Memory traces?

Dogs do have an excellent sense of smell but I don't imagine that Raki can actually pick up the scent of those who lived here one hundred years ago.

I often used to wonder what these ruined buildings had been, with their fine masonry  and the generously proportioned entrance. The ground plan, a series of stone stalls (extra) and enclosures, didn't resemble a typical farm and there was no obvious human dwelling place. I sought the opinion of one who knew the area like the back of his hand and he told me this had been the kennels for nearby Tregwynt Manor.

The Anglo-Welsh gentry who owned most of the land in West Wales were of course great hunting, shooting and fishing types. Most grand houses had their own packs of fox and otter hounds, not to mention terriers for badger hunting and gun dogs for pointing and retrieving. Yes it was a cruel old world of blood sports.

The lord of the manor at Tregwynt in the late 19th/early 20th centuries was one Richard Purcell Llewellin whose name is forgotten in all but the world of the English Setter, a dog used in hunting game by sniffing out the scent of the prey - pheasant, grouse and quail apparently. Llewellin devoted his life to developing the breed, known as " the gentleman's companion",  by  crossing, raising and training  the best dogs - mainly to demonstrate their prowess in field trials rather than in the undergrowth. Dog-breeding was a passion for many of the idle rich (Llewellin had made his money in banking.)

I imagine him in his white-bearded latter years strolling, after breakfast,  the half mile or so from the manor to these kennels (where kennelmen would doubtless have been hard at work since dawn feeding, cleaning out and exercising the dogs) to visit his favourites, in particular his pride and joy, Countess,  the first gun dog to ever attain a Dual Champion title. 


Her instincts were sharp and operated with machine-like precision, so that if she happened to be keyed up just right and got going well she would run a brilliant race. But she was not to be depended upon.


Oh dear. Raki could relate to that.




For anyone who wants to dip a toe in the extremely complex history of the English setter, here is a fairly brief introduction.