Editing Gordon Setter (section)

== Origin ==
[[File:Seter szkocki.jpg|thumb|Gordon Setter]]

{{Quote|Domesticated Dogs Finding Their Game by Scent, But Not Killing It, Being Chiefly Used in Aid of the Gun"|Stonehenge<ref>{{cite book|author=John Henry Walsh|title=Stonehenge, The Dog in Health and Disease|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co., London|year=1887|page=85|chapter=Ch. IV|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/doginhealthandd00walsgoog/page/n106}}</ref>}}

Many of the gun dogs described by Stonehenge are no longer to be found in the United Kingdom or have been absorbed into one of the other breeds.  The [[Russian Setter]], the [[Welsh Setter]], [[Northern Irish Water Spaniel]], [[Southern Irish Water Spaniel]] and [[English Water Spaniel]], the [[Pachon Navarro|Spanish Pointer]] and the [[Portuguese Pointer]] have all disappeared in the past hundred and fifty years, and the pictures of some of the breeds that are still with us show considerable differences to the breed as we see them today.

[[Edward Laverick]] wrote in ''The Setter'', published in 1872: "the setter is but an improved spaniel"; while the Rev Pearce in ''The Dog'', published in the same year, said, 'he is a direct descendant of the Spaniel: "a Setting Spaniel" was the first Setter'. Since then this is the generally agreed with conclusion that the Setter was primarily derived from the old [[Land Spaniel]], so called so as to distinguish it from the Water Spaniel.  It is however likely that outside crosses with Hounds or Pointers did influence its development.  William Taplin in ''The Sportsman's Cabinet'' (1803–04) maintained that it was "originally produced by a commixture between the Spanish pointer and the larger breed of the English spaniel".

[[File:Gordon Setter Teef.jpg|thumb|upright|Gordon Setter portrait]]

We now really need not  to go back to the Spaniel and its specialised development into the setting-dog, as it was called, and can be found in the work by the famous French sportsman, [[Gaston III of Foix-Béarn|Gaston de Foix]], Vicomte de Béarn (1331–91), who it is said owned about 1500 dogs 'brought from all countries of Europe' and was known as 'Gaston Phèbus' owing to his love for the chase.  This work is called ''Livre de Chasse'' or ''Miroir de Phèbus'', and was started in 1387. This work was the bases of ''[[The Master of Game]]'' written between 1406 and 1413 by Edward III's grandson, Edward, second Duke of York, who acknowledged his debt to de Foix.  Below is the main passage referring to the Spaniel and the Setting-dog, as republished in 1904:

<blockquote><poem>Another kind of dog is that is called falcon-dog or spaniel [''espaignols'' in the French original] because it comes from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries....

A good spaniel should not be too rough, though his tail should be rough.  The good qualities that such a dogs are these: They love well their masters and follow them without losing, although they be in a great crowd of men, and commonly they go before their master, running and wagging their tail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts.  But their right craft is of the partridge and of the quail.  It is good for a man that has a  noble [[northern goshawk|goshawk]], or a [[tierecel]], or a [[Accipiter|sparrowhawk]] for the partridges to have such dogs; and also, when they are taught to be couchers (''chiens couchants'' in the original French—ed.), they are good for taking partridge and quail with the net...</poem>
:—Baillie-Grohman, p. 66</blockquote>

The modern Gordon Setter is a predominantly black dog with rich tan marking on the muzzle, legs and chest.  A little bigger and heavier than either the Irish or English, he is nevertheless descended from the same genetic mixing pot, which undoubtedly has its origins among those setting spaniels we met earlier.  The [[Kennel Club]] applied the name 'Gordon Setter' to the breed in 1924.  Before that they were known as black and tan setters, and were found in many kennels beside those of the [[Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon]] (1743–1827).  Indeed, as we shall see, there is plenty of evidence that the majority of the setters at Gordon Castle during the Duke's time were tri-coloured rather than pure black and tan.

The breed was brought to the United States by George Blunt and Daniel Webster in 1842, with the purchase of two dogs named Rake and Rachel from the Duke's kennels. The American Kennel Club officially recognised the breed in 1892.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harper|first=Lavonia|title=Gordon setter|year=2001|publisher=Interpet|location=Dorking, Surrey, UK|isbn=1-903098-69-6|pages=16}}</ref>