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Llewellin Setter
The Llewellin Setter is a medium size gun dog bred to hunt upland game birds and for field trial, with origins in the English Setter. It is a strain of English setter that appears to be gaining popularity in North America given losses of large areas to hunt, leaving hunters with the need for a closer ranging hunting dog and family companion.
It is also referred to as a field English setter. It appears that the English Setter existed as a trained bird dog in England by about 400 years ago, with origins in crosses of the Spanish Pointer, Large Water Spaniel, and Springer Spaniel. The progenitors' characteristics combined to produce an excellent bird dog with a high degree of proficiency in finding and pointing game in open country.
The modern English Setter owes its appearance to two men in 19th century England, who selectively bred their dogs based on field, not show, performance: Mr. Edward Laverack (1800–1877), and Mr. R. Purcell Llewellin (1840–1925). Llewellin's strain was based on Laverack's best dogs, which were then outcrossed with the bloodlines of his dogs Duke, Rhoebe and later Duke's littermate, Kate. It was Kate bred with Laverack's best hunting males that produce Llewellin's ideal's Fd.Ch.Ch. Armstrong's Dash II and later Fd.Ch.Ch Dashing Bondhu. They were the foundation of Mr. Llewellin's personal strain known as "Dashing Bondhu". William Humphrey (1882–1963) inherited them from Mr. Llewellin in 1925 and continued them pure until his passing in 1963 and produced 41 Field Champions in 38 years.
What is a Llewellin Setter?
History
The name Llewellin Setter is given to a certain strain of English setters of similar bloodlines that were bred by R.L. Purcell Llewellin to be perfect for foot hunting and early field trials. The blue-blooded Llewellin Setter "Gladstone" of an American strain of Llewellin Setter is mounted in the Bird Dog Hall of Fame at the Bird Dog Foundation in Grand Junction, TN.
Because of the major change in American field trials to big, wide running field trials, Llewellin field trail performance began to decline against the bigger running pointers after 1914, when pointer Commanche Frank won the National Bird Dog Championship. Nonetheless, the value and popularity of the Llewellin breed as champion foot hunting bird dogs and excellent family companions continued to grow and grow...
