Will wrote this article for the Irish Red Setter Club in 1993.

Travelling about in Scotland I pass over the long Cromarty Firth Bridge into "dogging" country. For this is my second home, a place where Pointer and Setter together with gun and hawk are used for the pursuit of the red grouse. The names of the places and estates conjure up pedigrees in one's mind - Fern MigdaIe, Campbusmore, Rovie, Langwell, Altraharra - Here I have heard a hundred stories - and I could tell you a hundred more.

Alas, long rows of kennels clad with stark iron railings but without dogs, are a rather ghostly sight, causing sadness at their demise. A few still exist, some exist in a limited form, some are new like Stephen Frank's very famous Embercombe Pointers and some of the estates have once again bought in a few dogs for their own use.

In the past, because of the climate, the long season and the topography, this was English Setter country, with just a few expections.

As I sat looking over the game records in Tressady Estate, just West of the village of Rogart I saw a familiar name - Nagle. A large number of game had been shot over the famous Sulbanstead red setters. I also found out from Eppie Buist that they had competed in the early Highland Trials in the good old days of the grouse, the big Kennels and the abundance of English Setters.

The Kennels of Tressady are once again full of good Irish Setters and they have one English Setter, a hard one, but good. She came from Ireland and was sired by a Norwegian dog. The Irish Setters are sired by sons of Mullaghanus and Moanruad Sapphire. From personal information I know that Sapphire has performed and produced well in the Scandinavian countries. These at Tressady are working dogs that do the job. They have speed, range, stamina and nose. They are liked, trained and handled by the Keeper at Tressady, Brian Green.

As I travel south into Bonar Bridge, it brings back memories of the late Donald McClean - Donald was a "great dog man". One remembers the "Migdales" and the "Assynts" of Lord Vestey for whom he trained and handled. I shall always remember his advice one day when I was in the running for a win - "Get back into the quiet with your dog". He gave me my first English Setter, and on an English moor I reached into a tea chest and handed him a red bundle with two shining eyes.. "Is she a good one, Sloan" he asked. "Aye, she's hunting and quartering at twelve weeks", I replied - she was. She was Donald's last setter. He made her a full trial champion after a severe heart attack, walking with a stick and with a steel brace on his leg. He said that she was his best. She was Field Trial Champion Drumshane Agatha from Ballinamallard in Northern Ireland. She was sired by a Maytown dog called Simon.

Go south again for a mile to Ardgay, then up to Struie turn left before the Altnahalla Inn then first on the right you come to Nancy McNichol's - now Mrs Reid. Here there are a number of red dogs - working and trial dogs that earn their keep.

In recent years Nancy has won the breed stake twice, with Billie and with Barry. Unfortunately Billie was shot and blinded when dogging down wind. Barry, a brother of Billie Darragh's Field Trial Champion Muffin of Erinville, the 1991 Championship winner, and now belongs to an American who uses him for hawking.

Up North I go to Wick on my travels up and down the A9, to the Kennels of the late Mr. Backie, now run by his daughter, Mrs. Campbell, who is dedicated to keeping alive the old system of "hiring out". Like her father used to do, she buys in trained dogs which she hires out for the season to estates and to individuals coming North to shoot grouse

I have sat in Sackville House in Bower and listened to stories of the past, looked at photographs of "old" Red Setters, read their pedigrees and discussed with her the good red setter stock that she has in her Kennels.

I have walked most of the Moors in the cast of Scotland from Inverness to Wick watching Red Setters fly across the ground, stretch their heads high to go to birds, follow and pin a running covey, stay steady on the covey as the old cock tries to run the dog off, and root out old cocks and barren pairs. I have seen these dogs run in stifling heat, enjoy the fierce cold dampness of the high hill and all with a bigness of heart that happily wreaks misery in their bodies. These dogs are great in this country, and what better admission from a moor owner than "I take back all I have said about setters -these setters are great" and better still, "we enjoyed them".

The standard of Pointers and Setters in Trials is, in my opinion, at an all time high. I had the pleasure, last year of judging three Summer Meetings, the Yorkshire, the Northern Counties in Scotland, and the North of Scotland and also the Pointer Club Novice Stake in England. The three Open Stakes were superb. However, the Puppy Stake at the Yorkshire Society stands out in my memory. It was won by a 14 month old Irish Setter dog puppy which showed a quality equal to that of an Open Stake dog. As I had interest in two dogs going for "honour" I left it to my co-judge to place the dogs. His results agreed entirely with my own. The winning pup belonged to a Mr. Robinson from Newcastle-upon-Tyne who was running in his first season at the trials.

He had bought two pups from Declan O'Rourke which were sired by a son of Billie out of Moanruad Ali (a sister of Moanruad Arabella) and whose dam was Moanruad Breda (Moanruad Quaver x F.T. Ch, Loughnaght Betsy).

At the same meeting, Richard Burridge, the owner of that great horse Desert Orchid, ran a Red Setter with an ability to scent and go to birds that I have seldom seen in a puppy - This was a real hot one. But three pups from this litter, out of the late Pat McCabe's bitch sired by Cromabu Ash featured in the awards during the summer season. Pat's Snowwind Red Hobby now owned and handled by Mrs. Mason ran second to Wilson Harrison's F.T. Ch. Whinbank Red Spirit in the '91 Red Setter Breed Stake. Wilson repeated his success in '92.

The most stylish Setter I saw last season was a young dog, owned by Peter Heard - it was sired by Sheantullagh Hailstone and I shall be most interested to see how this dog develops. I shall be tempted to look at Peter's dog or to Hailstone as a sire -1 feel in my bones that something really good could come here -1 am usually pretty lucky, but stupid in that someone else usually gets the good ones when I breed - but believe it or not I enjoy it.

Billie Darragh has two pups out of John Woodburn's bitch, sired by Sheantullagh Hailstone and I am told that they are of good quality.

After dogging in Scotland, I have spent my time on the Manx hills in pursuit of grouse, snipe, woodcock and pheasant. Each day I learn a little more about Setters and acquire more respect for the cunning of my quarry.

The shooting season is at an end. The guns will be cleaned and put away. Then starts some hectic training because it is back in March to the "real dogging country" the Plains and Flow Country in Badanloch for the start of the Spring Trials.

We look with interest to what we have planned for the Red Setters. I am sure their special magic will delight, not disappoint, but anyway one can always forgive a real character a lot!

When I went to my first trial a big Irishman asked, "What colour of dog have you?" There was only one answer he wanted.

"What colour is your dog?".