Chapter 11 ~ The Pillars of Our Working Setters ~ Prominent Families ~ from "Bird Dogs, Their History and Achievements" by A. F. Hochwalt, 1922

.Chapter 11 (~Excerpts~)

The Pillars of

Our Working Setters
Prominent Families

from:

. "Bird Dogs, Their History

and Achievements"

.

by A. F. Hochwalt

.
Published by Sportsman Digest

.

Cincinnati (United States of America)

1922

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The six pillars upon which the field trial or general service setter rests in this country -- the American-Llewellin, if you will -- are Gladstone, Count Noble, Druid, Leicester, Bergundthal's Rake and Lincoln. Other lines of blood entered into the composition at various times and probably assisted quite materially in certain ways toward maintaining the high standard, but the novice wishing to get a working knowledge of setter breeding will do well to confine his studies to the main lines, always bearing in mind that the preponderance of this blood is found in all of our English Setters, even in our show dogs of today, except perhaps some of the exaggerated specimens that have been imported from the out-and-out English show strains in recent years or are descended from them.

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GLADSTONE, the first on our list of six, was born in this country although his dam, Petrel, had been bred to Llewellin's Dan before she left England. L. H. Smith, of Ontario, Canada, was the purchaser of Petrel and his sole purpose in buying her was to obtain a litter of these setters. Thus, it might be said in perfect truth that some of the first cross-Llewellins were born in this country. Dan represented the Duke-Rhoebe side, Petrel the Laverack; the latter was absolutely useless in the field herself, but that was not an uncommon thing with the Laverack bitches of that day.
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Bred to the vigorous Duke-Rhoebe's with their conglomeration of all kinds of blood, these rattle-brained nervous, gun-shy bitches possessing setter instincts, but unbalanced brains, became remarkable producers and Petrel is only one instance. The litter was whelped in the early summer of 1876. Mr. Smith had promised one of the puppies to P. H. Bryson of Memphis, Tennessee; the latter was traveling in the north for it was the Centennial year, and so he came a little further in that direction, making it a point to see the litter of puppies by Llewellin's Dan and Petrel. Out of this litter he picked the dog that afterward became known in the bird dog world as Gladstone.
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Gladstone was a new note in many respects, for he was wide, fast and very difficult to handle, according to old standards, but the new idea of class was already beginning to creep into field trials. Gladstone was a success at field trials, though not invincible by any means, and on one occasion he was beaten by the native, Joe Jr., in the contest of two days where the number of points on quail was the sole method of judging the merits of the two dogs.

As a sire, Gladstone was a still greater success and his family to this day is still one of the important ones in the realms of the English Setter, for his bloodlines were perpetuated through his sons as well as his daughters. In Gladstone's time, all the other dogs making up the sextet previously mentioned were already in this country, some coming earlier or later, hence the opportunity for the "blue bloods" were practically unlimited even at this early day. Among Gladstone's sons, we have Gladstone's Boy, indubitably at the top of the list.

He was out of the famous Sue, by Druid out of Ruby. Sue produced to Gladstone besides Gladstone's Boy, Dan Gladstone, Sportsman, Breeze Gladstone and Keystone. All of them were more or less prominent in later pedigrees, though as individual performers they were not particularly brilliant. There was quite a diversity of type among these full brothers and probably the handsomest of the lot was Breeze Gladstone.

Dan Gladstone was short and rather low on the leg, resembling the Rhoebe side of the breeding. He was not a striking looking dog in appearance and in the field he could not be classed as a classy animal; as a matter of fact, in these days of keen competition it is extremely doubtful if he could have ever been placed at all. Dan Gladstone, however, was an influence in transmitting the Gladstone-Sue blood, and among the most prominent of his progeny was Dan's Lady, a winner herself and the founder of a famous family.

The dam of Dan's Lady was Lily Burges, which for a long time was excluded from the ranks of the so-called Llewellins because of her dam, which was Esther, through which came the blood of Armstrong's Old Kate whose pedigree was long held in doubt. However, since Kate's breeding was found to be the same as Barclay's Field Duke, the hiatus which existed was closed, and thus a great family of winners came into the fold of the purist, which all goes to illustrate how utterly absurd this idea is of calling certain lines of breeding a "distinct" breed.

Among the sons of Dan Gladstone, perhaps the most prominent was Ruby's Dan, a dog which was bought early in life by the late W. G. Comstock of Connecticut, in which state the dog became very prominent in field trials. Through Ruby's Dan came a number of notable field trial and shooting dogs, and one of the outstanding features of this family is that despite the fact of Dan Gladstone's plainness, the progeny that lived in New England were mostly handsome animals for Mr. Comstock bred along the lines that preserved type as well as field qualities. One of the latter exponents of this family was Master Rodfield, owned by Tracy S. Comstock, a nephew of the owner of Ruby's Dan, and it may be said in passing, that this gentleman still has a larger percentage of this blood in his kennels, which, it is needless to say he cherishes with solicitous care.

Breeze Gladstone was a frequent winner on the bench, eventually acquiring championship honors and those were not acquired at small shows either, but in the best of competition. It was at a period when bench show standards, as far as English Setters are concerned, were in the most chaotic state, for everything depended upon the judge, and it was not unusual to see a dog take high honors at one show and at the very next one drop down the V. H. C. or even lower.

When Breeze Gladstone came before a practical man, however, he was generally put to the top. I saw Breeze at the Columbus show in 1894 when he was in the bloom of his middle life, and I can vouch for it that for type and the real essential qualities in running gear, there were few setters of his day that should have beaten him, but at that period the bench show exaggerated types were coming into great prominence under some judges. This did not help matters but on the other hand, only had a tendency to widen the breach between the field setters and the show types. No doubt both sides went to the extremes, however.

Sportsman won the National American Derby at Canton, Mississippi, and then went on to the Pacific Coast where he proved to be quite an influence on the breed in that part of the country. Keystone, the last of the quintette of the Gladstone-Sues, did not earn a very prominent place either as a performer or as a sire.

Paul Gladstone was out of Lavalette, a half sister to Sue. He was a very fast dog in the field and a consistent winner on the bench, though he could scarcely be classed with Breeze Gladstone. He is remembered principally because of the fact that he produced Paul Bo, to the brilliant daughter of Count Noble, Bohemian Girl.

COUNT NOBLE, was bred by Llewellin, but came to this country as a very young dog, having been imported by David Sanborn, of Baltimore, Maryland. He was four years younger than Gladstone, consequently he appeared on the horizon at a most opportune time, for there were numerous daughters of the latter before the public and Count Noble nicked particularly well with them. Count Noble was farther removed from the fountainhead than Gladstone. His sire was Count Wind'em, the grandson of of Llewellin's Dan of the first Duke-Rhoebe cross, and his dam was Nora, which was a regulation cross Duke-Rhoebe.

David Sanborn, the American owner of Count Noble, did not like the dog at first, for he was one of those long, low setters, that are not attractive in repose; in action however, Count Noble was all that there was to be desired and on game he was the acme of intensity and style, though he had a tendency to false point, a trait that is handed down to this day. Count Noble himself, no doubt, reverted to old Duke in this respect, for the latter was a notorious false pointer.

As a sire, Count Noble surpassed Gladstone and in the matter of establishing families, he had no superiors in his day or since. Indeed it is to this dog that the field trial setter of today owes most of the prestige that was acquired during the last decade of the past century and the first of the present. His families were established through his sons, although he had some very good daughters, chief among which was Bohemian Girl, previously alluded to.

The late W. B. Shattue's beautiful Dido II, by Druid, out of Star, a champion on the bench, produced Count Noble's handsomest son. This was Cincinnatus, which also became a champion on the bench, but he was also a field trial winner and became the sire of Cincinnatus' Pride, a great winner in field trials and also a prominent bench winner. Pride was not used at stud to any great extent chiefly because at that time the craze for so-called "straight-breds" was at its greatest height and Cincinnatus' Pride had a small out-cross. Thus, a good individual was sacrificed which might not only have been an influence in preserving type, but also in transmitting field ability.

The great sons of Count Noble, however, those who founded marvelous families, were Gath, Roderigo, Count Gladstone IV and Eugene T. Compared with these four, all others sink into comparative insignificance ...

I must now revert to those other dogs of the original sextette which we have all but lost sight of in tracing the lines of Gladstone and Count Noble ...

BERGUNDTHAL'S RAKE, was one of the earliest importations of the "Field Trial Breed" as the Duke-Rhoebe-Laverack cross was called in those early days. Rake was imported in 1874 by C. F. Demuth of Fort Dodge, Iowa, but became the property of D. C. Bergundthal shortly afterward. Rake was only ten months old when he came to this country, consequently he received his practical education in the land of his enforced adoption. He was bred in the kennels of Purcell-Llewellin and it may be said in passing that the gentleman who so cleverly placed his name upon the breed in this country, but not in his own, was doing a lucrative business with bird dog loving Americans.

Rake was not the regulation half-and-half Duke-Rhoebe-Laverack. To be exact, he was twenty-five percent Laverack, twenty-five percent Duke and fifty percent Rhoebe, and he looked it from every angle. He was long, low and coarse. Heavily marked with black and possessing a head that was not in the least characteristic of an English Setter, he was one of the "fashionably bred" however, so what difference did it make. It was thought that with his preponderance of Rhoebe blood he would make an excellent cross with the Laverack bitches in this country, for at that early day these "blue bloods" were a very uncertain quantity.

Rake was bred promiscuously, but left nothing significant in the direct male line, though his daughters were valuable for the continuation of the strain which was being experimented with in America as well as in England. Rake's characteristics in externals are still to be seen in many of our setters of today.

LEICESTER, was the handsomest of the lot to come over. His blood proportions were fifty percent Laverack and, twenty-five percent Duke and twenty-five percent Rhoebe. His dam was the erratic, gun-shy Lill II, his sire was Llewellin's Dan. In markings, Leichester was white and lemon. He was whelped in July, 1872, and came over to the kennels of L. H. Smith in 1875, consequently he was fully matured, but not a field dog. On the bench, he made a good record, but in the field he was a decided failure, for he inherited all the most pronounced nervous traits so characteristic of the Laveracks.

Because of Leicester's excellent conformation, his influence was far-reaching in the preservation of the type, though it must be conceded, at a loss to other qualities. In a direct line, his progeny did not accomplish much though he has six winners to his credit. Through Dart, his blood was carried on to future generations. A performing son of his, Cambridge by name, became the sire of Dad Wilson, a champion on the bench. Clip, another daughter of his, produced London and Peep-O'-Day, the latter becoming the dam of Gath when she was bred to Count Noble.

DRUID, was imported by Arnold Burges in 1877. At that time the dog was nearly four years old. Like Leicester, he was fifty percent Laverack, twenty-five percent Duke and twenty-five percent Rhoebe, but his Laverack blood came through the male line. He was in field trials and on the bench before coming to this country. He was a blue belton in markings, of medium size and extremely good in essential parts.

Druid was temperamentally the opposite of Gladstone, more feminine in general characteristics, but not effeminate. Blended with the bold, daring, dashing types, his blood acted as a salutary softening influence that was particularly valuable in his day. This mild-manered disposition came mainly through his dam, Dora, which though masculine in appearance, possessed the most docile disposition imaginable.

Druid was a better bird dog than many of his contemporaries and he handed this quality down through his sons as well as through his daughters. As previously stated, Sue was one of the most noted daughters. Both she and Buckellew were out of Ruby, the Rake-Fanny bitch. The Druid-Ruby influence was a splendid influence on the breed and even to this day, breeders are always keen to obtain as much of this Druid-Ruby blood as possible. Other sons of Druid were Mingo and Ben Hill. Neither son was a field trial performer, however both were influential in producing winners.

LINCOLN, although mentioned last, is by far not the least of the sextette. He was a full brother of Leicester and in his markings, also orange and white, but here the similarity ends. Looking at the two dogs, no one, not knowing their breeding, could have imagined that they were brothers, so antithetical were they in physical and temperamental characteristics. Lincoln was one of the rough-and-ready sort, resembling the Duke-Rhoebe side; Leicester, all refinement and finish.

Lincoln was coarse, even common-looking, when not in action, but in the field he was a new incarnation. He was a bird dog, which his brother Leicester was not, and he had the most beautiful style or point imaginable. The records only give him three winners but his greatest claim to posterity arises in his non-performing son, Gleam. Through this branch came one of the most necessary families of that and later days. The Gleam blood was found to be great in all of its ramifications.

Gleam was by Lincoln, out of Blaze, a beatiful bitch which for a long time was not recognized as a Llewellin, because of her sire, Sam, a coarse liver and white dog supposed to represent some alien blood and for years excluded from the ranks of the Llewellinites, but this Gleam blood became a great factor and considering that the lines of the "blue bloods" were limited, it was necessary to look into this strong and potential influence which came through this family.

In finding a pedigree for Armstrong's Old Kate, the matter was cleared up and thus it came about that the Gleams were also taken into the fold. When all is said, it is unquestionably one of the best moves ever made in the breeding of the field trial setters and the next great move to help the breed will be to recognize all good English Setter lines, and disregard the fanciful theories that have worked as a handicap to a breed that should be in the foremost ranks for all time to come ...

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