Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
437
Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
14
CHAPTER
II
THE
ENGLISH
MASTIFF
Of
the
many
different
kinds
of
dogs
now
established
as
British,
not
a
few
have
had
their
origin
in
other
lands,
whence
specimens
have
been
imported
into
this
country,
in
course
of
time
to
be
so
improved
by
selection
that
they
have
come
to
be
commonly
accepted
as
native
breeds.
Some
are
protected
from
the
claim
that
they
are
indigenous
by
the
fact
that
their
origin
is
indicated
in
their
names.
No
one
would
pretend
that
the
St.
Bernard
or
the
Newfoundland,
the
Spaniel
or
the
Dalmatian,
are
of
native
breed.
They
are
alien
immigrants
whom
we
have
naturalised,
as
we
are
naturalising
the
majestic
Great
Dane,
the
decorative
Borzoi,
the
alert
Schipperke,
and
the
frowning
Chow
Chow,
which
are
of
such
recent
introduction
that
they
must
still
be
regarded
as
half-acclimatised
foreigners.
But
of
the
antiquity
of
the
Mastiff
there
can
be
no
doubt.
He
is
the
oldest
of
our
British
dogs,
cultivated
in
these
islands
for
so
many
centuries
that
the
only
difficulty
concerning
his
history
is
that
of
tracing
his
descent,
and
discovering
the
period
when
he
was
not
familiarly
known.
It
is
possible
that
the
Mastiff
owes
his
origin
to
some
remote
ancestor
of
alien
strain.
The
Assyrian
kings
possessed
a
large
dog
of
decided
Mastiff
type,
and
used
it
in
the
hunting
of
lions.
It
is
supposed
by
many
students
that
the
breed
was
introduced
into
early
Britain
by
the
adventurous
Phoenician
traders
who,
in
the
sixth
century
B.C.,
voyaged
to
the
Scilly
Islands
and
Cornwall
to
barter
their
own
commodities
in
exchange
for
the
useful
metals.
Knowing
the
requirements
of
their
barbarian
customers,
these
early
merchants
from
Tyre
and
Sidon
are
believed
to
have
brought
some
of
the
larger
pugnaces,
which
would
be
readily
accepted
by
the
Britons
to
supplant,
or
improve,
their
courageous
but
undersized
fighting
dogs.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
