out. With these remarks I 
 shall conclude with Mr. Lukey with the well known line 
 
 " DC mortals nil, nisi bonmn" 
 
 for the truthful historian has at times to run counter to 
 popular opinion. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 NOTED -MASTIFFS. 
 
 'Tis sweet to bear tbe watcb-dogs honest bark 
 
 Bay deep nioutbed welcome as we draw near borne. 
 
 Hyroii's l)on Jan a. 
 
 MR. F. ll.AM'.i KY'S Duchess, one year and three nioiillis old. 
 in June. 1862, took the First Prize at Holborn, and figured 
 in the Illustrated Sporting News, and also in the same for 
 May 3ist, 1862. Duehess weighed 102 ibs only at 15 months 
 old. (My Champion Peeress, First Prize, Birmingham, 1872. 
 just 10 years after, weighed at 15 months old 112 Ibs. 
 
 Duehess also figured in the Illustrated Sporting News ot 
 Dec. f)th, iS02; the cut may be accepted as accurate, for 
 there was a striking likeness between it and that of Mr. 
 If anbury's grand skulled Rajah 2333. The cut shows a very 
 broad, short headed, fine coated, muscular specimen, with a 
 very fine stern, carried down ; her ears however appear 
 somewhat large: this is an important piece of mastiff history, 
 as it shows that the type Rajah was of. was inherited from 
 Duchess quite as much as from Nell iv., who was supposed 
 by some to transmit the so erroneously called bulldog 
 type. 
 
 A Lymc II all mastiff belonging to Mrs. Colville was 
 figured with Duchess in 1862, in the Illustrated Sporting 
 News, and it shows him to have been long in head and 
 hound)- in ear : these portraits were draun at the Birmingham 
 Show, where Duchess carried off the First Prize, the Evmc 
 Hall representative having to be content with second place. 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS. 2O5 
 
 Many people owing to ignorant prejudice, condemn any 
 white on the face, neck, and paws of a mastiff, and great 
 outcry before now has been raised at a judge for selecting 
 white faced specimens as recipients for honours, and some 
 adjudicators in their ignorance, have passed over good 
 specimens on account of such markings. 
 
 In the Illustrated London Xews of December, 1871, there 
 is a portrait drawn by H. Weir, of Peveril, the son of Wallace; 
 he was a light red brindle with a large amount of white on 
 face, neck, flank, chest, and legs ; he also inherited the bar 
 sinister, the dewclaw, showing his Alpine ancestry. There 
 is an excellent coloured engraving by Vaughan Davis, of 
 Wolsey, in part viii of Cassell's Book of the Dog; the likeness 
 to Peveril in head is very marked, and the ears in both fall 
 too close to the head for mastiff purity, while both had the 
 same round faced, stupid cat-like expression. 
 
 To show how rooted and hereditary the white stirp is, my 
 Champion Peeress 2393, came out with much white on her 
 lace, neck, legs, and flank, although her parents and grand- 
 parents were all free from white. Peeress and her sister Juno, 
 who was free from white, when crossed with their half- 
 brother, threw some perfectly white puppies. 
 
 In 1^76 Goddard, A.R.A., painted Champion Xero 2318, 
 bred by Captain, now Sir T. G. F. Hesketh, Bart.; the 
 painting is a full length portrait, and will be one of the means 
 of handing down to posterity the form of one of the finest and 
 most powerful mastiffs that has been produced of late years. 
 It is'not only a splendid picture as a work of art, but a very 
 truthful and striking likeness of the dog, whose worst fault 
 was his want of breadth of skull, his muzzle was remarkably 
 
206 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 grand, and his lips extremely pendulous, he was also a very 
 muscular, well-grown animal of great size and bone, with a 
 stern if possible too fine ; his pedigree was very indifferent, 
 and his produce inferior and disappointing. 
 
 In 1876 Fredk. Valter of Birmingham made a crayon 
 sketch of my Norah 6397, who took First Prize at Birming- 
 ham that year, she had the white blaze down the face, and 
 white on neck and paws, her ears were extremely small and 
 semi-erect, she was excessively active, very muscular, and a 
 very fast and terrible fighter, and when roused would roll 
 even a male specimen over in a second ; she was descended 
 from the brindle and white Rose of the old Elvaston Castle 
 strain. 
 
 Formerly the mastiff ran all colours, and were mostly pied 
 with white. The continual reproduction of the breed without 
 foreign crosses was calculated to produce a very uniform type, 
 at the same time to render the colouring matter weak, the 
 face, chest, neck, paws, and tip of the tail being the first 
 places to show it. Now the question of colour looked at 
 impartially, will at once be seen to be anything but a charac- 
 teristic, all colours being admissible, (except liver colour and 
 black white and tan in patches like a foxhound, which I have 
 never heard of) but owing to the careful selection of the 
 fallow, that colour may now be looked upon as a sign of 
 purity almost, and the fancy (i.e. the public breeders and 
 judges) have a right to give a preference to whatever colour 
 they may think the handsomest ; for my own part I prefer the 
 all black, or the stone, or smoky fawn, with intense black ears 
 and muzzle, in fact the darker the head the better, as it gives 
 that lowering sullen look, which to use the words of Dr. Cains, 
 " Drives cold fear into the heart of man." 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS. 2O7 
 
 Mr. Field's Old King was nearly of this colour, and was 
 also one of the most perfect all round specimens of the 
 British mastiff I have met with ; Mr. Beaufoy's Beau was 
 also of the same colour, and was one of the very best speci- 
 mens that has been before the public of late years, inheriting 
 much of the King or Quaker type through his dam; Wolf, by 
 Bill George's Tiger, was of the same colour, and had a 
 remarkably fine head, but was somewhat coarse, and also 
 deficient in muscular power ; his daughter, Mr. Hanbury's 
 Phillis, inherited her sire's head, colour, and type generally. 
 
 It may be urged that if preference may be given to any 
 colour, the fancy have an equal right to say the mastiff should 
 have the level jaw and long head ; that the undershot jaw is 
 merely a monstrocity both in the bulldog and mastiff, a little 
 consideration however will show the merest tyro the incor- 
 rectness of any such argument, which may be seen by 
 analogy. In the lop-eared rabbit for instance, the fancy have 
 a right to select any particular colour and marking, and the 
 lop ears ma}' be a monstrocity, or an adaptation on the part 
 of nature to fit the animal for its conditions of existence; but 
 let anyone argue the lop ears should be bred out, and a 
 normal small ear take its place, what would be the result ? 
 the breed would no longer be the lop-eared variety ; the same 
 with the mastiff, a baiting dog, with the characteristic short 
 muzzle, and undershot jaw of its trade or use, which if bred 
 out or allowed to degenerate into other types, the breed 
 would become no longer the mastiff, as they approached nearer 
 in type to their boarhound, bloodhound, or Alpine sheepdog 
 ancestry ; foul crosses which have been introduced to the 
 detriment of the true type. Vast dogs long on the legs, some- 
 what light in bone for their size, are not in reality mastiffs, 
 whatever their owners may think. 
 
208 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 The question lias been raised both in this country and 
 America, as to what extent shortness of head in the mastiff 
 (technically termed shortness of face) should be cultivated to, 
 and with regard to the proportionate length of skull to that 
 of muzzle ; the old rule, that the muzzle should be exactly 
 one third the length of the whole head, is a very safe one : 
 the length of head in male specimens should not exceed 12 
 or I2j inches in length, and in the females 10 or 11 inches. 
 For my own fancy I must confess that 1 like to see the face 
 cultivated as short as possible, as it shows high breeding, 
 especially if accompanied with plenty of size and a symmet- 
 rical bod} 7 . Old King had a remarkably short head, his son, 
 Monarch 2317, had if anything a still grander head, and it 
 measured barely 11 inches in length, which was the length of 
 the head of his dam, Norah. 
 
 Mr. H. Clive's Niger (a son of Monarch 2317, and dive's 
 Nell, of the old Trentham strain) had a still shorter face than 
 his sire, and with the exception of British King 8409, was the 
 shortest faced mastiff I have met with. 
 
 Of late years shortness of face among the south country 
 breeders has been more generally cultivated, but in America 
 there seems rather a disposition to depart from the true tvpe 
 in respect to shortness of head. Among others Mr. \Vm. 
 "Wade of Hulton Pa (who in the course of a lew years will 
 probably be justly regarded as the great American authority 
 on the mastiff, from his carefully gleaned knowledge, and in 
 other respects sound judgment of the breed) lias expressed 
 his opinion that a very short faced mastiff is lacking in 
 dignity, etc., but in the course; of a few years he will probably 
 see the error of his opinion on this point. That length and 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS. 2OQ 
 
 narrowness of head belong to the hound, while shortness and 
 breadth are true characteristics of the British mastiff, and 
 more expressive of strength than dignity perhaps. Formerly 
 the English mastiff appears to have stood not more than from 
 27 to 30 inches at shoulder, and a writer, a stickler for purity, 
 has recorded that he doubts the purity of any mastiff standing 
 over 30 inches at shoulder, and if we recross the mastiff with 
 the pure breed, the bulldog, (as suggested by Mr. Thompson 
 and other breeders and writers) we still lessen the height, 
 bringing it nearer to the old standard of the breed when it 
 was bred for work and use, not mere useless ornament or 
 crippled over-forced monstrocities that can hardly walk. , 
 
 Before concluding this history of the British mastiff, I may 
 say in 1874, The Kennel Club Stud Book was published, and 
 having revised the mastiff pedigrees in it for the editor, (Mr. 
 Pearce) and also furnished him with considerable information 
 for the work, I know that the pedigrees in the 1874 v l- are 
 fairly accurate, although one or two errors crept in. The 
 breeder will find it a most useful work. 
 
 In breeding animals " Pedigree " is a most important partic- 
 ular. By pedigree I do not mean merely a carefully written, 
 extended chart of ancestral names, the kind of thing I fear 
 that too many breeders swallow with the same avidity that 
 a salmon does a highly dressed, gaudy, artificial fly. If 
 breeders would only bear in mind that all the stud books in 
 existence, and all the mere paper that has pedigree written 
 on it, will not shorten the muzzle of a mastiff one quarter of 
 an inch, or add one inch to the girth of skull or chest. A 
 mere chart of the ancestry for a number of generations back 
 
 cc 
 
210 NOTED MASTIFFS-. 
 
 is in itself valueless ; the sort of pedigree that is all in all, if 
 men wish to breed with more or less certainty animals 
 approaching a fixed ideal or standard, is a pedigree which 
 shows a fair percentage of immediate ancestors approaching 
 more or less closely towards the desired type, for it should 
 always be remembered that for some reason the tendency is 
 for the offspring to resemble the grandparents and great 
 uncles and aunts, than either their sire or dam ; as Creech 
 translates the i22oth line of the ivth book of " de Rerum 
 Natura " of Lucretius, 
 
 " And oft' with joy indulgent fathers view'd, 
 
 " The grandsire's image in their sons renewed," etc. 
 
 Moreover blood can only be rendered prepotent by in-breeding 
 to the required type. A pedigree therefore should show a 
 certain amount of in-breeding to the blood possessing the 
 required type ; m-breeding being the only sure way of 
 collection of type into a current, which gains strength and 
 permanency by cultivation. 
 
 The capabilities of a sire to transmit his own type and 
 latent properties in his blood, depends very much upon his 
 having inherited the same from a succession of ancestors in 
 whom those properties have existed, the hereditary force being 
 concentrated and strengthened greatly by incestuous alliances 
 of animals of similar type. 
 
 When a type is once collected into a current it rapidly 
 gains strength and development ; if for example girth of skull 
 is the particular point aimed at, by selecting the larger skulled 
 son to the sire, breeding from him, and selecting in turn the 
 largest skulled of his offspring, a strain is s6on established! 
 which will possess greater volume of skull if the females 
 selected are of kindred blood. 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS, 211 
 
 The additional increase is not at all regular .every genera- 
 tion, but jumps as it were by fits and starts, and at times with 
 marvellous rapidity. 
 
 Again in condemning a defective point in an animal, the 
 breeder should consider, and try to ascertain if possible, 
 whether or not it is, or is likely to be an hereditary fault. 
 
 Many good judges are tainted with the vice of cynicism, and 
 argue concerning a weak point as though it were a whole, 
 the result being that although their judgment may be correct 
 enough, according to the standard for exhibition, they 
 nevertheless mislead breeders, and seldom make any mark 
 themselves as producers of high-class specimens. 
 
 The general or hereditary characteristics of the prominent 
 strains of any race of animals must be of service to the 
 breeder of the variety ; but to coacervate them, it requires 
 lengthened experience, and even then it should be borne in 
 mind that the faults and perfections fluctuate, and are greatly 
 and constantly modified by the various strains they are fused 
 with. 
 
 The leading strains between 20 and 25 years ago were Bill 
 George's Tiger, Cautley's Quaker, Lukey's Governor, and 
 Weller's Wallace ; the first was succeeded by his sons 
 (Bamfords afterwards my) Wolf, (Lord Kingsdovvns afterwards 
 my) Rums, Bamford's Sampson, and a lot of daughters of 
 unexceptional merit. 
 
 Bill George's Tiger himself was crooked in his legs and 
 slack in loin, both defects probably owing to bad rearing, as 
 his immediate progenitors were very good in both respects, 
 (although some of Mr. Lukey's old strain were, Mr. Thompson 
 informed me, slack in loin, and very weak andcr ooked in 
 
212 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 their legs) and Tiger's stock, although one or two were a little 
 slack in loin, were very straight in the legs, and also very 
 active animals. Lord Kingsdown's Rufus (who died in my 
 possession) could jump a five barred gate when past eight 
 years old, and Captain another son of Tiger's presented to 
 me by Messrs. Broadwood, (the world-famed piano manufac- 
 turers) was one of the fastest and most determined cat killers 
 of any breed of dog I have ever seen. Bruin, another son of 
 Tiger's, was a remarkably muscular and symmetrical animal, 
 with vast bone, and splendid limbs. Four sons of Tiger's, 
 out of different bitches, viz. Wolf, Rufus, Bruin, and Captain, 
 died in my possession, all being aged dogs, and had the best 
 of limbs, and were very active up to the last. Rufus had a 
 remarkably prolonged muzzle, and I kept his skull ; it shows 
 that he had two supernumary false molars direclly behind 
 the canines on each side of the superior maxillary. 
 
 Cuvier observes that these supernumary teeth are developed 
 in each jaw, but that he never saw them developed on each 
 side in the same individual, when for example the left inter 
 maxillary bone has a fifth false molar, the right inter 
 maxillary bone has only the usual number, and it is the same 
 with regard to the supernumary tubercular tooth which is 
 sometimes found in the upper jaw. On account of these 
 modtfications not being perpetuated, Cuvier places them 
 among those casualities which give no foundation for the 
 establishment of any rule. Youatt says of these supernumary 
 teeth, that there is much irregularity accompanying them, 
 and that they have been supposed to have extended to seven 
 or eight. 
 
 Rufus was also born with dewclaws ; nothing is known of 
 the pedigree of his dam, and I had it from very good authority, 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS. 213 
 
 that her coat was somewhat woolly, and there was very little 
 doubt that she was of the Alpine mastiff blood, 'and crossing 
 such unallied blood would fully account for any and all 
 abnormal redundancies, as supernumary teeth, claws, etc. 
 
 Bill George himself, like many modern London breeders, 
 was somewhat cramped for room, and having at times a 
 number of dogs on the ground, his home reared puppies had 
 not sufficient liberty and exercise, the result being that his 
 mastiff breeding operations were anything but satisfactory I 
 believe. 
 
 Wolf, Phillis, Rums, Sampson, Bruin, and Branch were 
 very uniform in type. The most striking characteristics of 
 the Tiger line were magnificent heads, jet black ears and 
 muzzles, generally stone fawn with the dark clouded or sooty 
 back, showing the brindle blood of their ancestry, ears medium 
 size, but rather inclined to be too large and thick, coat hard 
 and fine. 
 
 Cautley's Quaker was .nearly allied to Bill George's Tiger; 
 his male descendants have sunk into insignificance, owing 
 to being crossed without judgment with inferior blood, but 
 his grandson, Old King, took after him very much in type ; 
 his son, my King 2nd, (sire of Norah 2nd, ist Birmingham, 
 1876) resembled Quaker still more. I sold the dog to Mr. 
 Hawett of Wigan, Lancashire, and he wrote me as follows, 
 2gl:h Dec., 1876 : 
 
 " Dear Sir, When I showed my King ii. at Blackburn, 
 " Thompson and Douglas judged, when Mr. Thompson saw 
 " King ii., he asked my groom at once where does that dog 
 " come from ?' He afterwards told me in the hotel that he 
 " thought it was old Quaker coming into the ring ; he pointed 
 " out to me his ears, and the beauty of his hind quarters, etc. 
 
214 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 King 2nd took the Second Prize only at that show, although 
 previously he had taken First at Nottingham, beating Cham- 
 pion Empress 2369. 
 
 Quaker 2330, Fan ist 2373, Sir George Armitage's late 
 Tiger, King 2nd, Norah 2nd, and the Quaker strain generally, 
 were remarkably symmetrical, very muscular, had generally 
 small semi-erect ears, with very fine coats and sterns, but 
 were somewhat small and light in bone, and were remarkably 
 active ; these characteristics are very much retained by the 
 King male line, Taurus 2340 and his son, Young King 8426, 
 being of the same type. 
 
 The King line have generally possessed good heads with 
 very black muzzles, and have been of the stone fawn ; and 
 this blood has done more towards keeping up the true type 
 than any other strain. 
 
 Lukey' s Governor was superseded by his son , Mr. H anbury' s 
 Prince, the sire of Griffin, and grandsire of Rajah ; the latter 
 dog was one of the best sires of his day. Writing in 1873 f r 
 H. Webb's book, Dogs, their Points, etc., published by Dean 
 and Son, I there stated that in my opinion Rajah, Old King, 
 and Mr. Lukey's Baron were probably the three best 
 specimens then extant, not then having seen Taurus 2340, 
 although I stated that from his blood he should be equal to 
 any, and that with such specimens to breed from " I saw no 
 reason to fear for the future." 
 
 It is not assuming too much in saying that the numerous 
 magnincient specimens now extant directly descended from 
 these dogs, have proved the correctness of my judgment and 
 prognostications. 
 
XOTED MASTIFFS. 215 
 
 That the Governor type would and could not hold its own 
 I proved, having given a long sum for Timon, a grandson of 
 Governor, being by Cromwell, by Governor. Timon was a 
 very fine specimen, with a vast but too pointed head, a 
 beautiful coat, and measured and weighed well ; I exhibited 
 him at the Birmingham Show, where he was simply unnoticed. 
 
 The most striking characteristics of the Rajah line have 
 been vast skulls, short heads, fine coats, and good chests and 
 loins, generally deficient in blackness about the ears, and 
 wanting in lip and squareness of muzzle, somewhat light in 
 bone, and of medium size ; the late Pontiff was a very typical 
 representative of the line improved in colouring. 
 
 The immediate descendants of Mr. Nicholl's Quaker, and 
 his Venus, were very houndy, having generally long pointed 
 muzzles, deep hanging flews, long folding leathery ears, very 
 suggestive of a bloodhound cross in one of their immediate 
 ancestors. Miss Hale's Lion, a fine dog in other respects, 
 was very much spoilt by this houndiness. Old Turk inher- 
 ited something of it from his dam, Hilda ; Hilda was full 
 sister to Miss Hale's Lion, and was a long bodied, large 
 bitch, with very poor head, light bone, and was decidedly 
 leggy. Miss Aglionby's Wolf inherited still "more of the 
 houndy type than Turk, and his descendants have been much 
 spoilt by it. 
 
 The only descendants of Weller's Wallace which have come 
 prominently before the public were Druid and Peveril, and 
 the latter proved sterile, as did his nephew, Mr. Norris's 
 Wallace, by Druid. The Druid cross I have never really 
 liked, owing to the deerhound blood in Druid's dam, Mr. 
 Elmsley's fawn bitch, Juno ; but Druid possessed vast size, 
 
2l6 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 and that was enough to recommend him to some people ; 
 however Druid, his son Trajan, and grandson Tarquin, all 
 proved decided failures as stud dogs, except for getting a few 
 bitches of great size. 
 
 The strain is characterised by remarkably small ears, a 
 tendency to narrow, lanky, gaunt bodies, tucked up flanks, 
 legginess, lightness of bone, long, light heads, and general 
 coarseness, in fact a decided manifestation of the vertragal 
 cross is often more or less present in Druid's descendants. 
 
 Hercules, his son Green's Monarch, and grandson, Mr. 
 Beaufoy's Nero, have been an element for the introduction of 
 size, with coarser bone, but the strain has usually been very 
 coarse, also long and pointed in the head, and heavy in the 
 ear, but usually excellent in colour. It is a pity Mr. Beaufoy's 
 Nero w r as not more extensively bred from, as for all their 
 coarseness and defective heads, the strain was calculated to 
 produce some very useful brood bitches, it being always more 
 certain and satisfactory to breed for type from the sire, with 
 colour and size on the dam's side. 
 
 Another strain that has become somewhat prominent, owing 
 to its size, is that of Big Ben ; crossed with the King blood he 
 begot a very typical specimen in Caesar, who was nevertheless 
 coarse and heavy in ear. Had not Big Ben's pedigree been 
 stated as a full brother to Punch 2329, his characteristics 
 were much more suggestive of his sire's kennel companion, 
 Hercules 2298, than the fine coated, and somewhat light 
 boned son of King and Hilda. Big Ben's descendants have 
 been characterized by great size, vast bone, over large 
 leathery ears, and general coarseness ; crossed with the Druid 
 strain they have become possessed of even greater size, with 
 a greatly improved ear, but the faults of both stirps are often 
 
NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 patent, although modified in great measure. Old Cardinal 
 is undoubtedly the best and most typical representative of 
 the Big Ben and Druid blend. 
 
 Benmore inherited much of the Druid type through his 
 dam. While Big Ben's stock mostly inherited size from their 
 sire, he did not stamp his own likeness or type to any extent 
 on his offspring. 
 
 That magniiicient dog, Beau, who although by male descent 
 belonging to the Prince line, yet inherited far more of the 
 King type through his dam ; he did not prove the success at 
 the stud I anticipated, for although he begot some very useful 
 .and grand bitches, his male stock were on a whole decidedly 
 inferior in the points Beau himself was so good in. 
 
 Big Ben and Beau both illustrate the necessity of a sire 
 not only being good himself in required points, but being the 
 son of a sire also of the same required type, and in-bred to 
 the same, otherwise there is often an impotency to transmit 
 the type the sire is of, dormant types appearing, and those of 
 the dam's side preponderating, especially if she comes of 
 in-bred stock. 
 
 I have now brought the History of the English Mastiff 
 down to the present date, and for several reasons think it 
 would be invidious to trace the peculiarities and weak points 
 of existing specimens, and the operations further of living 
 breeders, as although I could only praise the eftorts of some 
 I should have to censure others, and expose the various 
 points many of them have appeared to overlook in their 
 anxiety to obtain others. 
 
 I have endeavoured in this work to point out the true type, 
 the ideal to follow, and which I have ever tried to judge up 
 
 DD 
 
2l8 NOTED MASTIFFS. 
 
 to without favour or affection to either individual owner or 
 strain, whenever requested to act officially at Dog Shows, 
 for it is a judge's duty to award the prizes to the best speci- 
 mens which are brought before him, regardless of their pedigree 
 or their probable value for breeding purposes. 
 
 I have slightly altered my scale of points for judging in 
 order to meet what I consider the requirements and failings 
 of the breed at the present date. The scale of points may 
 give the reader a more general idea of the correct figure of a 
 well reared typical mastiff, but such essentials as activity 
 and symmetry combined with a typical head, a well formed, 
 long, low body, and generally heavy animal, should never be 
 lost sight of, either to obtain colour, vast height, or a grand 
 head, with deformed body and weak limbs, or a well-grown 
 body, with defective head, plainly departing from the true 
 type, which if the reader has not thoroughly learnt from the 
 historical facts which I have laid before his or her notice, I feel 
 it will be a hopeless task to further try to enlighten them. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE POINTS OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF, 
 
 Observe with care his shape, sort, colour, size. 
 
 SomerviUe. The Chase, Lib. iv. 
 
 HEAD. 
 
 GENERAL. Very massive and short, with great breadth 
 and depth of skull, and squareness and blunt- 
 ness of muzzle, expression lowering. 
 
 FOREHEAD. Broad, flat, and wrinkled ; eyebrows heavy, 
 with a broad stop extending well into the 
 forehead. 
 
 CHEEKS. Full. 
 
 EYES. Wide apart, small, and sunken ; dark brown 
 
 in colour. 
 
 MUZZLE. Short, truncated, broad, and deep, not tapering 
 
 towards the nose ; line of profile from stop level, 
 and not drooping towards the nose, (i.e. not 
 hound muzzled) jaws very wide and convex. 
 
 NOSE. Large ; nostrils large, and a well marked line 
 
 between, amounting in some cases almost to a 
 split nose. 
 
 LIPS. Thick and pendulous, they should fall forward 
 
 (not hang at the corners of the mouth as in the 
 bloodhound) 
 
 TEETH. Canines large, and lower incisors projecting 
 
 slightly beyond the upper. 
 
 EARS. Small, roundish, semi-erect or pendent, and 
 
 not placed so low as in the hound. 
 
220 
 
 THE POINTS OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 BODY, 
 
 GENERAL. Massive, cylindrical, thick-set and muscular 
 with length and bulk, and comparatively short 
 legs, a long, low standing animal generally. 
 
 NECK. Short, thick, and muscular; dewlap slightly 
 
 developed 
 
 CHEST. Deep, and very wide between fore legs. 
 
 SHOULDERS. Wide apart across breast and back; shoulder 
 blades deep. 
 
 BACK. Long and broad, slightly hollowed. 
 
 Loix. Broad, flat, and muscular. 
 
 THIGHS. Straight, muscular, and thick. 
 
 STERN. Fine, short, and straight, thick at root, and 
 
 tapering to tip, carried straight down generally. 
 
 FORE-LEGS. Short from elbow to ground, straight, with 
 plenty of bone and muscle, the legs should be 
 round, and not flat boned. 
 
 HIND-LEGS. Straight, well curved from stifle to hock, hocks 
 well developed, strong, and well bent, with 
 plenty of bone. Dewclaws admissible. 
 
 FEET. Round, large, and compact. 
 
 COAT. Hard, short, and fine. 
 
 GENERAL. 
 
 HEIGHT. Produced by depth of body, and not by length 
 
 of limb. 
 
 DOGS. From 27 inches at shoulder and upwards, the 
 
 greater the height the better, providing there 
 is no loss of symmetry and character, and that 
 the girth of the skull and weight of the body 
 increases in proportion with the height. 
 
THE POINTS OP THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 221 
 
 BITCHES generally average 3 inches less than the dog. 
 
 COLOUR. The ears and muzzle should be black ; fawns 
 
 with black ears and muzzle, good brindles and 
 all black being equal ; reds, blue brindles, and 
 pieds are admissible, and equal for purity. 
 
 SCALE OF POINTS FOR JUDGING. 
 HEAD 40 POINTS. 
 
 Shape of skull 10 
 
 Volume of skull 10 
 
 Ears, size, and carriage 5 
 
 Bluntness 5 
 
 Depth* J 
 
 Pendulosity and carriage of lips 2 
 
 BODY 40 POINTS. 
 
 Neck 4 
 
 Breadth of breast 4 
 
 Loin and back 4 
 
 Girth of chest 4 
 
 Shoulders 3 
 
 Length 5 
 
 Thighs 3 
 
 Stern 3 
 
 Legs and hocks 6 
 
 Feet 4 
 
 GENERAL 20 POINTS. 
 
 Size, general appearance of massiveness 10 
 Coat 5 
 
 Colour 5 
 
 EE 
 
222 THE POINTS OF THE ENGLISH MASTIFF. 
 
 Dogs standing 27 inches at shoulder should weigh 120 Ibs, 
 
 28 130 Ibs. 
 
 29 ,, 145 Ibs. 
 3 " J 55 Ibs. 
 
 
 31 ,, 170 Ibs. 
 
 32 1 80 Ibs. 
 
 33 '9 Ibs. 
 
 34 20 lbs ' 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 MELTON MOWBRAY : PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. LOXLEY 
 
Snertal 
 
 u 1 
 
 " Hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs. 
 Shocks, water rugs, and demi wolves 
 The swift, the slow, the subtle, 
 The housekeeper, the hunter, evervone 
 The little dogs and all, 
 Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart." Shakcxpere. 
 
 " A harmless necessary cat. Shakespere. 
 
 THE LONDON ROYAL 
 
 Ganine Surgery and Hospital 
 
 UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF 
 MAJESTY TETB 
 
 H.E.H. the DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH 
 H.Ri.H. the DUKE OF EDINBURGH 
 II R.H. the DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE 
 H.I.-M. the EMPEROR OF RUSSIA 
 II.I.M. the OKAM> Di KE ALEXIS 
 
 H.R.H. PRINCESS FREDICA OF HANOVER 
 H.I.M. the SULTAN OF TURKEY 
 H.M. the KING OF SPAIN 
 H.M. the MAHARAJAH DUI.EEP SINGH 
 H.S.H. the PRINCE ALBERT Sor.Mft 
 
 And the leading Aristocracy and Gentry of Europe. 
 
 55, South Molton St., Bond St., London. 
 
 MR. ROTHERHAM, 
 
 ESS0R : 6F > 
 
HEALD'S 
 DOG MEDICINES. 
 
 (Used in the Royal Kennels, Ascot.) 
 
 Large Consumers are advised to order the " KENNEL PACKA- 
 GES," which contain twelve times the quantity of the small sizes. 
 
 THE KENNEL PACKAGES ARE SUPPLIED TO MANY MASTERS OF 
 HOUNDS, BREEDERS, AND TRAINERS. 
 
 Heald's Hepatic Aperient Balls 
 Heald's Tonic Condition Balls 
 Heald's Cough Balls 
 Heald's Distemper Powders 
 Heald's Worm Powders 
 Heald's Mange Specific 
 Heald's Ear Canker Lotion . . 
 
 No. i Medicine Chest containing all the remedies, with Guide Book, 10/6. 
 No, 2 Medicine Chest containing 3 times the qu-antiiy of No. i Chest, 21 /- 
 
 Sample 
 Package. 
 1/6 
 
 1/6 
 1/6 
 
 1/6 
 
 1/6 
 2/6 
 1/6 
 
 Kennel 
 Package. 
 10/6 
 10/6 
 10/6 
 10/6 
 10/6 
 17/6 
 10/6 
 
 Many Testimonials PS to tbe value <f these remedies have come to hand from 
 Masttry of Hounds, BunUmen, and Tiaiueis, while their large and increasing 
 sale iu Australia, Isicw Zealand, India, and South Africa is a convincing proof 
 of their merits. 
 
 THE DISTEMPER POWDERS 
 
 Are puaiai;tnd to tffxet a cure if cartful attention is paid to the instructions 
 contaii ed in each packet. 1 EAKK Go< DALL, Her Majt sty's Huntsman, in writing 
 of the <ffects of this lemedy upe.n the Queen's Buckhounds, says "1 find your 
 Disttmper Po\\dtis answer the juipcse thoroughly ; I have not lost a dog since 
 J have used them, and shall feel much pleasure in re commending them." 
 
 // anything ails your Dog, send stamped and addressed 
 envelope to Mr. HEALD for advice, 7^.> fee whatever- 
 
 ^AMICUS CANIS-" A P< cket Dictionary of the Diseases of Dogs, with 
 Remedies ana Treatment cleaily defined, *GKAT1S, and Post Free. 
 
 The Medicines may he ohtained of all Chemists, or post free at quoted prices. 
 
 Sole Address: HEALD, M.P.S., Burnliam, Bucks. 
 
SAN ITARYJWPA RATIONS 
 
 ; RYLAND'S SANITARY FLUID, 
 
 Recommended for prevention of Cholera, Fevers, and other infecting diseases, 
 A perfect deodoriser, disinfectant, and antiseptic. The best and quickest for 
 purifying bad drains, foul air, and offensive smells of every kind. Most effica- 
 cious in wounds and sores, and preventing gangrene ; non-poisonous, leaves no 
 stain, and is most agreeable and refreshing to use. 3/6 Quarts, 6/6 Half- 
 Gallon, and 12/- Gallon- Special arrangements with Sanitary Authorities. 
 Hospitals, <tc. This Fluid being highly ooncentrated, requires only a small 
 quantity, which makes it far cheaper to use than any other disinfectant. A 
 cheaper quality for use in Kennels, &c., 7/6 per Gallon. 
 
 RYLAN D'S SANITARY POWDER, 
 
 For the prevention of infectious diseases. A perfect deodoriser and disinfectant, 
 will purify foul air, bad drains, and offensive smells of every kind. In Canisters 
 for sprinkling about Stables, Pigsties, over Drains, Closets, &c. 
 
 ONE SHILLING EACH. 
 
 RYLAND'S SANITARY EMULSION, 
 
 Wash for Sheep, Cattle, Horses, Dogs, &c., and to prevent all infectious diseases. 
 A bmall quantity added to ^ ater will make an excellent wash for Sheep, improves 
 the wool, and destroys all vermin. Horses and Cattle should be washed with 
 it occasionally, particularly about the bead and neck. It is health-giving and 
 refreshing, and in every way will be found beneficial to the animals. Kills Fleas, 
 Lice, Ticks, and Maggots. Cures Cuts, Wounds, Mange, Scab, Foot-tfe-Mouth, &c. 
 
 Price Is., and 2s. 6d., in BOTTLES, or 7s. per GALLON CAN. 
 
 RYLAND'S SANITARY OINTMENT, 
 
 For Skin Diseases, Wounds, Burns, Chafing of Skin, Chapped Hands or Face; 
 is useful in the Stable, cures Saddle-Galls, Barked Knees, encourages the growth 
 of Hair, ana will ketp off Flies. 
 
 Price SIXPENCE, aud ONE SHILLING. 
 
 RYLAND'S SANITARY AND DECORATIVE FLOOR VARNISH 
 
 (Js recommended in " The Queen" and other papers). 
 
 Which give s the appearance of light or dark polished oak. Can be applied by 
 any housemaid, it diies quickly and hard, no smell, may soon be walked upon, 
 and is easily kept clean. 
 
 Price 5/6 HALF GALLON, 10/- GALLON, 
 
 Can and Brush included. Best Oak Vamish fcr Outside Work 8/- per GALLON, 
 
 Can Free. 
 
 J, L. RTLAND, 85, Bewhall Street, BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 ESTABLISHED OVEE HALF A CENTDKY. 
 
ADVICE 
 
 GIVEN 
 
 GRATIS 
 
 IN ALL 
 DISEASES 
 OF DOGS. 
 
 Upwards of 10,000 Testimonials have been received. 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S DISTEMPER BALLS, the only certain Cure ever 
 discovered for Distemper. No matter at what stage, Recovery is 
 certain. 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S TONIC CONDITION BALLS Is valuable for Ex- 
 hibition Dogs, Greyhounds in training, and for all dogs in ill-health 
 or low condition, &c. ; these Balls being, without exception, the finest 
 tonic medicine in the world. 
 
 RACKHAM'S JAPANESE WORM BALLS 
 
 ONE DOSE SUFFICIENT. NO OTHER MEDICINE KEQUIRED. 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S JAUNDICE BALLS. The only cure known, 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S DIARRHOEA BALLS. Price Is., 2s. 6d,, 5s., 10s., 
 and 20s. each. 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S EAR CANKER SPECIFIC. Price Is., 2s, <5d., 5s. 
 lOs.^and 20s. each. DOGS RACKHAM'S COUGH BAL LS 
 
 DOGS-RACKHAM'S. PURGING BALLS; 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S KATALEPRA FOR RED MANGE AND ALL 
 SKIN DISEASES. 
 
 The above Medicines are Is., 2s. (id., 5s., and 10s. per box. Post Free 2 stamps ertra 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S JAPANESE INSECT POWDER. New discovery- 
 far more destructive than all others. 
 
 DOGS RACKHAM'S JAPANESE WORM POWDERS. Post Free 7 and 
 13 stamps. 
 
 DOGS MEDICINE CHESTS.containmg all our Preperations, 10s, (id., 21s. 
 42s., and 63s. each. 
 
 RACKHAM'S JAPAN SOAP FOR DOGS 
 
 This marvellous preparation supersedes all others for curing Skin Diseases, 
 destroying Bugs, Fleas, Ticks, Lice, &c. It removes irritation, gives a splendid 
 Gloss to the Coat. Tablets, fid. and Is. each. Post Free, s and lo stamps 
 Sold by all Chemists. 
 
 RACKHAM'S NORFOLK MEAT BISCUITS 
 
 Free to any Station in England, 18s. per cwt. 
 Plain do., 16s. 
 
 Rackham & Co., Dog Medicine Depot, Norwich, 
 
IMPORTANT TO SPORTSMEN AND MASTERS OF HOUNDS. 
 
 THURLOW'S 
 
 
 WARRANTED GENUINE. 
 
 As supplied to 150 KENNELS in all parts of the Kingdom. 
 
 CASH PRICES: Delivered to Newcastle, 14 7s. 6d. per ton ; Hull, 14 10s.; 
 Plymouth or Falmouth, 15 ; &free on any rail iii London. 14 los. per ton. 
 
 Manufacturer of the well-known 
 
 MAIZE AND RICE FEED FOR DOGS. 
 
 Price 11 15s. per ton, 6 per half-ton, 3 5s. per 5 cwt. per sack (2 cwt,) 1 13s. 
 Delivered free on any rail in London. Samples and Testimonials per Post. 
 
 From Sir R. Graham, Bart., Master of the ' New Forest ' late of the ' Tedworth.' 
 New Forest Kennels, Lyndhurst, September 8th, 1875- 
 
 1 Sir liegiuald Graham has much satisfaction in testifying to the very excellent 
 quality of the Scotch Oatmeal supplied him by Mr. Thurlowfor many years past. 
 
 From Col Fairfax, Master of the York and Ainsty.' 
 
 ' Bilbrough Hall, York, November 7th, 1875. 
 
 ' Sir, I am pleased to say that you have supplied me with Scotch Oatmeal 
 for many years to my satisfaction/ The quality of your Meal is excellent. It is 
 the best I ever used. Yours, T. F. Fairfax, M."F. H.' 
 ' Mr. Thurlow.' 
 
 Importer of IRISH OATMEAL of very Superior duality, 
 
 .VXD WHOLESALE AGENT FOR 
 
 SPRATT'S PATENT MEAT 'FIBRINE' DOG CAKES, and 
 CLARKE'S BUFFALO MEAT BISCUITS. 
 
 Orders and Remittances to J. THURLOW, High Wycombe. 
 
Keating's Insect Powder. 
 
 Powder is unrivalled in destroying all Insects, 
 -L although perfectly harmless to Domestic Animals. It 
 preserves from Moth. All Wollens and Furs should be 
 well sprinkled with the Powder before placing away. At 
 the seaside ib is invaluable for preserving from domestic 
 worries. 
 
 KILLS BUGS, 
 
 FLEAS, 
 BEETLES, 
 MOTHS. 
 
 The increasing demand for this celebrated preparation 
 has caused imitations, which are noxious in their effects ; 
 purchasers are therefore particularly requested to abtain 
 4 * KEATING'S POWDER." Sold in Tins Is and 2s 6d each, 
 by all Druggists, or by post, 14 or 33 stamps, fron THOS, 
 KEATING, St Paul's Churchyard, London 
 
 SPECIAL TO OWNERS OF DOGS, 
 
 This Powder is used most successfully by Dog and 
 Bird Fanciers, to destroy the Insects which infest 
 all Animals and Birds. It is a safe and effectual remedy. 
 Easy to use. 
 
CHAMBERLIN'S " 
 
 MEAT DOGS' BISCUITS 
 
 Are the Best ever introduced. 
 
 SUPPLIED TO 
 
 THE ROYAL KENNELS AT 
 SANDRINQHAM. 
 
 Mr. FRANCIS SUTTON, F.C.S-, F.I.C., Analytical Chemist, 
 
 writes : 
 
 " These Biscuits are specially adapted to the purpose intended, that is to say. 
 they are a highly nutritious food, in which all the necessary elements are well 
 balanced, so as to constitute a PERFECT FOOD, without a particle of worthless 
 or useless material. 
 
 ; In this important respect they are BY FAR THE BEST DOG 
 FOOD I have ever examined, and I have the greatest confidence in recommend. 
 ing them." 
 
 CHAMBERLIN'S MEAT BISCUITS have for many years been used in 
 some of the principal Kennels, and by experienced breeders and trainers of Dogs. 
 I have the permission of Mr. R. Gittus, the late owner of that most celebrated 
 dog. ' Coomassie." twice winner of the Waterloo Cup, to use his name in support 
 of "CHAMBERLIN'S MEAT BISCUITS." 
 
 '' Coomassie" and his other dogs were fed principally upon them. 
 
 CHAMBERLIN'S BISCUITS wer also supplied to Mr. J. S. Postlc, ownor of 
 " PRINCESS DAGMAR," winner of the Waterloo Cup, 1881. 
 
 PRICE 16 - PER CWT., Bag included 
 
 Special quotations for 5 cwt. and 1 ton lots. 
 
 : GRANULATED DOG FOOD IN PACKETS 
 
 For Puppies and Sick Dogs, recommended by Mr. Wynn, 
 i; Caractacus," &c. 
 
 3 doz. packets, 6s 6d; 12 doz/ packets, 25s. (including boxes), 
 
 CHAMBERLIN'S DOG SOAP, 
 
 F6t.l. tablets. Boxes (12 tablets) 5s. per box. Free from smell. Warranted not 
 
 injurious. 
 
 SOL.E PROPRIETORS: 
 
 JAMES CHAMBERLIN & SMITH, 
 
 (late JAMES CHAMBERLIN) 
 
 NORWICH. 
 
GOLD MEDALS 
 
 AWARDED 
 
 Antwerp and New Orleans International Exhi- 
 bitions, 1885; 
 Arnhem and Paris Dog Shows, 1885, 
 
 For SUPERIOR EXCELLENCE of 
 
 SPRATT'S PATENT 
 
 MEAT " FIBRIN E" VEGETABLE 
 
 (WITH BEETROOT), 
 Used in the Royal Kennels- 
 
 Purveyors to the Kennel Club, Birmingham National Dog Show Society, and Dog's 
 
 Home, London. 
 
 We found, by frequent experiments with all kinds of vegetables, that beetroot 
 \vas the only one which retained its vegetable properties when made into a 
 biscuit, and we now present to our customers a biscuit combining the amount of 
 vegetable matter absolutely necessary for the preservation of the dog's health, 
 with the other valuable and nutritious ingredients which have secured a world- 
 wide reputation for our Patent "Fibrine" Cakes. 
 
 BEWARE OF WORTHLESS IMITATIONS- 
 
 See each Cake is Stamped 
 
 "SPKATTS PAT3SMT" & A "X." 
 
 DISTEMPER POWDERS, WORM POWDERS, MANGE, ECZEMA, AND EAR 
 CANKER LOTIONS, TONIC CONDITION PILLS, &C. 
 
 PAMPHLET ON 
 
 CANINE DISEASES, and Full List of Medicines 
 Post Free. 
 
 DOG SOAP, 
 
 Non Poisonous, and free from the danger attending the use of Carbolic Acid. 
 Instantly destroys Vermin infesting the skin, and keeps the coat in exhibition 
 condition. The only soap that can be used with safety for washing wounds. 
 
 Price 6d. per Tablet. 
 
 Dog Houses and Appliances, Brushes, Chains, Collars, Couples, 
 
 Gloves, &c. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED LIST POST FREE. 
 
 SPRATT'S PATENT, LONDON, S,E. 
 
The Best & Cheapest Disinfectant, Deodorizer, 
 
 and Cleanser for the Kennel, Stable, 
 
 Household, &c., is 
 
 JEYES' "PERFECT PURIFIER," 
 
 32 l^rize Medals and Certificates have been awarded it for 
 Excellence. JVo Kennel should be without it. Js a wash for 
 Dogs, Horses, Cattle, #c. it is invaluable. It destroys all 
 Jiisects, cures Mange, Eczejna, and the worst forms of ail 
 other skin diseases. In use does not Poison, Burn, or Stain. 
 
 Testimonial from M. B. WYNN, Esq. 
 
 Had 1 made any mention of kennel requisites, I should have had much 
 pleasure in mentioning your disinfectant " Perfect Purifier" in my work " Th 
 History of the Mastiff," as I couid do so with thorough confidence, having used 
 the article in my own large kennel of mastiffs with satisfaction, but I have 
 not gone into the subject of kennel management. 
 
 " I have seen with disgust many kennels belonging to wealthy people in which 
 the use of your disinfectant would have been a boon to the animals themselves 
 and the general public." 
 
 JEYES' SANITARY POWDER, 
 
 FAR SUPERIOR TO CARBOLIC DOES NOT CHOKE 
 THE DRAINS. 
 
 JEYES' DOG SOAP. 
 
 The best and most economical. It is used and recommended by 
 the leading Veterinary Surgeons ; is perfect in cleansing, quite 
 harmless, and improves the coat of all animals. 
 
 NX>^SXV/'^SX^\X\^SXNXN/NX\^\XN/VrN/NXN^W^^^^>^^NXNX>^SX l W 
 
 SOLD BY ALL CHEMISTS, DRUGGISTS, STORES, AC. 
 
 JEYES' jSAJMITARY oMPOUJMD $0., JjJVllTED, 
 i, A\\o\ MIU:I;. i,o\i&>\. B.C., 
 
W. LOXLBY, 
 
 PRINTER, PUBLISHER, k, 
 
 MARKET PLACE, 
 
 MELTON MOWBRAY. 
 
 ALL ORDERS PER POST RECEIVE 
 PROMPT & CAREFUL ATTENTION. 
 
 ESTIMATES FORWARDED. 
 
 Latest Appliances and Staff of Competent Workmen, 
 
 ON THE PREMISES 
 
 WHOLESALE AiND RETAIL 
 
RETURN 
 
 MAIN CIRCULATI 
 
 
 
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 ALL BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO RECALL 
 RENEW BOOKS BY CALLING 642-3405 
 
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 FORM NO. DD6 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
 Berkeley