THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SETTER
The modern day 'Setter' bears little resemblance to the 'Setters' of old. We can trace the breed right back to the 1300's. In those days it was called a 'Setting Spaniel' and used for driving birds into the Hunters nets. They continued to be called this until the net went out of fashion in the 1800's, and the gun took it's place!
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The role of the Setting Spaniel was to work the ground - mostly moorland, ahead
of the Hunters looking for birds. This was - and still is called 'quartering'.
Once they had located the prey they would freeze or 'set', facing towards the
birds. The lifting of a paw, 'pointing', was also a characteristic of the
breed, pointing the exact location of the prey. Then, as now, the dog did not have any further involvement with the prey. Their role fulfilled. |
Where these dogs first originated from is not fully known - it is thought that some were brought back from Europe or Asia during the many wars at that period of time. It was the nobility who kept and worked Setters in those early years. This resulted in a range of strains named after the aristocratic families who kept them.
| It was not until the 1800's that the Setter we now call the 'Show Setter' first started to come into being. This is due to a Mr. Edward Laverack (1800-1877) who started his own strain by careful inbreeding and selective line breeding. A very progressive idea for the time and still going strong in breeding kennels throughout the land. |
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Towards the end of his life in 1872 he had published the authoritative book on the breed, entitled 'The Setter'. From this came the basis for the creation of the 'English Setter Breed Standard'
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Mr Purcell
Llewellin (1840-1925) based his strain upon Laverack's but concentrated on
creating the ideal 'Working Setter'. Although
oringinally called the Spaniel Setter there is no longer any connection between
the two breeds. What we are left with today are two totally different strains of English Setter.
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