The Merits of the Setter Compared with Those of the Pointer.
It cannot for a moment be doubted that the setter has superior advantages to the pointer, for hunting over our uncleared country, although the pointer has many qualities that recommend him to the sportsman, that the setter does not possess. In the first place, the extreme hardiness and swiftness of foot, natural to the setter, enables him to get over much more ground than the pointer, in the same space of time. Their feet also, being more hard and firm, are not so liable to become sore from contact with our frozen ground. The ball pads being well protected by the spaniel toe-tufts, are less likely to be wounded by the thorns and burs with which our woods are crowded during the winter season. His natural enthusiasm for hunting, coupled with his superior physical powers, enables him to stand much more work than the pointer, and oftentimes he appears quite fresh upon a long continued hunt, when the other will be found drooping and inattentive.
The long, thick fur of the setter, enables him to wend his way through briary thickets without injury to himself, when a similar attempt on the part of a pointer, would result in his ears, tail, and body being lacerated and streaming with blood.
On the other hand, the pointer is superior to the setter in retaining his acquired powers for hunting, and not being naturally enthusiastic in pursuit of game, he is more easily broken and kept in proper subjection.
The setter frequently requires a partial rebreaking at the commencement of each season, in his younger days, owing to the natural eagerness with which he resumes the sport. The necessity of this, however, diminishes with age, as the character and habits of the dog become more settled, and then we may take them into the field, with a perfect assurance of their behaving quite as well on the first hunt of the season, as the stanchest pointer would.
The extreme caution, and mechanical powers of the pointer in the field, is a barrier to his flushing the birds, as is often witnessed in the precipitate running of the setter, who winds the game and frequently overruns it in his great anxiety to come up with it. But this occasional fault on the part of the setter, may be counterbalanced by the larger quantity of game that he usually finds in a day's hunt, owing to his enthusiasm and swiftness of foot. Setters require much more water while hunting than the pointer, owing to their thick covering of fur, encouraging a greater amount of insensible perspiration to fly off than the thin and short dress of the pointer. Consequently they are better calculated to hunt in the coldest seasons than early in our falls, which are frequently quite dry and warm.
A striking instance of this fact came under our own immediate observation this fall, when shooting in a range of country thinly settled and uncommonly dry. The day being warm and the birds scarce, the dogs suffered greatly from thirst, in so much that a very fine setter of uncommon bottom, was forced to give up entirely, completely prostrated, foaming at the mouth in the most alarming manner, breathing heavily, and vomiting from time to time a thick frothy mucus.
His prostration of both muscular and nervous powers was so great, that he could neither smell nor take the slightest notice of a bird, although placed at his nose. He could barely manage to drag one leg after the other, stopping to rest every few moments, and we were fearful that we should be obliged to shoulder and carry him to a farm-house, a considerable distance off. However, he succeeded, with much difficulty, in reaching the well, where he greedily drank several pints of water administered to him with caution.
He recovered almost immediately, gave me a look of thanks, and was off to the fields in a few moments, where he soon found a fine covey of birds.
The pointer, his associate in the day's work, and a much less hardy dog, stood the hunt remarkably well, and seemed to suffer little or no inconvenience from the want of water. The setter has natural claims upon the sportsman and man generally, in his affectionate disposition and attachment to his master, and the many winning manners he exhibits towards those by whom he is caressed.
The pointer displays but little fondness for those by whom he is surrounded, and hunts equally as well for a stranger as his master. — L.
Of the difference between the old English setter and the setters of the present day, we confess that we are ignorant, except that the first was the pure spaniel improved, and the latter the spaniel crossed too frequently with the pointer.
It must be acknowledged, that of companionableness, and disinterested attachment and gratitude, the pointer knows comparatively little. If he is a docile and obedient servant in the field, it is all we want. The setter is unquestionably his superior in every amiable quality. Mr. Blaine says, that a large setter, ill with the distemper, had been nursed by a lady more than three weeks. At length he became so ill as to be placed in a bed, where he remained a couple of days in a dying state. After a short absence, the lady, re-entering the room, observed him to fix his eyes attentively on her, and make an effort to crawl across the bed towards her. This he accomplished, evidently for the sole purpose of licking her hand, after which he immediately expired.
[Daniel] Lambert celebrated for his enormous magnitude, weighing seven hundred and thirty-nine pounds, had a very superior breed of setters, which were publicly sold, at the following prices; after his death, which forcibly illustrates the immense value placed on this dog in England; whereas, many American sportsmen considers it a great hardship to be obliged to give thirty or forty dollars for a well-bred setter in this country.
| dog's name | breed | Guineas |
| Peg | a black Setter Bitch | 41 |
| Punch | a Setter Dog | 26 |
| Brush | do. | 17 |
| Bob | do. | 30 |
| Bell | do. | 32 |
| Bounce | do. | 22 |
| Sam | do. | 26 |
| Charlotte | a Pointer Bitch | 22 |
| Lucy | do. | 12 |
| ____ | ||
| 218 [—L]. |
| The [pointer] is evidently descended from the hound. We beg leave to make the following extracts from our essay on this subject, published in No. 1, vol. xvi, of the Spirit of the Times: The origin of the pointer, like that of the setter, is involved in much obscurity; he is of mixed blood, and no doubt largely indebted to both hound and spaniel for his distinct existence. Many sportsmen are under the erroneous idea that the pointer is contemporary with, if not older than, the Setter. Such, however, is not the case; and we are led to believe that the Pointer is of quite modern origin; at all events, the production of a much later date than the spaniel. |
Strut, [in] his Sports and Pastimes, chap. 1, sects. xv. and xvi., mentions a MS. in the Cotton Library, originally written by William Twici, or Twety, Grand Huntsman to Edward II, who ascended the throne in 1307.
This manuscript contains the earliest treatise on hunting that the English possess, and enumerates the various kinds of game and different species of dogs then in existence, as also the modes of taking the former and using the latter.
After describing, in the usual minute manner, the specific employment of each dog, he finishes by stating:
"The spaniel was for use in hawking, hys crafte is for the perdrich or partridge, and the quail; and when taught to couch, he is very serviceable to the fowler, who takes these birds with nets."
No mention is made in this treatise of the pointer, and we naturally infer that he did not exist, or he would have been noticed in connexion with the spaniel, who, it appears, even at this early period, was taught to couch on and point out game to those employed in netting it.
In the early portion of the sixteenth century, we have another enumeration of dogs, then in use, in a book entitled — A Jewel for Gentrie; which, besides the dogs already descanted upon by Twici, we find added to the list,
"bastards and mongrels, lemors, kenets, terrours, butchers' hounds, dung-hill dogs, trindel-tailed dogs, prychercard curs, and ladies' puppies."
(Chap. 1st., Sec. XVI. — Strut.)
The pointer being the offspring of the fox-hound and spaniel, is consequently sprung from the two ancient races known as Sagaces and Pugnaces or Bellicosi. He certainly evinces a larger share of the Bellicosi blood than the setter, being ever ready for fight when assailed, while the latter generally exhibits a conciliatory disposition under the most trying circumstances. — L.
It is the fox-hound searching for game by the scent, but more perfectly under the control of the sportsman, repressing his cry of joy when he finds his game, and his momentary pause, and gathering himself up in order to spring upon it artificially, converted into a steady and deliberate point. There still remains a strong resemblance, in countenance and in form, between the pointer and the fox-hound, except that the muzzle is shorter, and the ears smaller, and partly pendulous.
or eighty years ago, the breed of pointers was nearly white, or varied with liver-coloured spots; some, however, belonging to the Duke of Kingston, were perfectly black. This peculiarity of colour was supposed to be connected with exquisite perfection of scent. That is not the case with the present black pointers, who are not superior to any others.
. Daniel relates an anecdote of one of his pointers. He had a dog that would always go round close to the hedges of a field before he would quarter his ground. He seemed to have observed that he most frequently found his game in the course of this circuit.
Mr. Johnson gives the following characteristic sketches of the different breeds of pointer:
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The Spanish Pointer,
originally a native of Spain, was once considered to be a valuable dog. He stood higher on his legs, but was too large and heavy in his limbs, and had widely spread, ugly feet, exposing him to frequent lameness. His muzzle and head were large, corresponding with the acuteness of his smell. His ears were large and pendent, and his body ill-formed. He was naturally an ill-tempered dog, growling at the hand that would caress him, even although it were his master's. He stood steadily to his birds; but it was difficult to break him of chasing the hare. He was deficient in speed. His redeeming quality was his excellent scent, unequalled in any other kind of dog.
To [convince] our readers of the value of this particular breed, we may mention the very singular sale of Colonel Thornton's dog Dash, who was purchased by Sir Richard Symons for one hundred and sixty pounds worth of champagne and burgundy, a hogshead of of claret, and an elegant gun and another pointer, with a stipulation that if any accident befell the dog, he was to be returned to his former owner for fifty guineas. Dash unfortunately broke his leg, and in accordance with the agreement of sale was returned to the Colonel, who considered him a fortunate acquisition as a stallion to breed from. (See Blaine or Daniel). — L.
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The Portugese Pointer,
although with a slighter form than the Spanish one, is defective in the feet, often crooked in the legs, and of a quarrelsome disposition. He soon tires, and is much inclined to chase the hare. The tail is larger than that of the spaniel, and fully fringed.
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The French Pointer
is distinguished by a furrow between his nostrils, which materially interferes with the acuteness of smell. He is better formed and more active than either the Spanish or Portugese dog, and capable of longer continued exertion; but he is apt to be quarrelsome, and is too fond of chasing the hare.
We will close this account of the Pointer by transferring from the pages of the Spirit of the Times our remarks upon this particular breed.
The French variety, as described by English authors, is much smaller than either of the above breeds; and although possessed of great beauty, acute scent, and other qualifications that would render him valuable in their eyes, still is considered much inferior, not being able to cope with their dogs in hunting, owing to a want of physical power of endurance.
Youatt states, that he is distinguished by a furrow in his nose, which materially interferes with his acuteness of smell.
These accounts do not agree with the French writers, to whom, it is very true, the English should not look for any particular information respecting hunting or shooting. Nevertheless, all must admit that they are quite as capable of describing their particular breeds of animals as other nations; and, in fact, we might go farther, and say that they are much more competent to the task than English writers, judging from their extensive knowledge in comparative anatomy, and their long array of celebrated writers on natural history — the Cuviers, Buffon, &c.
Baudrillart, in his Dictionnaire des Chases, describes the French Pointer as having endurance and great industry, and of their being used oftentimes solely for la grande chasse. In the atlas of plates accompanying this interesting work, will be found two distinct and extremely correct drawings of the English Pointer, and also an engraving of the French variety, which latter, certainly, is represented as being equally, if not more muscular and and hardy, than the English.
As for the furrow in the nose, as mentioned by Youatt, no reference is made to it in connection with this species, and in the engraving the nose is square. But in describing another variety, known in France as coming from Spain, Baudrillart states, that they are vulgarly called "à deux nez, parceque ce chien a les narines separées par une gouttiere."
As for Mr. Youatt's declaration in reference to the furrow in the nose "materially interfering with the acuteness of smell," I cannot understand how, or on what principle of reasoning, this slight deviation from nature should affect the properties of the olfactory apparatus. That these furrow-nosed dogs are inferior to the English in scenting powers, as stated by Mr. Youatt, we do not question; but that their deficiency depends upon this furrow, remains to be proved.
This furrow in the nose is merely a deformity, and like many others in various breeds of animals, was solely the result of accident in the first place; and as we often see, even in the human species, the deformities and infirmities of our ancestors entailed upon their progeny, so has this 'cut in the nose' been so extensively inherited by succeeding generations, that it has now become a distinctive mark of a whole class of dogs.
The French Pointer, as known in this country, is a beautiful, well-shaped, compact, square-nosed dog; not so long or high as the English, but extremely well built, full-chested, large head, pendent ears, projecting eyes, large feet, and thickish tail. His colour, seldom white, but generally intermingled with small spots of brown or chocolate over the body, and more particularly over the head and ears. Such a dog is in the possession of the writer, who knows nothing of his ancestry; but is convinced from those he saw in France, that they must have been imported from that country.
The English Pointer will now claim more particularly our attention. It is quite useless to go into a general description of an animal of whom we have already said much, and with whom we are all familiar; but we will endeavour to mention the most striking points of the species, which marks can be referred to as guides in the purchase of a dog.
It is a difficult matter to put on paper, in a manner satisfactory either to the reader or writer, the peculiarities of any animal, whereby he may be judged pure or mixed. However, there are, generally, some few points in each species, that can be selected as proofs of their genuineness and ability to perform certain actions peculiar to the race.
But, after all, more reliance must be placed upon the good faith of the seller, or the previous knowledge of the strain from which the purchaser selects — and what is better than either, from actual observation in the field; all of which precautions may, nevertheless, prove abortive, and our dog be worthless.
As regards the size of the English Pointer, we may say, that he averages in length about 3 feet from the tip of the muzzle to the base of the tail, and from 22 to 26 inches high. His head not bulky nor too narrow, the frontal sinuses largely developed.
The muzzle long and rather tapering, the nostrils large and well open, the ear slightly erect, not over long, and the tip triangular; if too pendent, large and rounded at the tip, there is too much of the hound present. The eyes lively, but not too prominent; the neck rather long and not over thick, ihe chest broad, the limbs large and muscular; the paws strong, hard and wide. The body and loins thin, rather than bulky, the hind quarters broad, and the limbs in the same proportion with the fore members; the tail long and tapering. — L.
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The Russian Pointer
is a rough, ill-tempered animal, with too much tendency to stupidity, and often annoyed by vermin. He runs awkwardly, with his nose near the ground, and frequently springs his game. He also has the cloven or divided nose.
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