King Charles Spaniel
In the fourth chapter of Macaulay's History of England we read of King Charles II that "he might be seen before the dew was off the grass in St. James's Park, striding among the trees playing with his Spaniels and flinging corn to his ducks, and these exhibitions endeared him to the common people, who always like to see the great unbend."
Queen Elizabeth's physician, Dr. Caius, described these little Spaniels as "delicate, neat, and pretty kind of dog called the Spaniel gentle or the comforter," and further said: "These dogs are little, pretty, proper, and fine, and sought for to satisfy the delicateness of dainty dames
...to lie in their laps, and lick their lips as they ride in their wagons ...."
There would appear to be much divergence of opinion as to the origin of this breed, and the date of its first appearance in England, but it was certainly acclimatised in THe United Kingdom as early as the reign of Henry VIII, and it is generally thought that it is of Japanese origin, taken from Japan to Spain by the early voyagers to the East, and thence imported into England. The English Toy Spaniels of today, especially the Blenheim variety, are also said by some to be related to some sporting Spaniels which belonged to Queen Mary about the year 1555, and might have been brought over from Germany. Mary kept a pack of Spaniels for hunting purposes.
There is another theory advanced, and with some reason that the English Toy Spaniel of the present day derived its origin from the Cocker Spaniel, as these larger dogs have the same colours and markings, black and tan, tricolour, and red and white.
Be the origin of the King Charles Spaniel, and its advent in this country, what it may, King Charles II. so much indulged and loved these little friends that they followed him hither and thither as they pleased, and seem to have been seldom separated from him. By him they
were loved and cherished, and brought into great popularity; in his company they adorn canvas and ancient tapestries, and are reputed to have been allowed free access at all times to Whitehall, Hampton Court, and other royal palaces.
There are varieties of the English Toy Spaniel.
If we may take the evidence of Vandyck, Watteau, Francois Boucher, and Greuze, in whose pictures they are so frequently introduced, all the toy Spaniels of bygone days had much longer noses and smaller, flatter heads than those of the present time, and they had much longer ears, these in many instances dragging on the ground.
The four varieties, the King Charles, Tricolour or (as he has been called) Charles I. Spaniel, the modern Blenheim, and the Ruby have all the same points, differing from one another in colour only, and the following description of the points as determined by the Toy Spaniel Club serves for all:--
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