Gundog History

In the 1830s, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, was one of the first to import dogs from Newfoundland on to his estates in the Scottish Borders for use as gundogs because of their excellent retrieving capabilities

The English Cocker is no doubt one of the oldest types of land spaniel. Their origins can be traced back to 14th century Spain. Prior to the 1600’s all types of spaniels were categorised together; the larger ones being used to spring game and the smaller ones to flush out woodcock. Hence the names Springer and Cocker were derived. In 1892, the Kennel Club of Great Britain differentiated the two breeds separately. In the 1930’s, the Cocker was the most popular breed of dog in Britain and there he stayed for almost 20 years! On the other side of the Atlantic, Americans were using the same breeding stock to develop a slightly different Cocker. In 1940, the Kennel Club then split these Spaniels into American and English.

Highly intelligent dogs who are very easily trained, Cockers like to please and are eager to learn.  FTCH Buccleuch Athena achieved 4th place and 2nd place at the Cocker Spaniel championships. She’s now retired from trials and enjoys a quieter life on the Queensberry estate picking up on shoot days and maintains her zest for life.

The Buccleuch Spaniels started with David Lisett when he joined the Buccleuch Group in January 2004 and brought his Spaniels with him.  David had researched many different bloodlines before he purchased three female English Springer Spaniels from three different sources.  There were two reasons for this, the first was to find out which suited David’s training methods and the second was to facilitate use of a variety of stud dogs as the bloodlines were all different.  This was back in 1996 and the Spaniels were Rytex Ricicles from Mr Ian Openshaw, Toonarmy Top-Tip from Mr Peter Richardson, and Edwardiana Tweed from Mr John Edwards with whom David won the Irish Championships in 2003.
These three foundation bitches have led to many notable achievements for the kennels, including:

• January 2004—British Championship Winner—Annickview Anna
• January 2005—British Championship Winner—Annickview Breeze
• December 2005—Irish Championship Winner—Annickview Anna
• January 2007—British Championship Winner—Annickview Breeze
• December 2007—Irish Championship Winner—Annickview Breeze
• January 2010—British Championship Winner—Buccleuch Jazz

Most notably, sporting history was made at the Irish Championships in 2007 when first, second and third places respectively were awarded to: Annickview Breeze, Annickview Anna and Buccleuch Charm all trained and handled by David Lisett.