THE SPANIEL.
"Though once a puppy, and a fop by name,
Here moulders one whose bones some honour claim;
No sycophant, although of Spanish race,
And though no hound, a martyr to the chase.
Ye pheasants, rabbits, leverets rejoice,
Your haunts no longer echo to his voice;
This record of his fate, exulting view—
He died worn out with vain pursuit of you.
'Yes,' the indignant shade of Fop replies,
'And worn with vain pursuits, man also dies.'"—Cowper.
Poor Doll! the very name of spaniel reminds me of you. How well do I now see your long pendent ears, your black expressive eyes, your short, well-rounded mouth, your diminutive but strong legs, almost hidden by the long, silky hair from your stomach, and hear you sing as you lie on the rug before a good fire in the winter, after a hard day's cock or snipe-shooting, wet and tired with your indefatigable exertions! Yes—strange as it may sound, Doll would sing in her way, as I have stated in a previous page; and such was her sagacity, that in process of time when I said, "Sing, Doll," she gave vent to the sounds, and varied them as I exclaimed, "Louder, louder." All this time she appeared to be fast asleep.—And what a dog she was in thick cover, or in rushy swamps! No day was too long for her, nor could a woodcock or snipe escape her "unerring nose:"—
"Still her unerring nose would wind it—
If above ground was sure to find it."
Monsieur Blaze also tells us, that a gentleman had a dog which he taught to utter a particular musical note, and that the animal made a cry which very much resembled it. He then sounded another note close to the ear of the dog, saying to him, "Too high, or too low," according to the degree of intonation. The animal finished by pretty correctly giving the note which was required.
An account is given in the "Bibliothèque Universelle," of a spaniel, who, if he heard any one play or sing a certain air, "L'âne de notre moulin est mort, la pauvre bête," &c., which is a lamentable ditty, in the minor key, the dog looked very pitifully, then gaped repeatedly, showing increasing signs of impatience and uneasiness. He would then sit upright on his hind-legs, and begin to howl louder and louder till the music stopped. No other air ever affected him, and he never noticed any music till the air in question was played or sung. He then manifested, without exception or variation, the series of actions which have been described.
I knew a dog which howled whenever it was pitied, and another whose ear was so sensitive, that it could never bear to hear me make a moaning noise. I have likewise seen a dog affected by peculiar notes played on a violoncello.
It is only now and then that such dogs as Doll are to be met with, and when they are, they are invaluable, either as sporting dogs or as companions. In the latter capacity Doll was quite delightful. In an early May morning, when she knew that no shooting was going forward, she would frisk around me as I strolled in a meadow, gay with my favourite cowslips, or run before me as I passed along a lane, where primroses were peeping out of its mossy sides, looking back every now and then to see if I was following her. There was the dew still glittering on the flowers, which, from their situation, had not yet felt the influence of the morning sun, reminding me of some favourite lines by my favourite poet, Herrick:—