THE Llewellin descends directly from the longest existing breed of  Setters in the world.  The Laverack base of the breed goes back to the 1500's. 

        By the early 1900's in the USA there were no lines of  English Setters that did not have the Llewellin bred into them.  The Llewellin blood proved to be so superior in competition that there were no strains of Native or English Setters left pure.  The Llewellin was recognized as a breed on its own.  All other strains were recognized as English Setters.  From the beginning a Llewellin and English Setter bred together resulted in the registration of  the pups as English Setters. 
        For years the Llewellin was the dominate dog in competitions.  The changes in the format of trials and the use of Pointers are the factors which resulted in the change of opinion of what Setters truly are. 
        The Llewellin, a pure bred strain of English Setter is I believe superior to all other breeds of Setters, both recent imports and continental breeds, for bird hunting in the US.  I do try not to be prejudiced BUT I have hunted the Llewellin for 35 years and have hunted against pretty much all other setting-pointing dogs.  I honestly can't remember when my dogs  have been 2nd best.  They have been bred for over one hundred years to hunt our type of Game Birds and cover and terrain.  More and more dedicated foot hunting sportsmen will contest that they have the best nose of any dog.
        Truly their sense of smell is the most important factor in their breeding.  Their single-minded ability to find gamebirds is as good today as it was over one hundred years ago. 

        Bird hunting for centuries was for sport and food.  For me that is what it has always been.  Competition first began as a medium to make available the best of the best.  Because of the change of direction of the Trials the wider running dogs became prevalent.

      The first setting dogs were introduced in England and the British Isles for the art and sport of Falconry by Royalty. The art of Falconry was quite a popular thing in those  days. The Setters of that time, known as Land Spaniels, went with  the hawking party to the field, they quartered the hunting area, as  dogs do today, and would show the group where the birds were.  Then the Hawks hood was removed and he was unleashed to circle  above whereupon the birds were flushed to be caught and killed by  the Hawk. The actions of Falconry are shown in the writings of  Richard Suflet, in 1600, by his description of his dog setting birds; as quoted in THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG, in 1891,  "Warning of what he scenteth, and to prepare himself and his hawke for the pleasure he seeketh, and when he is assured of his game, then to quest out loudly and freely."
        "The hawker trained his Spaniel to set; then he cast off his hawks, which ascended in circles, and 'waited on' until his master roused the quarry from its concealment, when she pounced upon it like a pistol-shot."
        LOUIS XVIII of France loved to hunt with his Falcons and had an extensive kennel.  It is said he was a great breeder of dogs. The old writers mention his dogs as being speckled all over with White and Black, with mingled colours inclined to a marble blewe which was used to point gamebirds which were then flushed to be killed by Falcons waiting overhead. This "MARBLE BLEWE" is what we call the Blue Belton color. This coloring is seen in Llewellin Setters.
        In 1624, Louis XVIII, King of France sent England's King James I, (1603-1625),  some of his setters and one of his servants to instruct King James the French method of Falconry. Mr James Hay, the Earl of Carlisle, was a personal friend and keeper of  the royal kennels of King James at this time. This is undoubtedly where he acquired his "Blue Belton" strain. Mr. Hay played a major role in developing a portion of the Llewellin blood. You will learn more about him and his castle's line later on. As mentioned before the art of Falconry was strictly a sport of royalty and titled men. In those days the common man was not allowed to hunt or kill any game whatsoever. All the land belonged to the King, as you probably remember in the old English novels. In the statutes of King James 's law it is interesting to see how highly he valued his setting dogs and was determined to keep them from being mongrelized by the common man. It is recorded in CLASSIC ENCYCLOPEDIA in 1880, "That no person shall be deemed qualified to keep setting dogs who is not possessed of an inheritance of the value of Pounds 10 per annum, a lease for life of Pounds 30 per annum, or who is worth Pounds 200 per annum, unless he be the son of a Baron or Knight or Heir-apparent to an Esquire."
        When netting birds replaced the hawk in England in latter years, the use of Falcons declined and the art of Falconry, for a period, was just about lost.  Netting required the same type and style of dog. Dr. John Caius describes the procedure used in his 1570 writings, ENGLISH DOGGES; as recorded in CLASSIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, "The place being knowne by the means of the dogge, the fowler immediately openeth and spreadeth his net, intending to take them, which being done the dogge at the accustomed becke or visuall signe of his master ryseth up by and by, and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authours or their owne insnaring, and be ready intangled in the prepared net."
        A quote from THE TWENTIETH CENTURY DOG, under the heading SPORTING, in 1904 gives a more detail description how they netted the birds. "Subsequently the use of a net was brought into practice, being sometimes drawn towards the place when the Setting dog marked the game, and at other times cast, like a fishing-net by some of the skillful handlers in the east, over the suspected spot."
        THE BOOK OF THE DOG, written in 1880, by Mr. Bernard  Shaw, talks about netting and the Setter; and sates "It is, of  course, perfectly well knew that the modern Setter usually points  his game standing up as a Pointer does, and the abandonment of  netting is unquestionably responsible for this alteration in the method of a Setter carrying out his work, before, when the sportsman was anxious to net as many birds as he could, it was most essential that they should be as undisturbed as possible, and  the presence of a dog would, increase the chances of their being frightened away before the net was fired for their capture, the chances of the dog being seen by the game were naturally lessened  when he would lay down, and this, no doubt, was the reason for his being broken to do so. Now things are much altered, and the sportsman only wants the whereabouts of the game to be indicated, so that he may walk them up. There is, however A PALPABLE TENANCY TO CROUCH STILL OBSERVABLE IN MANY OF THE BEST BRED SETTERS , which is unquestionably accounted for by the former of the breed."
        Dr. Johannes Caius's writings of 1570 titled ENGLISH DOGGES, contains one of my favorite descriptions of a setter with the same distinct characteristics of the Llewellin Setter of today. The Llewellin still retains this instinct to crouch and sometimes freeze on point at whatever angle the fowl is first discovered, then advancing further to discern the exact current location of the birds. The act of laying his belly to the ground was for the use of the net.  In this document his use of the word "Setter" was the first time the "Setter" name was given as a generic name.  Dr. Caius wrote, "Another sort of dog be serviceable for fowling making no noise either with tongue or foot whilst they follow the game. These attend diligently upon their masters, and frame their conditions to such becks, motions and gestures as it shall please him to exhibit, inclining to the right hand or yielding to the left. In making mention of fowl my meaning here is of partridge or quail.  When he hath found the bird he keepeth sure and fast silence, and stayeth his steps, and will proceed no farther, and with close, covert, watching ere, layeth his belly to the ground, and so creepeth forward  like a worm. When he approacheth near to the place where the bird is, he lays down, and with a mark of his paws betrayeth the place of the bird's last abode, whereby it is supposed that this kind of dog is called index (meaning recorded as to record) Setter;  being a name both consonant and agreeable with his quality."

        Doesn't that sound like that old Llewellin you once owned or someone you knew owned. "These attend diligently upon their masters and frame their conditions to such becks, motions, and gestures as it shall please him to exhibit, (for you), with a mark of his paws betrayeth the birds, last abode."
        Haven't you ever watched an old Llewelin; when he points game as you approach him casually. His old eyes roll over toward your direction and looks up at you and seems to be saying, "Careful they're right here". I believe these old bird-dogs were the main foundation for the Llewellins. In an the old writings giving characteristics of a "Setter" they coincide with the characteristics of a Llewellin. I want to reiterate that I try not to be to prejudiced with my writing, but facts are facts. 
        Another good description of a Setter of this same period is shown in Richard Suflet 1600 writings, as recorded in THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. He is, "Gentle, loving, and courteous to man, more than any other sort of dog whatsoever; he loved to hunt the wing of any bird, especially Partridge, Pheasant, Quail and such. You choose him by his shape, beauty, mettle, and cunning hunting, good composition, round, thick head; short nose; broad breast; short and well-knit joints; round feet; a short, broad backe. His beauty is discerned in his colour, of which the Motleys or Pied", (Belton Colored), "are the best. His mettle is discerned by his free, untiring, laboursome ranging, beating a field over and over, and not leaving a furrow untrodden, or one unsearched, where any is likely hidden; and when he doth it, most courageously with a wanton, playing tail, and a busie labouring nose, neither desisting nor showing less delight in his labour at night than he did in the morning. The Land Spaniel called the "Setter" must neither hunt, range, nor retaine, more or less that as his master appointeth, taking the whole limit of whatsoever they do from the eye or hand of the instructor.", (No whistle necessary). "They must never quest (bark) at any time, what occasion soever may happen, must hunt close and mute," (When they find game), "they shall suddenly stop. Then shall your Setter stick, and by no persuasion go farther till you yourself come in and use your pleasure." Again here, allow me to say, these dogs definitely had the same characteristics of today's devoted Llewellins.
        There are enough written sources and documents to prove their origin. They originated from the Kennel of James Hay the Earl of Carlisle, who was noted for having Beltons. His was a excellent breed of Setter. As I mentioned, each Castle, that was interested in Gamebird hunting developed their own breed or line of Setter. They kept extensive records. If you have read many Edwardian and Victorian novels you will understand the extent to which each Titled Gentry kept tabs on every detail of life on their estates. This procedure served to establish, record and improve each of the strains, before Kennel Clubs existed.
        The Setters that France's Louis XVIII sent to England's King James I in 1624 were "SPECKLED ALL OVER WITH WHITE AND BLACK, WITH MINGLED COLOURS INCLINED TO A MARBLE BLEWE". This is what we can a "Blue Belton" today. As you may remember he sent some of these Blue Setters to the care of James Hay the Earl of Carlisle, in Northern England. 

         Mr. Edward Laverack in his book THE SETTER, writes under the heading of, "THE NAWORTH CASTLE, AND FEATHERSTONE CASTLE BREED OF SETTERS. There is a very fine old breed of setters, of present but little known. It has been, and still is, in the possession of the Earl of Carlisle, Narworth Castle, Brampton, Cumberland. 
        This breed of setters I remember fifty years ago, when I rented the moors belonging to the late Earl of Carlisle, in the vicinity of Gillesland, ...
        "This rare old breed has probably been retained in the mentioned families as long as any other strain has."
        In 1825 Mr. Edward Laverack went to Carlisle to meet Rev. A. Harrison, who was noted for his Beltons. He had been told from a number of sources that Rev. Harrison had some excellent Field Setters. In 1880, the CLASSIC ENCYCLOPEDIA also comments on these dogs, "The Beltons, famous in the Northern Counties, are a superb race, and form the great base of the now famous Laverack Setter, on which again is founded the majority of the great kennels so favorably known throughout the Country, and which has an immense popularity with American Sportsmen". 
       Stories were told about Rev. Harrison's dogs uncanny pointing ability. At this time THE English people bred more for show than hunting ability. Most of Rev. Harrison's dogs were "Marble Blue". On this trip to Carlisle, Mr. Laverack bought OLD MOLL, a Sliver Gray Belton. Mr. Laverack wrote in his book THE SETTER, "The MOST PERFECT specimen of Setter I have ever seen (was) the Rev. A. Harrison's Blue Belton "Old Moll" (she was particularly strong, powerful, and compacted in build."  He liked her so well that when she came in season, he took here back to be breed to her full brother, PONTO a Black Gray Belton, even knowing there was great many other dogs in this area supposedly just as good. As it turned out he was glad he made this choice. The pups turned out to be such superb dogs that he returned to Rev. Harrison and purchased PONTO from him.
        Mr. Laverack's purchase of Ponto and Old Moll are the foundation for what we know today as a LLEWELLIN SETTER.  A lengthy and documented detail of Mr. Laverack's breeding program may be found in my book.                                                                                                                         The author of THE TWENTIETH CENTURY DOG, in 1904, confirms that Mr. Laverack was, "The greatest authority on the Setter." He was renowned for his knowledge of the Setter and for his breeding program. Mr. Edward Laverack's book THE SETTER, written in 1872, was the first authentic record of Setters.  The complete title of his book is "THE SETTER: WITH NOTICES OF THE MOST EMINENT BREEDS NOW EXTANT."   His was the first written record of any breeds given at the time of their existence. 
        Mr. James Watson in his book, THE DOG BOOK, written in 1912, makes this comment concerning Mr. Laverack's book, "But for Mr. Laverack we should know nothing of the various strains kept by sporting gentlemen of prominence throughout England and Scotland, and in his book, 'THE SETTER,' is to be found all that later writers knew about the various strains and which they made use of  without compunction as original. The first Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book of England in existence was based on his documentation of each breed. 
           Mr. Laverack's Ponto and Old Moll were found to be two of the finest specimens that the Rev. Harrison had bred. They were said by many to be what we call today a 'Natural'. Mr. Laverack traveled back to Carlisle numerous times on hunting trips. Rev. Harrison had been breeding this line for over 35 years. As mentioned earlier, King James I bred these same dogs in 1624 as Louis XVIII  had bred them for a number of years prior to this.  Mr. Laverack, in his book, says "From these two he continued the strain without the admixture of other blood." He also shows a pedigree to substantiate it. Showing how he had bred his dogs for over fifty years.  Prior to this time, this line has been in existence for well over 200 years. 
        Mr. Laverack, in his book, The SETTER, says "Many years before the 'Field' was in existence, our Dog Shows or Field Trials thought of, my breed or Setters had made their mark, and were well known and appreciated by hundreds of sportsmen in England, Ireland and the highlands of Scotland, where I have shot ever since I was eighteen years of age." Later in his book he  states, "I can say with truth it has taken me a lifetime (beings, as  I have said, over Seventy-three years of age) to retain and keep perfect this breed." 
        Mr. Edward Laverack was a man ahead of his own time with his breeding program. He states in his book, "If I may so term it, it is the force..... .of constantly breeding from the same good strain I that has made all sporting dogs what they are. To make my meaning clearer, it is my opinion that a breed of dogs carefully tutored, generation after generation, acquire from habit and usage an innate predisposition to hunt intuitively, which causes them to be superior to dogs whose faculties have not been so developed and cultivated, or in other words, imparted an inborn goodness.  It is a fact that I have run dogs of this breed for `three' weeks daily, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and others possessing the same blood have done the same."  Llewellins are still "all day hunters". 
        Now we see his opinion of, "Breeding, and the necessity of pure blood."  He continues by saying, "Perhaps nothing is so generally little studied and understood, or properly attended to, as breeding, which requires not only great experience, observation, and knowledge of back ancestry, but also great patience and perseverance." 
        Mr. Laverack bred for a natural birddog.  You can tell this from the following quote.  "The most paramount, or of as much importance as physical form, is an innate predisposition to hunt, and point `naturally' in search of game." 
        Mr. Arnold Burgess in THE AMERlCAN KENNEL AND  SPORTING FIELD, of 1876, writes this about Laverack's dogs,  "Many of the English words (writings) say that a whelp will seldom hunt or point before fifteen months: for myself, I would not own a breed like this. Laverack on the contrary says his dogs will  'hunt, range, point, and back intuitively at six months,' and in my  own comparatively very limited experience, I have had many similar to his in this aspect."  (This is why I can guarantee my dogs to point, back, and retrieve at one year of age.) 
        THE TWENTIETH CENTURY DOG, in 1904 says, "to Mr. Laverack in the beginning and middle of the last century, and to Mr. Purcell-Llewellin in latter half of it, the breed of English Setters owes its chief development."  
    With the nformation gathered one can no doubt form a number of  opinions.   Without any doubt Mr. Laverack's dogs were of great beauty and form.  Indeed this seems to have been the main objective.  In my personal opinion, I do not believe his main objective was beauty and form strictly for the purpose of  'winning at bench'  but beauty and form in the field as well.  For to him no dog was a Setter without this 'possession of beauty and form'.  A point which is stressed many times in his writings.  Please remember how often in his own writings he stressed and emphasized the great importance of NATURAL capabilities, sagacity, and adaptability for finding game.  He also stressed that his dogs proved out in the field at an early age.

        My book details much more concerning Mr. Laverack's goals - reputation -  breeding program - descriptions of dogs - the necessity of pure blood - natural ability - pups hunting at 6 months - interbreeding not in-bred. 
        In the central chapter of my book I attempted to show how Mr. Llewellin took the basis of the Laverack dogs and developed them into a phenomenal breed of Field Dog, ultimately the Llewellin Setter.
        First of all I will give you a brief background on Mr. Richard Llewellin Purcell Llewellin, Esq.. He was an unusual gentlemen. You will more fully understand what I mean as we continue. A few later called him eccentric. He was certainly a dedicated man in whatever he attempted to do. In other words he was very strong willed.
        He was of royal decent and owned a large amount of land, including an estate in England as well as another in Whales. With this enormous amount of wealth in land, he also had a "great sum of money in banks". In other words he was financially able to do as he pleased. 
        He was an avid hunter; but game bird hunting was his weakness, as it is with a lot of us. He also preferred Setters over Pointers.  He like most Englishmen considered beauty a must. He favored the art of Falconry. For this purpose he preferred the use of a pointing dog over that of a flushing dog, which was more common at that time because of the abundance of game.
        Mr. C. B. Whitford in 1907 had the following strong statement to say about Mr. Llewellin's breeding program in an article presented to FIELD AND FANCY, a magazine publication, "Mr. Llewellin was the most enthusiastic breeder in England, if we were to judge him fairly by his works. He wanted to create the best group of Setters possible and failures did not frighten him. He studied crosses, and having decided in his own mind that they would prove good proceeded to try them, and when they failed he discarded them." 
        He knew what he wanted but was not quickly successful in accomplishing his goals. He did not at first set out to create a new breed, he simply could not find the dog to fulfill all his expectations.
        The Llewellin Setter was described by Mr. C. B. Whitford in another of the series of articles written for FIELD AND FANCY magazine in 1907, "That they form a district group, and may be said to be the only true breed of setters in existence today anywhere in the world. These dogs have had true breed qualifications for about a quarter of a century." He goes on to say that Mr. Llewellin, "Has done more for the Setter in America today than any man living." 

        TWENTIETH CENTURY DOG, in 1904 tells us that Mr. Randon Lee says even among the top Laveracks Mr, Llewellin purchased he discarded some of them. "But even amongst these he found many) unsatisfactory and inconvenient peculiarities of mind, habit, and instinct to fit them for attaining his ideal. So he once more set to work experimenting, and the result was the strain of setters that bears his name (Llewellin Setters) a blend of the pure Laverack, with blood from Mr. Barclay Field's and Mr. Statter's Kennels and the characteristic of size with quality. That they possess quality and beauty of appearance their show-bench achievements have proved, whilst at the same time their Field Trial record as a Setter Kennel has never been approached. This was in the 'Eighties (1880), when Mr. Purcell-Llewellin carried all before him-when he refused 1200 Franks for a dog and 1000 Franks for a couple of bitches of his own breeding. Having once established a strain to his fancy, no cross of any sort was allowed to invade it, and the various families in his kennel preserved and transmuted to their progeny their likeness, habits, and methods of working. 
        Mr. Hochwalt states in another of his book THE MODERN SETTER, in 1923, "To sum up this Duke-Rhoebe breeding, we find it is a Sort o mixtry', as the Scotchman said, but undoubtedly it was just this assortment of violent outcrosses gotten together in the proper combination that was needed to bring forth the latent qualities of the effete Laverack." 
        Mr. Llewellin certainly realized that this was just what he was looking for to accomplish his goals.
        The over-bred blood of the Laverack needed stimulation and that stimulation was the coarse blood of Duke and Rhoebe. This coarse blood did not produce a high quality show dog as most of the Englishman preferred, therefore few English breeders liked this type of 'Field Dog' that couldn't also win at shows.  By our present day standards they were still classy, good looking dogs. 
        "THE LLEWELLIN SETTER", my book of 170 pages, goes into greater detail on these dogs, their  characteristics, performances and what each contributed along with more detail on Mr. Llewellins breeding program 
        In 1871 Mr. Llewellin bought his first pure Duke-Rhoebe dogs which would become the foundation stock of his Llewellin Setters, Their names were Dan and Dick. He also went back shortly and bought their sister Dora. She was the third Duke-Rhoebe cross he bought.
        It was written in THE NEW HUNTERS ENCYCLOPEDIA in the early 1900' that "Llewellin's Dan was a dog of great prepotency and when he was crossed with the flighty Laverack bitches he seemed to add just what was needed and his offspring were dog's of sterling qualities. 
        The finest example of his offspring was the great and notable GLADSTONE, whelped in 1876. Gladstone is considered to be the fountain head of the six pillars of the American Llewellins.
        To give you an idea of how quickly the Llewellin line developed let us note here the whelp of this 'family'. Dan's year of birth was 1871, Gladstone's year of birth was 1876, Gladstone IV's year of birth was 1896. Gladstone IV was the winner of the first American Grand National Championship ever held. 

Mr. Hochwalt's opinion of Dan, in his book THE MODERN SETTER in 1923, was, "Dan seemed to nick remarkably well with all the Larverack bitches and no matter what their quality or individuality, he seemed to be able to produce good puppies. The erratic and gun-shy Lill II, bred to him brought forth Lincoln, which come to America in later years and was the foundation of the Gleam blood (which I will tell you more about later in this book), through other combinations. Petrel was another bitch of little individual value, but she was bred to Dan and then sold to L. H. Smith, of Strathroy, Ontario. Coming to America in whelp she brought forth a litter from which was born the great Gladstone (a I have said, one of the greatest of all our early American Llewellins and the beginning of the American-LlewelIins, as they became know). Mr. Llewellin had great success with this cross, at Field Trials. As a consequence, it was not long until a great demand ensued for this wonderful field trial breed (Llewellins), from sportsman in America, and so it came about that dogs from the Llewellin Kennels began coming over about as early, or nearly so, as they did from the kennels of Edward Laverack." 
        Immediate success came his way. After all his years of perseverance he was satisfied with a consistent line. He was not the originator of this strain because he had watched Mr. Statter, Mr. Field and the elder Armstrong breed these crosses. Why these gentlemen did not carry the strain further has always been puzzle. This seems to substantiate that Mr. Llewellin truly did buy up the majority of the lines. After Mr. Llewellin had such success with these Duke-Rhoebe-Laveracks others of course followed  him.
        As mentioned before the Dan-Laverack, which in the writings of Stonehenge was considered to be the first "Llewellyns" Mr  Llewellin bred, pups were bold and aggressive while the Dora pups were more docile and gentle, some people even thought timid. Llewellins are not timid, they just aren't hard headed and stubborn. They are an understanding dog that know what you tell them without any force. 
        The combination of these bloods in subsequent generations made the perfect combination. Her type of blood is what made the Llewellins evolve into such a pet and loving companion, along with excellent field qualities.  Mr. Whitford states in his articles  for FIELD AND FANCY, in 1907, "After the first cross-dogs had passed away and their progeny had been bred together then was more evens of temperament although the Dan quality would assert itself now and again in high couraged dogs, while the Dora disposition would crop out occasionally as shown in the more docile dogs. He goes on to say, "Of course the most desirable type of temperament was a blend of the two. That is, the ideal in this respect was a dog of the Dan style and boldness coupled with  the gentleness of Dora."  The eveness quickly developed with subsequent generations into they type we now have today. 
        Mr. Hochwalt, in 1922, in his book BIRDOGS, writes, "At the suggestion of Teasdale Bucknell to several of the importers of the 'Field Trial Breed' in American the name was changed to `Llewellin" and since that time usage has given it definite sanction  hence....they have since been known in American as Llewellins. To this today they are still not recognized in England as a Llewellin Setter; the English maintained that they should retain the name of English Setters.