HE image of the phoenix comesto mind when thinking about theDuke of Buccleuch’s labradors.Though never campaigned in fieldtrial competition, nor on the show

bench, the significance of these ducal dogs inthe history of the labrador retriever is pre-eminent, matched only by those of the Earlof Malmesbury in the South. If it seems para-doxical that such an historic bloodline couldhave been on the verge of extinction, it be-comes readily apparent when we considerthe often mysterious history of the breed.

The first field trial for retrievers, run in1899, featured five types of dog, includingwavy-coated, flat-coated and curly-coatedretrievers. But the labrador retriever wasnot among them. More than a decade later,in the last full season before World WarOne, some 14 field trial meetings were held.Astonishingly, of the 247 dogs entered, 179were labradors. Thus the entry of the breedto the sporting scene was as sudden as it wasspectacular and, as the subsequent record

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makes clear, this pre-eminence was impres-sively sustained. Post-war, at the highestlevel of competition, the labrador won theInternational Gundog League’s RetrieverChampionship in all but three years (whenthe winners were golden retrievers).

Buccleuch labradors are written into thefabric of that early history. The Hon ArthurHolland-Hibbert’s labrador, Munden Sin-gle, first of the breed to take a card at a fieldtrial, in 1904, was almost pure Buccleuchand Malmesbury breeding, as was MajorMaurice Portal’s FTCh Flapper, the firstlabrador to be placed, in 1906. Three yearslater Captain Archibald Butters’ FTCh Peterof Faskally entered trials and, in 1911, atFakenham, won a Championship composedentirely of labradors for the first time. Twoyears later his son, FTCh Patron of Faskally,won what was considered the finest stake

since the institution of trials. They, too, car-ried much Buccleuch blood on both sides.And, with no fewer than 32 of FTCh Peter ofFaskally’s progeny winning or being placedin stakes, his stud work was a major force inextending an already formative influence.

That formative influence had its origins inthe response to a need experienced at thesame time on the south coast of England andin the Borders, south of Edinburgh. In Eng-land, the winter flood meadows at Hurn,near Southampton, gave the second Earl ofMalmesbury matchless duck shooting. InScotland, game records show that serious

New hope for theDuke’s labradors

Above: Dramatic Drumlanrig Estate, home to the newBuccleuch kennels. Right: David Lisett working Oakand Opal, picking-up on the Mennock partridge beat. T

Two sporting noblemen led the way in establishing ourmost popular gundog breed. One of their bloodlines,

the Buccleuch, was on the verge of extinction. GrahamCox tells how the ducal family and a champion field

trial trainer are taking up the challenge of restoration

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and third Earls of Malmesbury continued toimport labrador dogs, and in the early 1880sthe sixth Duke of Buccleuch and the 12thEarl Home, wintering in Bournemouth,joined a shooting party on the Malmesburyestate. These men received a real eye-open-er. The work of the Malmesbury dogs, espe-cially in water, was startling—and it is hard-ly coincidental that the first two entries inthe tooled leather Stud Book of the Duke ofBuccleuch’s labrador retrievers were giftsfrom Lord Malmesbury to the sixth Duke.

Progress was such that the sixth Duke’sson, Lord George Scott, who took over the

The second Earl of Malmesbury, whosefamily seat is less than eight miles from Poole,began to import these dogs, naming themlabradors, which he kennelled at HeronCourt. Farther north, the fifth Duke of Buc-cleuch was also importing the dogs, prob-ably through the Scottish port of Greenock.It is recorded that in 1839 the then Duke,Walter Francis—great-great-grandfather ofthe present Duke—took his labrador, Moss,on his yacht on a voyage to Naples. Accom-panying the Duke, the Earl Home of theHirsel also took his labrador, Drake.

At Heron Court, meanwhile, the second

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pheasant rearing was underway by 1825 inthe extensive woodlands of the Duke ofBuccleuch’s estates. These were utterly dif-ferent circumstances, but they were linkedby the common need for an adaptable re-trieving dog that was equally effective onland and in water. The labrador retrieverwas the dog they both sought, and found.

There will always be scope for speculationabout the origins of the labrador retriever.What is certain is that, as deck dogs on shipsplying between Newfoundland and PooleHarbour in Dorset, they attracted attention,particularly for their expertise in water.

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breeding in 1888, could provide all theirgamekeepers with Buccleuch labradors—nomean feat, given that more than 60 of themwere working on the 450,000 acres of theBuccleuch estates. Lord George arrangedall matings—and none was more significantthan that between Avon (sired by Malmes-bury’s Tramp) and Gip, at Drumlanrig in 1891. The resultant dog, Nith, was put toMunden Sarah, producing the dog MundenSixty. He in turn sired the famous MundenSingle, whose run at Sherborne in 1904 setthe breed on its illustrious competitive path.

No Buccleuch dog was ever sold, but manywere given to friends and relations. And, ata time when inter-breeding of retrieving

dogs was routine rather than excep-tional, the Buccleuch breed—noless than the labradors at HeronCourt and those of the Duke ofPortland and the Hon ArthurHolland-Hibbert’s Munden ken-nel—was systematically main-tained. The remarks column inthe Stud Book is testament tothe single-minded pursuit of thehighest quality, a readiness tocull shown in one terse and finalphrase, ‘Put down—useless.’

By the 1920s the kennel had almost150 dogs. One of them, Daniel, whelpedin 1926 and photographed for posterity,

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shows in his head the length of muzzle, thesmall, closely-set ears and full eye with a nat-ural, intelligent expression which the kennelsought. The Stud Book also bears grim wit-ness to the depredations of distemper, with28 fatalities recorded in 1948 alone.

In more fundamental ways, too, there werefaltering steps. Introduction of quarantinerestrictions in 1895 had thwarted the trade indogs and the seventh Duke, who died in 1935,had not been active in maintaining the line.This failure was compounded during WorldWar Two, during which the Buccleuch ken-nel was substantially run down. From 1948to 1960, some progress was made by the pre-sent Duke (then still Earl of Dalkeith), to-

gether with his full-time dog handler, Mr W LHumphrey. Attention to breeding dwindledagain, however, when, in 1960 he was elect-ed MP for Edinburgh North. Several barrenyears followed until, at one stage, only twobreeding-age bitches remained in the ken-nel. That precipitous situation was to deteri-orate still further. By January 2003, whenDavid Lisett, champion gundog trainer, tookon the challenge of reviving the Buccleuchline, only one female remained.

Lisett brings to the challenge a special setof competences, not least his recent recordin field trial competition—but, surprising-ly, in spaniels. If the phoenix is rising again,it is in what might at first seem unconven-tional plumage. But real flair with gundogsis seldom breed-specific, and Lisett has greatflair. His first dog was a labrador, but it iswith springer spaniels that his record is spec-tacular. In 2003 he won the Irish Champi-onship with FTCh Edwardiana Tweed andthe British Championship with FTCh An-nickview Anna. For good measure, he wasalso third in each championship. In 2004 hewon the British Championship again, thistime with FTCh Annickview Breeze, andfinished second and third in the Irish.

David Lisett is under no illusions aboutthe size of the hill he is now climbing withthe Buccleuch labradors. The gene pool isdesperately small, so great care is required,but he is helped by the Buccleuch family,who take their gundog heritage seriously.

Lisett has been poring over records, tryingto identify lines with the right connectionsand characteristics. The last bitch in the ken-nel, Buccleuch Gem (who has excellent hipscores) has had two litters, one by GarrydonMark of Pocklea, the second by WillowyckRuff, giving two lines to work with in thesearch for the characteristic Buccleuch stampof temperament, trainability and gamefind-ing. Two puppies from the first litter, Oak, adog, and Opal, a bitch, are now 20 monthsold, so these are exciting times.

Meanwhile, development of the kennelcomplex and training field on DrumlanrigEstate will soon be finished. It holds facili-ties for up to 40 dogs and their training willbe carried out on some of the best groundimaginable. The Duke, with Lord Dalkeithand Lady Amabel—who looked after Opalfor a while as a puppy—are as keen as theyare serious, not least because the program-me is an expression of the estate’s tradition-al values of enlightened stewardship.

Thus the phoenix is rising for the Buc-cleuch labradors, and in recognisable form.The tradition, weighty as it is, is not weighingon the mind of David Lisett—rather, it is asource of strength and inspiration. The stan-dards which made possible the unique con-tribution of the Duke of Buccleuch’s lab-radors to the early history of the breed arestill the standards which the family and train-er seek to uphold. The Buccleuch labradorshave stepped back from the brink and the re-solve to make them great again is strong.Across the labrador world, the results ofDavid Lisett’s efforts are keenly awaited. ■■¶ Field trial reports and results, pp157-160.

Two puppies now hold keys to thefuture glory of the Buccleuch line

Left: Hopes are pinned on Opal and her brother, Oak,who resembles his forebear Daniel 1926 (inset). Aboveleft: The fifth Duke. Above right: The present Duke.