The setter ranges with great speed, and is a very hardy dog. Many prefer him to the pointer, and if water is plentiful, he is certainly more useful, for his feet are much better defended against the sharp cutting of the heath than those of the pointer, as he has a great deal of hair growing between the toes and round the ball of the foot, of which the latter is almost destitute. Besides, he unquestionably ranges much faster, and can endure much more fatigue. He can also serve in thick coverts, where a pointer will not enter; and, on this account, is useful in woodcock shooting, where springers or cockers are not kept.
Formerly the setter was used for the purpose of taking partridges with a draw-net, and was generally taught to squat down when the game was within a proper distance—hence the name setter. They are now, however, trained to point in the same manner as the spaniel. It is said that Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was the first person who broke a setter to the net.
There is not a country in Europe that can boast of finer setters than Ireland; they are there called English spaniels, and differ widely from the setters of England and Scotland. They are not esteemed in Ireland unless their colour be either a deep chestnut and white, or all red; a black and white setter, or any colour but red, or red and white, would not be looked upon or reputed well bred, allowing them to be ever so good. It matters not whether they are all red, or red and white; but those esteemed most have a black nose, and a black roof to their mouth,—as most sportsmen conceive the black nose to be finer and superior to any other. Sir William Barker, Mr. Oliver of Castle Oliver, Mr. Macarthy of Spring House, and many other gentlemen in Ireland, have the most beautiful and steady of this kind. A circumstance occurred, with respect to the steadiness and discipline of some of this breed, which the compiler was an eye-witness to:—Colonel Macdonald being on a visit at Mr. Oliver’s, during the grousing season, and going out one day, took out with him five brace of setters; on getting to the mountains, one of the dogs found some birds, all the rest backed in at once, upon which Colonel Macdonald called to the last dog to take the lead, and in that manner he drew the dogs alternately, until the last became first, and fixed the birds, which had run nearly a mile. These dogs in general fetch a long price; Mr. Macarthy got two hundred guineas for a brace of them, and a gentleman in the north of Ireland was known once to have given, for a dog and bitch of this sort, to his tenant, the renewal of a lease of a farm for nine hundred and ninety-nine years, which if this lease had expired, would have cleared to the landlord above two hundred and fifty pounds a year. The compiler himself sold a brace of setters, in the year 1801, for two hundred guineas, to a Captain Baggot.—Brown—Thornhill.
Settingdog, s. A dog taught to find game, and point it out to the sportsmen.
Shad, s. A kind of fish.
Shaft, s. An arrow, a missile weapon; a narrow, deep, perpendicular pit; anything straight.
Shag, Skart, Scarfe or Green Cormorant, (Pelicanus graculus, Linn.; Le petit Cormorant, ou le Nigaud, Buff.) s.
The form, the aspect altogether, the outward conformation of all the parts, the character, manners, and habits, and places of abode, of this species, are nearly like those of the cormorant; but they do not associate, and these make their nests on the rugged, shelvy sides and crevices of the rocky precipices or projecting cliffs which overhang the sea, while the others make theirs on the summits above them; and these are at once distinguished from the others by the greenness of the upper, and brownness of the under plumage, and also in being of a much less size—the largest shags weighing only about four pounds, and measuring nearly two feet six inches in length, and three feet eight in breadth. The bill is of a more slender make, but nearly as long as that of the cormorant; the head, in the male, is crested in the same manner; the middle claw is serrated; and its tail, consisting of twelve stiff feathers stained with green, is also of the same form and hoary or dirty appearance as that of the cormorant; the crown of the head, hinder part of the neck, lower back, and rump, are of a plain black, or very dark green, shining like satin; the upper back, or shoulders, together with the scapulars and wings, are nearly of the same colour, but with a tinge of bronze brown, and each feather is distinctly edged with purple glossed black; the under parts are clouded with dusky dirty white, and brown.—Bewick.
Shaggy, a. Ruggedly hairy, rough, rugged.