CHAPTER II
The English Setter
Most authorities, or those who have made diligent inquiries into the history—if such it can be called—or origin, of the English Setter, are agreed that it has been derived from the Spaniel—Setting Spaniel—and Laverack, in his work on the Setter, says,—
"I am of the opinion that all Setters have more or less originally sprung from our various strains of Spaniels, and I believe most breeders of any note agree that the Setter is nothing more than a Setting Spaniel. How the Setter attained his sufficiency of point is difficult to account for, and I leave the question to wiser heads than mine to determine. The Setter is said and acknowledged by authorities of long standing, to be of greater antiquity than the Pointer. If this be true—and I believe it is—the Setter cannot at first have been crossed with the Pointer to render him what he is."
If the foregoing views be accepted, it follows that our lovely Setter is but an improved Spaniel.
A Brace of English Setters at Repose (Pride and Sally, Mr Stanhope Lovell).