| (Imp. New Foundland)<1883
Last of the original imports taken off the boats that docked in Poole; Turk arrived in 1871
A RESOURCEFUL OLD TURK
The Radclyffe’s estate at Hyde House was just outside Bere Regis less than 15 miles from Poole Harbour, and therefore was integral to the very beginning of the process of bringing in dogs from Labrador and Newfoundland. As a young boy my grandfather (CRE Radclyffe) would accompany his father (CJ Radclyffe) on shoot days and in later life he recorded these early years of the breed: “At that time my father owned a very celebrated labrador dog, named Turk, which he had specially imported from Newfoundland, before the days when so-called labrador dogs became popular. It was my father’s boast that this dog would never lose a wounded bird or animal so long as they did not go to ground.”
He then went on to record the following story about Turk: “One day at a big shoot at Milton Abbey, just as we were going in to the keeper’s house for lunch, the host, Colonel Hambro, called out to my father: “Here Charlie, I wish you would bring your dog here. There is a running cock pheasant down which none of our dogs can find.” The dog was duly sent in to a thick bit of covert and disappeared for some time. After a while my father said: “Let us go into lunch. I will bet anything the old dog will come back with the bird before long.” And sure enough about 10 minutes after we had gone into the house the headkeeper looked in at the door and said to my father: “Your dog brought back the cock pheasant and I have taken it away from him”.
After the usual congratulations and plaudits like ‘the best dog in England’ etc the episode was forgotten for a time. But after lunch my father’s loader came to him and said. “Please sir, the man in charge of the game cart told me just now that, when he was driving back to lunch, old Turk came galloping down the ride behind him, jumped on the back of the cart, took a cock pheasant and went off with it.” My father replied: “Well damn it all I told you the old dog would not come back without something.””
https://gundog-journal.com/training/the-labrador-pioneers/
TOO MANY DOGS TO COUNT
My grandfather told a story long after his father had died to show the scale of his love of both horses and dogs: “Some years ago I remember the present Lord Knutsford, who was then the Hon Arthur Holland-Hibbert, on the occasion of a visit to my home asking my father how many dogs he had on the estate. He was immensely amused when I said: “I will bet a fiver that my father does not know if he has more dogs or horses on the place or vice versa.” At which my father said: “Done! I will bet you I have more dogs than horses.” The result of a tally next morning was that I won the fiver as there were 64 dogs and 66 horses.” |
