English Water Spaniel

In 1565, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was a given a Water Spaniel by James Melville of Halhill.

"[2] Furthermore, Shakespeare specifically mentions the breed in Act III Scene 1 of The Two Gentlemen of Verona when Launce says of his love, "She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel."

The breed is mentioned specifically by name as early as 1802, in Sportsman's Cabinet, where it is described as having "hair long and naturally curled, not loose and shaggy"; the description accompanied an engraving of a liver and white curly-coated spaniel.

[2] The stud book of the Kennel Club also had a class for "Water spaniels other than Irish", however only fourteen dogs were registered in the twelve years up to 1903.

Dogs awarded prizes as Water Spaniels during this period have been described as having "coats as flat as a Clumber, but with a bit of longish hair about the top of the skull.

[2] Paintings by Henry Bernard Chalon and Ramsay Richard Reinagle both show English Water Spaniels working with their masters hunting ducks.

In The Sportsman's Repository (1820), the author advises that if an individual wishes to hunt ducks or any other type of waterfowl, then the hunter had best use an English Water Spaniel.

Three sixteenth-century men dressed in period attire. One man holds a hooded hawk, and four dogs accompany them.
A 16th-century hawking party accompanied by Water Spaniels.
Water Spagnel
A painting of a dark brown and white dog with a heavy coat. It has heavy feathering on the tail and legs, and its tongue is out.
Water Spaniel (1815) by Ramsay Richard Reinagle (1775–1862)
A drawing of a furry dark dog facing to the right. Its legs and belly are white, and it holds its front left paw in the air.
An 1859 drawing of a Water Spaniel.