It was Mr. Jacobs who, by judiciously mating his Sussex sires Bachelor, Bachelor III., and others with these black-bred bitches, established the strain which in his hands and in those of his successors, Captain S. M. Thomas and Mr. Moses Woolland, carried all before it for many years, and is still easily at the top of the tree, being the most sought for and highly prized of all on account of its “quality.”

If Black Spaniels are not quite so popular at present as they were some years ago, the fault lies with those breeders, exhibitors, and judges (the latter being most to blame) who encouraged the absurd craze for excessive length of body and shortness of leg which not very long ago threatened to transform the whole breed into a race of cripples, and to bring it into contempt and derision among all practical men.  No breed or variety of dog has suffered more from the injudicious fads and crazes of those showmen who are not sportsmen also.  At one time among a certain class of judges, length and lowness was everything, and soundness, activity, and symmetry simply did not count.  As happens to all absurd crazes of this kind when carried to exaggeration, public opinion has proved too much for it, but not before a great deal of harm has been done to a breed which is certainly ornamental, and can be most useful as well.  Most of the prize-winners of the present day are sound, useful dogs capable of work, and it is to be hoped that judges will combine to keep them so.

The coloured Field Spaniel has now almost invariably at the principal shows special classes allotted to him, and does not have to compete against his black brother, as used to be the case in former years.

The systematic attempt to breed Spaniels of various colours, with a groundwork of white, does not date back much more than a quarter of a century, and the greater part of the credit for producing this variety may be given to three gentlemen, Mr. F. E. Schofield, Dr. J. H. Spurgin, and Mr. J. W. Robinson.  In the early days of breeding blacks, when the bitches were mated either with Sussex or liver and white Springers or Norfolk Spaniels, many parti-coloured puppies necessarily occurred, which most breeders destroyed; but it occurred to some of these gentlemen that a handsome and distinct variety might be obtained by careful selection, and they have certainly succeeded to a very great extent.  The most famous names among the early sires are Dr. Spurgin’s Alonzo and his son Fop, and Mr. Robinson’s Alva Dash, from one or other of whom nearly all the modern celebrities derive their descent.