[ "Stonehenge" / The Dog in Health and Disease ]
"Stonehenge" was the nom de plume of John Henry Walsh (1810 – 1888), an English surgeon who abandoned his first career to pursue his deep love of sport, becoming a well-known writer and editor on sporting topics and something of an expert on sporting rifles. His books The Dogs of the British Islands (1867) and The Dogs of Great Britain, America, and Other Countries (1879) are treated separately here at The Cultured Newf.
The full title of this book is The Dog in Health and Disease. Comprising the Various Modes of Breaking and Using Him for Hunting, Coursing, Shooting, etc, and including the Points or Characteristics of Toy Dogs; it was first published in 1859 (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts). The text below is taken from the 2nd edition of 1872 (London: Longman, Greens, Reader, and Dyer); while the text of the 2nd edition is generally identical to that of the first, the few changes have been noted and readings from the first edition supplied in the pop-up notes.
The article on Newfoundland dogs (pp. 125 - 129) features two illustrations. The first, labelled "The Larger Newfoundland Dog. (Youatt)" is the same illustration of the breed found in William Youatt's The Dog (1845), which is discussed here at The Cultured Newf. The second illustration, placed near the end of the article, is reproduced below.
As the two images and the first sentence below indicate, at this point in the middle of the 19th Century breed "definitions" and terminology were still in flux, and are not the direct equivalents of the breed names we use today. The "Lesser" or "St. John's" Newfoundland is, or at least is an ancestor of, the breed we now know as the Labrador Retriever.
This most valuable animal is of three very different kinds, viz.: 1. The true Newfoundland; 2. The large, loose-made, and longhaired variety, known as the Large Labrador; and, 3. The small, compact, and comparatively short-haired dog, known as the St. John's or Lesser Labrador breed. All were originally natives of Newfoundland, and though many are bred in England, fresh specimens are constantly being imported from the island. Many of the naturalised strains are now more or less crossed with the mastiff or setter. In this country they are chiefly used for ornamental purposes and as companions to their masters, the small breed being also crossed with the setter to make the retriever; but in their native country they are used to draw timber over the snow in the winter months, being harnessed to carts and sledges made for the purpose. In intelligence the three breeds are about equal, all being celebrated for their faculty of learning to fetch and carry. This is sometimes developed to such an extent that a well-trained dog will go back for anything which his master has pointed out to him, if it has been handled, when it is only necessary to order him back to "seek," and he will find it by the scent. Many amusing instances of this are told, one of which we have heard on good authority, but which is almost beyond belief. A lady was most anxious to obtain a particular object from her lover, which he had strong reasons for refusing to her; but being at length teased into complying he gave it her, and after parting, at some distance from her home, he fetched his dog and ordered him to "go seek." The intelligent creature at once started off on the heel of his master, and, overtaking the lady still carrying the gage d'amour, he laid hold of it and brought it back in triumph. The dispossessed fair one, not having the least idea whose dog it was, and being ashamed to own how she had lost it, said nothing about the matter, and so the gentleman for once outwitted the lady in this stage of their courtship; whether the tables were turned afterwards, and the dog was enlisted in her service, we know not. Both breeds are good water dogs and bear immersion for a long time, but the large variety having a more woolly coat is superior in endurance of wet and cold. Hundreds of anecdotes are told of extraordinary escapes from drowning by means of these dogs, their tendency to fetch and carry being doubly useful here. Children and light small women may be intrusted to them with safety in the water, if they are not bewildered with fear, when they will sometimes cling round the dog's neck, and frustrate all his efforts to restore them to the land by swimming; generally, however, in cases of recovery, the person has fainted, and being then powerless is towed ashore readily enough. The speed with which the Newfoundland swims is very great, his large legs and feet enabling him to paddle himself with great force. From their great size and strength they are able to beat off most dogs when they are attacked, and their thick coats prevent the teeth of their assailants from doing much damage; but in offensive measures they are of little use, being rather unwieldy, and soon winded in a desperate struggle. Hence they are not useful in hunting the large kinds of game, nor the bear, wolf, or tiger. The nose is delicate enough to hunt any kind of scent, but as they soon tire they are not used in this way, and it is solely as retrievers on land or water that they are useful to the sportsman, being generally crossed with the setter for the former, and the water spaniel for the latter element.
The characteristic points of the Large Newfoundland are, great size, often being from 25 to 30 inches high; a form proportionally stout and strong, but loosely put together, so that there is a general want of compactness, especially about the loins, which are long and very flexible. The head is not large in comparison to the size, but wide across the eyes; muzzle of average length and width, and without any flews, as in the hounds and pointers; eye and ear both small, the latter falling, and without much hair on it; neck short and clothed with a ruff of hair; tail long, curled on itself slightly, and woolly; legs very strong, but not feathered; feet large and rather flat, bearing the road badly; coat on the body long, hairy, shaggy, and shining, without any admixture of wool; the colour should be black, but it is sometimes black and white, or white with little black, or liver colour, or a reddish dun, or sometimes, but rarely, a dark brindle not very well marked.
The Large Labrador is a more loosely-framed animal, and is never entirely black, being more or less mixed with white. The coat also is longer, more woolly, and curly. [note ]
The St. John's, or Smaller Labrador, or Newfoundland, the three names being used indiscriminately, is seldom more than 25 inches high, and often much less. The head is larger in proportion to his size, and the ear also slightly fuller; neck longer; body far more compact, and clothed with shorter hair, shining, and without any woolly texture; tail similar in shape, but the hair less woolly; legs and feet also better adapted for work; colour almost always a jet black, rarely liver-coloured. This dog is now generally more or less crossed with the setter. The specimen which is here engraved is not particularly well marked, but I have been unable to obtain a better, and therefore give it as the nearest approach to the true breed, which is now very scarce. The dog was bred by the celebrated "Bill George," of Kensall New-town, who considers him to be a pure Small Labrador; but according to my own opinion his coat is too curly for perfect purity of blood, and he is probably crossed with the setter, or perhaps with the spaniel. I have lately been shown several of these dogs which were said to have been recently imported, but all were evidently crossed with other breeds, and were therefore rejected.
This book is reviewed in the July, 1862, issue of Sporting Magazine:
Stonehenge (we give the author's nom de plume) is, as a canine writer, what Snyder and Landseer are on canvas. No one ever understood the subject more thoroughly — no one ever entered more faithfully or minutely into the natural history of the dog — no one ever described the best methods of breeding, rearing, breaking, and managing this animal — and no one ever prescribed for the treatment of diseases to which the dog is subject with more effect than the author of the work under notice. It is one that cannot fail to find favour with all classes of readers: the sportsman will revel in the description of the stately and terror-inspiring boar hound, the noble and intelligent Newfoundland retriever, the full-toned foxhound, the slender and rapid greyhound, the mute and obedient Clumber spaniel, the courageous and powerful mastiff; while every lady in the land cannot fail to be amused and instructed by the account of the intelligent poodle, the beautiful Maltese dog, the cheerful loup-loup or Pomeranian fox-dog, the diminutive and timid Blenheim, the playful pug, the long full-haired silky-eared King Charles spaniel, and the weasel-shaped, short, fin-like-legged Skye terrier. Nay, more: they will be able to prescribe for any ills that canine flesh are heir to, and probably, by so doing, save the lives of many a Topsy, Bijou, Minnie, Judy, Psyche, Sting, and Beauty. We are always glad to welcome "Stonehenge." He writes from his own convictions and experience, founded upon the deepest research and personal observation. He possesses, moreover, the power not alone to express what he wishes to say in language effective and vigorous, but to mix up with solid good sense a large amount of light, amusing, agreeable reading; thus rendering the volume as worthy of a place in the lady's boudoir as in the sportsman's library. The illustrations are numerous, and are admirably executed. Before we conclude our notice, we must compliment the public-spirited publishers, Messrs. Longman and Company, on the splendid manner in which their books, without a solitary exception, are brought out; and we are happy to find that they do not always confine themselves to the highest class of literature — history, antiquities, voyages, travels, biography, and divinity — but that with these pièces de resistance they occasionally suit the various tastes of the public by serving them with a piquante entrée, a palatable entremet, or an appetising hors d'œuvre. (77)