Gordon Setter

Gordon Setters, also known as "black and tans", have a coal-black coat with distinctive markings of a rich chestnut or mahogany colour on their paws and lower legs, vents, throat, and muzzles; one spot above each eye; and two spots on their chest. A small amount of white is allowed on the chest. Although uncommon, red Gordons are occasionally born to normal-coloured parents, the result of expression of a recessive red gene. Predominantly tan, red, or buff dogs are ineligible for showing. A Gordon's coat is straight or slightly waved (but not curly), long and silky, with chest, stomach, ear, leg, and tail feathering. According to the AKC breed standard, "the bearing is intelligent, noble, and dignified". They are the heaviest of the setter breeds, with males reaching 27 inches (69 cm) at the withers and up to 80 pounds (36 kg) in weight.[2]

The AKC describes the Gordon Setter temperament as "alert, interested, and confident. He is fearless and willing, intelligent, and capable. He is loyal and affectionate, and strong-minded enough to stand the rigors of training". Gordons are intensely loyal to their owners; thrive in an attentive, loving environment; and are good family dogs. Puppies and adult dogs can be quite boisterous, and although they are patient by nature, may not be suitable for households with very young children. Gordons are sensitive and empathic, eager to learn, and need firm but gentle handling. Early socialisation and obedience training is important. The breed is one of the slowest to mature, not hitting prime until three years of age or more, and will show puppy-like characteristics well into their older years.

Gordons were bred to run, and require 60 to 80 minutes of vigorous exercise daily. Young dogs should not be over-exercised or begin agility training until they are at least 18 months old, to avoid joint problems later in life. Because of their hunting instincts, Gordons should not be allowed to roam freely if unsupervised, as they are apt to wander into a potentially dangerous traffic situation while following a scent.

Among the many changes which took place in sport and country affairs during the 20th century were those concerned with the method of shooting and consequent role of the gundog. These changes were accelerated after World War II, prior to which there were many "dogging moors" in the north of the UK, especially in Scotland. Walking up game became largely superseded by driving and field-craft by marksmanship. The function of the gundog was as a result limited to the recovery of dead or wounded birds and — in the age of specialisation — this meant that the Labrador Retriever came to the forefront while the number of working pointers and setters declined year after year.

Besides the modernisation of the style of shooting and the work required of gundogs, the situation was altered by the new developments that also took place in farming, which helped to bring about a marked reduction in the partridge population. Factors include the introduction of modernisation such as early cutting of silage, the use of fast-moving mechanical equipment, the burning or ploughing of stubble-fields soon after harvest, the destruction of hedgerows, and the use of chemical sprays for weed-killing. The hedgerows had provided shelter and nesting sites; the weeds and other herbage supplied food and cover; whilst the stubble-fields had been a primary source of winter food; so the partridges were deprived of some important assets, whilst the wide use of chemicals on the land exercised a direct harmful effect. These changes significantly affected the status of setters and pointers. Though often used as a general purpose gundog, the Gordon Setter has been a wide-ranging dog employed in the UK to locate red grouse and ptarmigan on the Scottish or North of England moors and partridges on the stubble-fields of the south of England. Up to the late 1930s, most Gordons were kept for this type of work, so that the majority were to be found in Scotland and the north of England; but now they are more evenly distributed and there are no large working kennels.

The function of the setter is well summarised by Captain Blaine:

The work required of the setter and pointer differs from that of all other breeds of dog. It is their business to range and hunt independently for game, at a distance from the sportsman, using their own initiative and intelligence to find it, and having done so, to remain staunchly “on point” awaiting his approach. They must search for the body, and not for the foot scent, and be able to maintain a fast steady gallop for long periods without fatigue. For the purpose a dog should have independence of character, speed, endurance, and a sensitive nose, combined with natural ability for hunting the terrain, in the best method of finding game.[7]

Two Gordon Setters have achieved the title of Dual Champion. The Kennel Club regulations state this title can only be claimed by dogs who have achieved the title of Show Champion and Field Trial Champion.[8] The first was a bitch, Amscot Irresista Belle; her pet name was Trisca.[9][10] The second was Trisca's relative, Boyers Scarlatti.

Alexander, the 4th Duke of Gordon (1743–1827), established his kennel of Black and Tan Setters at Gordon Castle, which was situated near Fochabers, not far from the River Spey and a few miles from the coast of Moray. The exact date when this occurred is not known. A Colonel Thornton visited the place during his tour of the Highlands in 1786. He makes no mention of any kennel of Setters at that time, although he does note that "The Duke of Gordon still keeps up a diversion of falconry….I saw, also, here a true Highland greyhound, which is now become very scarce…."[11] The Duke was indeed devoted to country pursuits and was among the last of his day in Scotland to keep hawks and practise falconry; he was celebrated for his Scottish Deerhounds as well as his Setters. However all that can be inferred from the Colonel's remarks is that there are unlikely to have been any Setters of note at the Castle in 1786.

There is much on record that seems reliable about the origin or derivation of the Duke of Gordon's Setters, though verification at this late date is of course impossible. Most of this evidence comes from Samuel Brown, the Veterinary Surgeon of Melton Mowbray, who was a great authority on the breed. In a letter to The Field in 1864, Samuel Brown stated:

An old gentleman sportsman, and one too who has shot over the same breed for 50 years and knew them during his boyhood, assures me that the late Duke of Gordon, Marquis of Anglesey, and several other noblemen, had their original stock of setters from the late Mr Coke of Longford, and that the colour was usually black-white-and-tan. Mine are descended from the original breed of Mr Coke, the Gordon ‘’Regent’’ and ‘’Fan’’, and within the last five years from a black-white-and–tan bitch which I got direct from the Beaudesart kennel (i.e. the Marquees of Anglesey's – Ed.).[12]

Five years later, in another letter to the same journal, the Rev F. W. Adye wrote:

Mr Brown was told by Mr Coke himself that he often sent dogs to the Duke of Gordon and received others in exchange, in order now and then to obtain fresh blood.[13]

These facts were well known to J. H. Walsh (‘Stonehenge’), Editor of The Field and a leading authority on sporting dogs, for it is he who mentions in the first chapter of his book The Dogs of the British Islands (1867) that a Setter "from Mr Coke of Norfolk and doubtless related to the late Duke of Gordon’s kennel, as Mr Coke and the duke bred together and interchanged setters frequently." Therefore, it does appear to be reasonably established that Mr Coke provided most of the original Setters for the Duke's kennel. The Rev Hutchinson, who wrote under the pseudonym ‘Sixty-one’, insisted that "the original setter taken or sent to Gordon Castle by the first Marquis of Anglesea",[14] however what has been seen is that, according to Samuel Brown’s ‘old gentleman sportsman’, the Marquees of Anglesey likewise had his original stock of Setters at Beaudesart from Mr Coke – probably, although this cannot be confirmed, some years before the Gordon Castle kennel was founded; for in 1869 the Beaudesart Setters were said to have been maintained ‘for sixty years pure and unmixed with any blood’.[15] It is most unlikely that the Duke obtained his setters from only one source, we know that he interbreed with other kennels besides Mr Coke’s, notably with Lord Lovat’s.

• Gordon Setters exercising
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  Gordon Setter running in the fields
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  Gordon Setter after a bath
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  Gordon Setter running on the beach
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  Gordon Setter retrieving a stick

• Baillie-Grohman, William A.; Baillie-Grohman, F., eds. (1904). The Masters of Game: Edward, Second Duke of York: The Oldest English Book on Hunting. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Cunliffe, Juliette (2004). "Gordon Setter". The Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. Parragon Publishing. ISBN 0-7525-8276-3.
• Fogle, Bruce (2000). "Gordon Setter". The New Encyclopedia of the Dog. Doring Kindersley. ISBN 0-7894-6130-7.
• Stonehenge (1887). The Dog in Health and Disease. London: John Henry Walsh, Longmans, Green, and Co. – via archive.org.
• Thornton, Thomas (1804). A Sporting Tour through the Northern Parts of England and Grest Part of the Highlands of Scotland... London.
• Animal Health Trust, February 2011
• St G M Gompertz, G (2004) [1976]. The Gordon Setter - History & Character (1st ed.). Reading and London: Bradleys; reprinted with corrections by G Atkinson.