E-Book, Englisch, 155 Seiten
Wessem Welsh Springer Spaniel
1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-1-62187-022-7
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
E-Book, Englisch, 155 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-62187-022-7
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Haja Van Wessem is the author of Welsh Springer Spaniel and English Cocker Spaniel.
Weitere Infos & Material
EARLY SPANIEL HISTORY
Legend has it that there were springer spaniels as far back as the 16th century. True or not, a fact is that the whole group of spaniels, to which the Welsh Springer Spaniel belongs, can be considered among the oldest dogs known to man. It is very likely that the spaniel got his name from the country surrounding the Mediterranean where he lived, namely Spain. According to other sources, he might have got his name from the word España or from the several spaniel-like breeds in France that are called épagneuls. The name “spaniel” might also have been derived from the French s’éspargner, which means “to crouch.”
Spaniels also traveled to Wales, where they were the treasured dogs of King Hywel Dda (Howell the Good). The king’s love for his spaniels went as far as giving them a special mention in one of the country’s laws in AD 948: for the price of one spaniel, one could buy a number of goats, women, slaves or geese! However, in recent years the authenticity of this document has been questioned.
The first mention of a spaniel in English literature comes as early as Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400). In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer refers to the spaniel several times (e.g., “for as a spaynel she wol on him lepe”), which proves that the spaniel was known in England 600 years ago.
Gaston de Foix, who died in 1391, mentions the spaniel in his work Miroir de Phoebus or, as it is also known, Livre de Chasse. A feudal baron who lived in France near the Spanish border, de Foix was convinced that Spain was the country of origin of the spaniel. “Another kind of hound there is, that be called hounds for the hawk, and spaniels, for their kind cometh from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries. And such hounds have many good customs and evil. Also a fair hound for the hawk should have a great head, a great body, and be of fair hue, white or tawny (i.e., pied, speckled or mottled) for they be fairest and of such hue they be commonly the best. They go before their master, running and wagging their tail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts. But their right craft is of the partridge and of the quail. They can also be taught to take partridge and quail with the net and they love to swim.”
Another early reference to “Spanyellys” occurs in the Boke of St. Albans (1486), also named the Book of Field Sports, written by Dame Juliana Berners, prioress of Sopwell Nunnery, Hertfordshire. It is obviously a school book and it is assumed that the book was written for the use of the royal princes, to teach them to read and make them acquainted with the names of the animals and phrases used in venery and field sports. In the book there is frequent mention of spaniels in the royal household. Thus we read that “Robin, the King’s Majesty’s Spaniel Keeper” was paid a certain sum for “hair cloth to rub the Spaniels with.”
A member of the spaniel family, which are some of the oldest dogs known to man, the Welsh Springer Spaniel is a distinguished gundog who is as striking as he is talented.
THE FIRST SPRINGERS
We find the first mention of springer spaniels and in particular red and white spaniels in the book Treatise of Englishe Dogges (1570) by the famed dog scholar Dr. Caius (pseudonym for John Keyes). Dr. Caius described the way the dogs were taught to let themselves be caught under the net, and he classified all sporting dogs under two headings:
Venatici, used for the purpose of hunting beasts, and Auscupatorii, used for the hunting of fowl. He subdivided this latter group into land spaniels and spaniels “which findeth game on the water.” He named this group Hispaniolus. He also was of the opinion that these dogs originated in Spain. He refers to “the spanniells whose skynnes are white, and if they are marcked with any spottes, they are commonly red.”
Three Welsh Springers owned by Mr. J. S. Jones, photographed at their Crufts debut in 1934.
In the days of Henry VIII, the many royal banquets required great amounts of food, particularly game. Game such as partridge, quail, pheasant, rabbit and hare were caught in snares but because of the never-ending demand, a more speedy method of catching the game was needed. This method was found in “netting.” Spaniels were used to drive the birds toward the fowlers, who stood ready with their extended nets. Dog and bird were caught under the net. The spaniels that were used for this kind of work were called “sitting” or “setting” spaniels, and they are the ancestors of our modern setters.
With the advent of reliable guns, netting disappeared and game was caught by shooting. The setting spaniels were used to find the game and point it, and the springing spaniel flushed the game from the cover so that it could be shot.
In the Sportsman’s Cabinet, written by Nicolas Cox and published in 1803, we find this description of the spaniel: “The true-bred, English-bred Springer Spaniel differs but little in figure from the Setter, except in size varying only a small degree, if any, from a red, yellow or liver color and white, which seems to be the invariable external standard of this breed. They are nearly two-fifths less in height and strength than the Setter, delicately formed, ears long, soft and pliable, coat waving and silky, eyes and nose red or black, the tail bushy and pendulous, always in motion when actively employed.” Other indirect evidence of the existence of red and white dogs can be found in the 18th century work A Treatise on Field Diversions by the Reverend B. Symonds of Kelsale, Suffolk. He mentions two coat colors, black tanned and orange or lemon and white, and two types, short- and long-waved coats.
In the 1800s, the term “springing spaniel” was gaining ground as a description not of a particular variety but of the group of gundogs that sprang their game. All land spaniels came under this heading, and the varieties we now know as the Clumber, Welsh Springer, English Springer, Field, Cocker and Sussex Spaniel were all springing spaniels.
Although it appears that the red and white spaniels were well distributed throughout Britain at one time, during the 18th and 19th centuries they were confined mainly to the Neath Valley in South Wales. Evidence thereof is found in the book Dogs in Britain by the late Clifford Hubbard, renowned authority on dogs. He wrote, “The spaniels of Wales were almost all red and white, and it is certain that the Welsh Springer Spaniel is descended from a type which was common to Wales and seldom found elsewhere till comparatively recent years.”
Mr. A. T. Williams, who was to play such an important part in the founding of the breed, told of his family using Welsh Spaniels for sporting purposes. They were very uniform in type but varying in color. The flesh-colored nose was considered to be more correct than the black, whereas today the standard requires nostrils to be black or brown and the coat rich red and white only. Still, flesh-colored noses and lighter shades of red are sometimes seen.
The spaniel situation was a mixed bag, with offspring of English Springers being registered as Field Spaniels or Welsh Spaniels according to their size and/or color, and Cockers and Field Spaniels being born in the same litters, registered according to their weight.
Crossbreeding had always occurred in working circles, but links between the newly separated breeds of spaniel were open, and crossbreeding was done regularly. The real Welsh Springer history probably begins with Corrin, who was born in 1893 and who competed successfully in the show ring with all other kinds of sporting spaniels. He was bred by Colonel Blandy-Jenkins of Llanharan and was owned by Mr. A. T. Williams (Gerwn). Although Corrin himself was registered as a Welsh Cocker, born of two red and white parents, his offspring were variously registered. Bred to Mena of Gerwn, he produced Rover of Gerwn, probably Mr. Williams’s best Welsh Springer and, after the breed had been recognized as a separate variety, the first Welsh Springer Spaniel champion. Rover, bred to Belle of Gerwn, produced Duke of Gerwn, who was black and white, and Roverson of Gerwn, who was liver and white. Both of them can be found in the pedigrees of American and Canadian field-trial English Springers.
Pat of Merrymount was a very prolific and successful sire of many fine Welsh Springers. He was owned by the Reverend D. Stewart, who was one of the great promoters of the breed.
Scott Langley, British canine artist, made this sketch titled Welsh Springer Spaniels in 1931.
In 1902 it was Mr. Williams who, together with a group of Welsh gentlemen that included Colonel Blandy-Jenkins, offered the evidence to The Kennel Club of England that the Welsh Springer Spaniel was a separate breed, different from the English Springer Spaniel. Mr. Williams could trace his family’s kennel back to the end of the 18th century, and the other gentlemen could affirm that this breed of dog had been kept for many years in their families’ kennels. Mr. Williams’s plea was successful, and the Welsh Springer Spaniel was recognized as a separate variety by The Kennel Club in 1902.
Soon after recognition, the Welsh Spaniel Club was founded. The first secretary was Mrs. H. D. Greene. Her Longmynd prefix still lives on in the most famous breed picture by Maud Earl in 1906, which depicts two of her champions, Eng. Ch. Longmynd Myfanwy and Eng. Ch. Longmynd Megan.
Although the breed did fairly well, being popular as a working dog, breed activities came to a halt in 1914 when World War I broke out. After the war it was Colonel Downes-Powell who revived...
