Featuring Original Pure Breed English Bulldogs, History & Description - 1900

Time is known to play grim jokes with historical monuments, but it probably has never burlesqued anything more than it has our national emblem, the British bulldog. The Bulldog.

Evolved for a specific purpose - a purpose long since stamped out both by law & by sentiment - the present day examples can only be looked upon as the result of breeding for certain points not desired or found in any other kind of dog. That the bulldog can claim as great pretensions to antiquity as any other now so-called breeds is not to be denied; but to say that bulldogs are bred to-day on the same lines as they were even sixty years ago would be an assertion that could not by any evidence be defended.

Ancient writers have been quoted ad nauseam, but, interesting as these extracts may be as references to the early history of dogs in general, they bear no coherent testimony that the animals they refer to had more than a faint resemblance to the recognised type of bulldogs in 1893.

Evidence which is far more reliable is at our disposal in the pictures published towards the end of the last & the beginning of this century - the epoch when bull-baiting was in vogue - &, judging from these pictures, the bulldog of that time was but a phantom-like shadow of the animal the fin de Steele bulldog enthusiast has by patience succeeded in breeding.

Thus to him who, nowadays, wishes either to breed or to own an up-to-date specimen, it will be so much useless & embarrassing learning if he hampers himself with any considerations as to the outline and general appearance of what has been handed down to him regarding the animals his ancestors looked up to as bulldogs. Should he decide upon breeding bulldogs he will find, in order to produce a specimen at all approaching the modern ideal, that, instead of wasting time in pondering over the old type, he will have to employ that particular style of dog which may at the moment be in fashion.

He need have no misapprehension that the type in general will in the future change much, if at all; nor need he fear that the goal he is striving for will be advanced. For it must be remembered that the standard laid down for this breed has not materially altered during the last twenty years, though judges' decisions may have sometimes been at variance with, if not diametrically opposed to, the standard type. The very fact of there being now two bulldog clubs is a guarantee that no radical change in the standard will ever be permitted, as one or other of the clubs is certain to hover round so safe an anchorage as an established type. If either club sanctions what sensible men must know is a departure from what is correct, it is only reasonable to suppose that in the fulness of time that club will sink in public estimation.

The miasma of the breed is that the bulldog in popular opinion has for so long been regarded as the butcher's able assistant & the ruffian's faithful companion; but, owing to the interest its peculiar conformation affords to the science of breeding, it yearly gains more ground in civilised society by attracting the attention of men of better education.

However, before going right into the description of what a modern bulldog ought to be, some few particulars of his early history may be desirable, & it is said that the first record of bulldogs in England was in 1631, when one Prestwich Eaton, from St. Sebastian, wrote to George Wellingham, of St. Swithin's Lane, London, for a mastiff & two good bulldogs. But I believe that there must have been bulldogs in England long prior to the seventeenth century.

Bulldogs were ostensibly dogs for bull-baiting, & as this brutal diversion was known to be in vogue as early as 1209, there must have been bulldogs then. Such animals as were used for actual work were quite unlike the modern manufactured article, which has undoubtedly suffered by the discontinuance of the amusement. There was no use for him with bulls, so he had to be bred for fancy purposes alone. Huge, broad heads became the rage, legs widely bowed were in favour, & from an active dog, that was able to seize a bull by the nose and keep his hold there, he has come to be an animal that has to go in training at a seaside resort before he is able to walk four miles an hour.

I must write of dogs as I find them at the present time, &, to show the state to which an endeavour to breed for exaggeration in certain points has brought the bulldog, reproduce the following account of a walking match between two crack bench winners, which took place in the summer of 1893. There had been a brindled dog shown with extraordinary success at that time, for which his owner, Mr. S. Woodiwiss, was reported to have given £250 - the greatest amount of money ever paid for a dog of this variety. In the opinion of many persons he was so much a cripple as to be unable to stand properly in the ring, which was a fact. However, the judges under whom the dog in question came, appeared blind to his defects, & time after time he was placed over more perfect animals. Then a match was made between Dockleaf, the dog above alluded to, and another well-known prize-winning bulldog, called King Orry, owned by Mr. G. R. Murrell.

The novelty of the contest caused considerable interest to be taken therein, & it was arranged under the following conditions: "Each dog to be led and make the best of the way from the Roebuck Hotel, Lewisham, to Bromley Town Hall & back, the distance being about ten miles. The competitors might have as much rest as appeared desirable, but 'lifting' from the ground was disqualification. At seven o'clock, when the start was made, a big crowd was in attendance, a portion of which accompanied the dogs on their journey. King Orry went off with the lead, & was nearly 400 yards ahead when a mile or more had been traversed. Soon after Dockleaf showed signs of fatigue, but continued on his journey to a couple of miles from the start, when, being fairly beaten, Mr. Woodiwiss withdrew him from further competition his opponent was then far in front, & 'going well.' Mr. Murrell's dog, after a rest of seven minutes, arrived at Bromley Town Hall, & then set off on the return journey, Lewisham being duly reached at 9.25 p.m. Both animals had been in training for the match, & the winner showed no signs of distress after the accomplishment of what some modern admirers of the bulldog consider a great feat, but which we consider any bulldog ought to do equally satisfactorily. The loser occupied a trifle under forty minutes in covering his two miles, &, exclusive of stoppages, the winner progressed at the rate of some four & a half miles in the hour".

So much for the activity & working capacity of a bulldog that has been pronounced by some parties to be one of the best of his race ever exhibited. However, all bulldogs are not so unable to walk at a fair pace as was the case with this dog; still, he must be given as an example of the evil of breeding for certain exaggerations which nature could never have produced without human assistance, & of the curious decisions that often take place in the show ring.

As already observed, with the discontinuance of bull-baiting, following the passing of an Act for the prevention of cruelty to animals, in the year 1835, came a lull in the production of the breed, & we read that at the commencement of the present century the "true" bulldog was very scarce. I have in my possession a painting (of which engravings are extant, dated May 15th, 1809), by H. B. Chalon, representing three bulldogs, Wasp, Child, & Billy. Of these dogs it was said they belonged to Mr. H. Boynton, were of the late Duke of Hamilton's breed, & the only ones left of that blood. Such dogs were so great in estimation that Mr. Boynton refused 120 guineas for Billy, and 20 guineas for a whelp before taken from the bitch. It was further asserted at the time that they were "the only real bulldogs in existence, & that upon their decease that variety of dog may be considered extinct." Well, it is evident a bit of puffing could be done in those days, for the bulldog is now far from extinct, though Wasp & Child and Billy have long since departed for a happier home. Indeed, there are more bulldogs in existence at the present time than has ever previously been the case in our history.

Mr. Boynton's bulldogs were typical specimens, & one or two of them would have passed muster today. There is a white one with erect ears; another lying down, white with a patch, with rose ears; the third - the best of the bunch - a dark brindle & white with fair ears, but not so heavy & cumbersome in body, head, & limbs as is the case with the modern type. Perhaps from these dogs came the historical Crib & Rosa, pictures of which are seen in almost all the print shops, & the original of which was published in 1817. Many bulldog pictures are extant. One of the best I know is a coloured print of three bulldogs in Sydenham Edward's work on "The Dog," published in London, August, 1800. Bingley in his "Natural History' gives us a big white dog with a patch on him, not unlike some of the best specimens of to-day, especially in body. The " Sportsman's Cabinet," 1803, gives us the picture of a dark brindled and white dog with a gaily carried stern, erect ears, &, to our educated minds of the nineteenth century, but a half-bred animal at the best. Reinagle painted this dog, but it is not so good a specimen as Chalon's, which came out a year or two later.

The picture of a bulldog in Youatt's book (1845) is peculiar, to say the least. It represents a white dog as big as a mastiff, with bowed legs, a "roach" back, short whip tail, & cow-shaped hocks. Still, he looks strong enough to pin a bull. However, about that time considerable attention was being given to the production of the British bulldog; but there was little material to work on, though there were enthusiasts in the cause even then, who mostly lived in London & in other large manufacturing centres. When dog shows began to exist, an impetus was given to all varieties of the canine race, the bulldog amongst the rest. Jemmy Shaw had kept some of the best blood in London; & old Ben White, who preceded the celebrated Bill George in his kennels at Kensal Town; Jacob Lamphier, of Birmingham; Charlie Stockdale, William M'Donald, London; James Hinks, Reeves, & Mr. Percivall, of Birmingham; Mr. Ashburne, Mr. Turton, all gave them attention, & to such men as these enthusiasts - if most of them were dealers - we owe what good bulldogs there are at the present time.

I think there is little doubt that from the time of J. Lamphier's King Dick - a red smut dog of about 481b. in weight, & certainly the best of his day, & one of the best bulldogs that ever lived, who was whelped in 1858, & died when eight years old - until within about eight years ago we had our very best bulldogs. These were active animals, such as could run after a dogcart, or, perhaps, pin a bull if it were required. The craze for breeding for exaggerated points - huge skulls & heads, unduly low fore quarters, with shoulders set on at right angles, & standing wider in front than the bull himself - was not so pronounced as it came to be somewhat later. Take, for instance, such dogs as King Dick (already alluded to), Crib (known as Turton's Crib, a brindle and white dog of 641b. weight, & as good an all-round specimen as was ever produced), Mr. P. Eden's Bend Or, Captain Houldsworth's Sir Anthony, Mr. T. Verrinder's Slenderman, Mr. J. H. Joyce's Bacchus, Bumble (known as the penny show dog, because he was first exhibited at a penny show in Birmingham), Mr. Shirley's Sancho Panza, Mr. Oliver's Monarch, Mr. R. J. Hartley's Venom, & many more good, sound, & active bulldogs could be named which flourished within the teens of years prior to about 1882.

Perhaps here it will be well to mention that at the earliest London show classes were provided for Bulldogs over 181b. weight, & for others under 181b. weight; sometimes the regulation was under & over 2olb. The classes which included the small-sized dogs, were as a rule very well filled, on an occasion there being over forty dogs & bitches in the one division. These as a rule were typical little animals, thorough bulldogs in every way, but most of them, not all, had more than a tendency to carry their ears erect in ugly fashion. Whether this was the reason they lost their popularity I cannot tell, but gradually these small-sized bulldogs ceased to attract, & about 1870 the classes for them were discontinued. The London fancy mostly had had them in hand, Harry Orme, Bill Tupper, W. M'Donald all at one time or another showing good specimens; Violet, Floss, Frank, Tiny, & others being the chief prize winners. It has been said that some of our French visitors took a great fancy to these miniature emblems of British pluck, & through Tupper & Orme secured all the best specimens. Be this as it may, there are few under 2olb. bulldogs in Great Britain at the present time, whilst in the land of the Gaul such are by no means uncommon, & quite recently an endeavour has been made to reintroduce the strain here under the misleading name of "Toy Bulldogs." Now as our acknowledged weight of a toy dog is not more than from seven to eight pounds at the very most - six pounds is much the more correct weight - I am surprised that there are show committees who will provide classes for these French bulldogs to be called "toys," going up to 231b. each in weight. At least this was the limit at a recent exhibition. The foreign specimens shown had enormous spoon-shaped ears, some of the exhibits were fairly well shaped as bulldogs though their expression more favoured the Schipperke. They were but sorry representatives of the type Billy Tupper was so fond of in the sixties. If we require these little bulldogs, there is better material at home for providing them than anything our French neighbours can send "perfidious Albion." A few excellent little animals of native growth are still to be found; moreover, there was that little bitch of Mr, Cyril Jackson's, Sally Scattercash, about 231b. weight, who was proved sufficient of a bulldog to win prizes in her ordinary class. She had no bat ears & Schipperke characteristics, but did possess a pedigree, being by Monarch III., from his own mother, Skittles. Sally was bred by Mr. C. Bartlett, of Bath.

In the "good old days," about Sheffield & Birmingham, dishonest practices were in force, which were said to improve the face & muzzle of the bulldog. Cruel contrivances called "jacks" were fixed on to the muzzle in such a manner as to drive the nose back. Sometimes, too, the ears were cut, & the more recent case of the disqualification of Monarch when shown by Mr. D. S. Oliver at Birmingham, in 1880, is not yet forgotten. Monarch had been shown successfully the year before, & was again awarded similar honours. After the judging, attention was called to the dog's ears, upon which were found certain marks which led to the animal's disqualification. Subsequent inquiry took place, and at a meeting held on December 16 several experts were examined, who were unanimous in their opinion that the marks had been wilfully made whilst the dog was in the show, & Mr. Oliver was exonerated from all blame in the matter. He, however, took the dastardly action so much to heart as to completely sever his connection with the bulldog "fancy." Another dog of note known to be "faked" was F. Lamphier's Tiger, for which Mr. George Raper gave £45, well aware of the defects of his purchase, but he considered him cheap at the money for breeding purposes.

About this time, which may be called the middle period of the modern bulldog, Mr. F. Adcock - a most earnest admirer of the race - was upon the scene, & sometimes he had thirty or forty bulldogs in his kennels. He had an opinion that the British bulldog was degenerating physically & otherwise. He believed that the original bulldog was a heavy animal, &, as he could not find one to his liking in this country, took a journey into Spain. As the West had produced the wise men, so it was said Spain had produced the best dogs. Mr. Adcock brought back with him an immense animal, which he called Toro. Now this dog was not so "black" as many persons painted him. Mr. Adcock had been yearning after big bulldogs, & even his great dog Ajax, which scaled 651b., & was good enough to win at Birmingham in 1872, did not satisfy him. So, as before hinted, he went to Spain to seek for a bigger animal, with the result above stated. However likely Toro was to improve the bulldogs of this country, & his appearance led one to believe that he would do so, at stud he proved a complete failure. This was unfortunate, for then, an introduction of new blood would have been very useful, especially so far as improving the activity & strength of the modern article. And Toro was an active dog. He may have been a "fluke" somehow or other, for if his parents, or one of them, or his uncles or aunts, or grandparents had been as good as he, he must have got better stock than was actually the case. Personally, I considered Toro an exceptionally fine dog, & would prefer him to many of the leading winners of the present day. What he resembled will be seen from the following description from the Field at that time: "Toro is a huge, massive dark chestnut or 'carroty' brindled dog, with blackish muzzle; he has very deep flews, high temples, large nostrils, & is very much underhung, &, for his size, short in the face. His eyes are tolerably full, & a good deal of the white is shown; the 'stop,' or indentation between the eyes, is large & deep, & runs high up the head. The skin about the head is very loose, & falls into wrinkles & folds when the ears of the dog are erected; & a deep double dewlap runs from the angles of the mouth to the sternum. His ears have been cut out, very little of the burr being left, and this greatly detracts from the apparent size of his head. His neck is arched, short, very thick and muscular, and covered with quantities of loose skin; the shoulders broad & flat at the top, standing well out from the ribs, & very muscular; the elbows well out from the ribs; the forearm very thick, & slightly bowed; feet large & round, & furnished with very strong claws; the chest is great, & not only broad, but deep, & the ribs are very round. There is a considerable fall at the shoulders, & from that point the loins begin to rise, the arch terminating at the insertion of the tail. This is placed very low, has a downward crook at the root & another at the end, is very short & fine in bone, & is never erected so high as the level of the dog's back. The loins are strong & muscular, as are also the hind quarters, the stifles turning out slightly, & the hocks rather close together. The whole of the hind quarters are small, as compared with the fore quarters, & are considerably higher. The coat is very fine and smooth, & the hair very hard in texture. In showing condition Toro weighs 901b. The following are his exact measurements: Head, 22m.; chop, close up to eye, I4in.; length of face from corner of eye to tip of nose, 2 Jin.; from corner of eye down to angle of mouth, 5m.; between eyes, 2¾ in.; from ear to ear across forehead, 5½in.; from top of nose to under jaw, 3111.; projection of lower incisors beyond those in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed, 1in.; between canines in upper jaw, 23/16in.; in lower jaw, about 2in., being broken; round neck, 19m.; length of neck, 5m.; round ribs, 31m.; across chest, 13in.; between forelegs, 9in.; length of neck & body from apex of skull to root of tail, 30m.; round forearm, 8½in.; round loins, 21 in.; height at shoulder, 22in.; from point of elbow to ground, 11in.

"Toro, although very forbidding in appearance, is exceedingly quiet & docile, & is possessed of great intelligence; he retains all the peculiar attributes of the ancient British bulldog - such as size, courage, etc. He will only pin an animal by the head, & when fighting is perfectly silent & utterly regardless of pain. He is rather slow in his movements, has a rolling kind of gait, & carries his head low".

Although Toro has not handed down any of his excellent qualities to present generations, I should say that heavy weight bulldogs are more numerous now than was the case then. At the leading shows we see some half dozen bulldogs or more that vary from 55lb. to 651b. in weight, & these big dogs, which usually have special classes provided for them, if not proportionately so massive in head as the medium-sized animals, are, as a rule, more active on their legs & smarter generally in their movements. Of course, in dwelling so much on the matter of activity, I do not mean to infer that a bulldog should be as lithe & smart in his action as a fox terrier. Still, he must be able to walk and run a bit, which he does with a peculiar roll, which is all his own.

About the same period - a little later & a little earlier perhaps - that Mr. Adcock was proving unsuccessful in producing bulldogs as big & active as he desired, others were working away on a somewhat different line, & with greater success. These were, in addition to those already named who came earlier, Messrs. Bill Page, Frank Redmond, Rivers Wilson, and Billy Shaw, of London; Messrs. Peter Eden & John Henshall, of Manchester; Mr. W. H. Tyser, Mr. R. Fulton, Mr. T. Verrinder, Mr. H. Layton, Mr. A. Benjamin, Mr. J. W. Gurney, with Messrs. R. J. Lloyd Price, S. E. Shirley, G. Raper, J. W. Berrie, J. Ure, Dundee; H. Munro, Hull; R. J. Hartley, etc. At one time or another, & during a period extending over almost two generations, the British bulldog must be indebted to the above gentlemen for the position & excellence it holds at the present time.

Some of them were dealers, others were amateurs; but all worked with the same object in view, &, I should say, have attained their end. Jacob Lamphier at one time had the lead, &, at any rate, he made his mark by possessing two such good dogs as King Dick & Romanie, the latter purchased by Mr. Lloyd Price for £150 - an enormous sum then for a bulldog, as it is now. Unfortunately, Mr. Price was not so successful as he deserved, for, after winning first prize at Birmingham in 1865, on his journey to the next show poor Romanie was found smothered in the guard's van. F. Lamphier's Crib (brindled), Jesse Oswell's Dan (a white dog, particularly handsome for a bulldog), Mr. John Henshall's Duke (another white dog, bred by the Duke of Hamilton), Mr. R. Fulton's Falstaff, Mr. Lloyd Price's Michael the Archangel (another white dog, and historical in his way because eaten during the siege of Paris in 1871), Mr. Clement Butler's Stead, Mr. Henshall's Juno, Mr. F. Lamphier's Meg and Rush, Mr. G. A. Dawes' Maggie Lauder, Mr. Verrinder's Poll, were about the best specimens that flourished from twenty to twenty-five years ago, & there are few modern bulldogs, if any, which do not contain the strain of one or another of them.

Coming a little later, we find such good dogs as Mr. Sellon's Diogenes & Mischief, Mr. G. Raper's Rustic King and Rustic Model, Mr. J. H. Ellis's Grabber (who died at the good old age of twelve years as this is being written), Guido & Saleni, Mr. S. Woodiwiss's British Monarch & Dryad, Mr. P. Beresford Hope's Bedgebury Lion (who went to America, where he did not survive many months), M. J. B. Gheud's (Brussels) Leonidas, Mr. Benjamin's expatriated Britomartis, Mr. G. Fowler's Monkey Brand, Mr. Cassel's Facey Romford, Mr. Smith's Ruling Passion, Mr. Drew's Kitty Cole, Mr. J. Morris's (afterwards Mr. Sellon's) Queen Mab, the black & tan marked King Orry, Mr. W. G. Smartt's Punch, Mr. H. Pebody's Found It, & there may be others pretty nearly as good as some of the above, the names of which will be found in any show catalogue.

So much for some of the most notable dogs I have known, &, however incomplete the list may be, it is, at any rate, sufficient to prove that the British bulldog is not in any danger of becoming extinct, so far as this country is concerned. If further proof of the popularity of the bulldog be needed, such will be found in the carefully compiled volume of bulldog pedigrees, the editors of which - Messrs. Cyril Jackson and E. H. Bowers - tell us they have catalogued the names of about 6000 bulldogs. The difficulty of tracing the pedigrees of many of these may be inferred from the fact that the volume contains no fewer than sixty-five bulldogs that bear or have borne the well-known name of Crib. We may, indeed, be able to draw fresh crosses from the United States, for, of late, admirers of the race there have purchased some of our best specimens - including the bitch Britomartis and Bedgebury Lion and Leonidas.

A word must be said as to one or two matters relating to the variety which have caused considerable difference of opinion amongst admirers of the bulldog, & first and foremost comes the question of so-called "Dudley faces." Dogs that have flesh-coloured noses, with which light-coloured eyes & generally yellowish-looking countenances are often associated, are called "Dudley" because such animals originally came from that part of the Black Country known as Dudley, which is in Worcestershire. Personally, where a dog is otherwise good, I would not disqualify him for his Dudley markings; but I must confess to being in the minority whilst holding such an opinion. Then occasionally split-nosed or double-nosed bulldogs are met with, & where such is the case I would do no more than severely handicap the dog bearing the blemish. As a fact, I would far rather have a Dudley marked or split-nosed dog that could move well, than the most perfect bulldog in the world whose locomotion is about equal to the pace of a man with gout in both feet.

From time to time the bulldog has been used as a cross, with an idea of putting extra courage in other varieties of the dog which it was thought required pluck to a greater extent than they possessed in their purity. This has in part only proved successful, & I should say where it was tried in the case of greyhounds proved entirely unsatisfactory. With the terrier it has been more useful, resulting in the modern bull terrier - a handsome white dog, which for gameness, good nature, and adaptability as a companion has no superior.

As a sporting animal - i.e., as a vermin destroyer, & as a hunter after hares or rabbits - our bulldog is a failure. Not that he is quite without the use of the ordinary olfactory organs, for he can hunt the footsteps of his master pretty well as cleverly as any other dog, but they are not so fully developed as in the case of hounds, terriers, etc. Still, Charles St. John in his "Highland Sports" tells of a hunting bulldog that was once in his possession. As his is such an unusual story of an animal of this kind, I'will allow the author, who was always so reliable, to tell his tale in his own words.

He says: "I at one time had an English bulldog who accompanied me constantly in deer stalking. He learned to crouch & creep up to the deer with me, never showing himself, & seemingly to understand what I wished him to do. When necessary, I could leave him for hours together alone on the hill, when he would never stir until called by me. If a deer was wounded, he would follow the track with untiring perseverance, distinguishing the scent of the wounded animal, & singling it out from the rest, never making a mistake in this respect. He would also follow the stag till he brought him to bay, when, with great address in avoiding the horns, he would rush in and seize him either by the throat or the ear, holding on till I came up, or, as he once did, slaughtering the animal, & then coming back to show me where he had left it".

This pleasant writer then describes how this bulldog hit the line of the wounded stag after other dogs had failed to do so, how he ran the scent, and ultimately returned bleeding to his owner, & with an ugly gash in his side. Then he took the party through thick woods, over rough ground, to where the stag, with his throat torn open, lay dead at the foot of a rock. Those of the party who had declared the dog fit only to "kill a cat or pin a bull," were now lavish in their praise of him, would have given almost untold gold for him, but, said St. John, "we were too old friends to part, having passed many-years together, both in London, where he used to live with my horses & run with my cab, and also in the country, where he had accompanied me in many a long and solitary ramble over mountain & valley." Mr. F. Adcock says that some of his bulldogs would hunt a hedgerow as well as a terrier, & were equally as good at retrieving from water. The above prove that the bulldog, which has obtained such an evil character for ferocity, may, under proper training & surroundings, become as companionable as any other dog. He is very faithful to his master, & his appearance is certainly worse than his disposition. When he has the chance he is quite as sociable as most dogs, his temper is reliable, &, on the show bench, he may be petted & caressed by the stranger with far less likelihood of being bitten than would be the case with the terriers and collies. Then he is not addicted to barking too much, is not liable to run away, when kept in the country, on hunting excursions; but he is not built on the proper lines to follow a dog cart or run after a bicycle.

So far as companionship with man is concerned the bulldog's lot has not always been a happy one. In his early days, as I have said, he was kept for the purposes of bull-baiting, it being a popular fallacy that "bull beef" was tenderer and more palatable when cut from a bull that had been made angry & worried by dogs. As a fact, in some localities such meat was not allowed to be displayed for sale without being labelled "bull beef," unless the animal from which it came had been "baited" prior to being slaughtered. In modern days the bulldog is valued for amusement & for show purposes, & when making his living on the benches he is, in nine cases out of ten, kept in a kennel along with other dogs of the same breed, & seldom given the social advantages which fall to the more fortunate St. Bernard, terrier, or collie. Perhaps there may be a happier day for the British bulldog in this particular, especially that he has now a couple of well supported specialist clubs to look after his welfare.

One thing there always will be against the actual popularity of the bulldog, & that is the great difficulty there is in breeding first-rate specimens, &, with very few exceptions, our best bitches are wretched mothers, in some cases refusing to breed at all, in others failing to suckle the puppies, & in others the puppies often enough are born dead. Inbreeding, huge heads, & malformation of chest & forelegs are no doubt responsible for this state of things, nor is it likely matters will improve in this particular at any early date. Two of the most notable exceptions to this difficulty in breeding from good bitches are to be found in Mr. T. Ball's Susan and Mr. E. Farman's Ruling Passion, whose success where other equally good bitches have failed make them worthy of mention here.

The principal collection of bulldogs to be found in this country is the exhibition periodically held by the Bulldog Club (established in 1875), who held their twentieth gathering in 1893. Here an entry of something like a couple of hundred is usually found, containing, no doubt, all the best dogs of the day. The classification is, of course, particularly complete, & includes divisions for dogs 451b. weight & over; classes for bitches 351b. weight & over, & light weight classes below the above standards There are divisions for dogs over 551b. for bitches over 451b.; for dogs between these two weights & for bitches between 351b. & 451b.; others for dogs under 451b. weight & for bitches under 351b. Such is the usual weight classification, but there are other divisions provided, in which no weight is stipulated. The Bulldog Club has also four challenge cups, two of them worth fifty guineas each, and two of the value of twenty guineas each.

The British Bulldog Club, established in 1892, already a strong body, is likewise great in special prizes, having two £50 challenge vases & two £25 cups, & two 10-guinea goblets for puppies. Both clubs are well to do so far as membership is concerned, & in other particulars, whilst each has carefully drawn up a distinct description of what a bulldog should be.

For the following very complete description of a typical bulldog I am indebted to Mr. Cyril F. W. Jackson, of Bath, who also kindly assisted me in the early portion of the chapter.

"In judging a bulldog the general appearance is of all importance, for, though it is of course necessary to give each point in detail, still the eye once accustomed to the impression made by the appearance of a dog of this breed true to type, will almost unconsciously recognise the following salient points. The immense skull, the protruding under jaw, the grotesque facial angle, to be seen in no other breed, the massive neck, & the extraordinary disproportion of the girth of the brisket as compared with that of the waist, the prodigious width of chest, the shortness of the body, the roach back, the shortness from the elbow to the pastern, the malformation of the tail, &, lastly, the disparity in weight of the fore part with that of the hind, all contributing to build up a dog, probably presenting to the casual observer more individuality than any other breed, save perhaps a bloodhound or a basset hound. The habit of some judges of allowing themselves to be biassed by one point of superexcellence in the specimen they have to pass their opinion on, is distinctly wrong, as a show specimen should be of uniform merit throughout, and should not excel in one point more than another.