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Setters originated in Great Britain in the 1600s from different pointing dogs, but it is only in the 1800s that the Laverack strain prevailed over the other families.

Laverack period. Sir Edward Laverack (1798-1877) can be considered the father of the English and Llewellin setters. Laverack started his kennel with Ponto and Old Moll and using inbreeding for more generations fixed a family of setters that became the most famous in UK.

Llewellin period. A young Richard Purcell Llewellin (1840-1925) got some Laverack dogs and with two other dogs, Dan and Dick (with Gordon blood), followed the same inbreeding method of selection of Laverack. His dogs soon became the best in field trials. They were so famous that several of them were sold in America (Bruce, Count Noble, Gladstone ). And it is in USA and Canada that the Llewellin was first recognized as a separeted breed. In 1902 the FDSB started to register Llewellins as a separate breed from the other setters. This did not happen in Europe. When the official registration of the dogs began, Llewellin used two names: Dashing in honour of Dash 2nd , one of the last dog bred by Laverack and Wind'em in honour of Count Wind'em. From Dash 2nd and Countess Bear was generated Bondhu (in Welsh "heart of oak") who became a field trial champion and in honour of Bondhu Llewellin called all his dogs Dashing …Bondhu (almost all Laverack blood) or Wind'em (about 50% Laverack blood) In this way Llewellin created two Llewellin families, even if with a lot of similar blood

Humphrey period. William Humphrey (1883-1963) lived in England and went on to keep pure the Llewellin lines: Dashing Bondhu and Wind'em. Humphrey, for a short period used the Hosford name for his dogs, later he got the name Dashing Bondhu and Wind'em. He produced 41 field trial champions. Some dogs of Humphrey went to South Africa to the kennel of Mr. Trevor Wostenholms.

Other breeders. Father Bannon in Ireland and M.lle Marie Therese a Goes in Belgium went on to select pure Llewellins. Father Bannon used the name Scinn Amach to identify the Dashing Bondhu line and Cloncurragh for the Wind'em line. When in 1963 Humphrey died the official name Dashing Bondhu and Wind'em went to M.lle Marie Therese a Goes and to the Father Bannon's housekeeper. The Belgian Wind'em became Wind'em d' Hurlain Prè.

In Italy. Several field setters were imported from Great Britain, and Italy became the European country with more setters (more than 15000 new puppies are registered in the LOI, the Italian stud book). Also pure Llewellins were imported, but no breeder kept pure the race. I know that only Marzio Panattoni selects a family of pure Llewellins since 1972. Some Llewellins were imported by Giorgio Morsiani at the end of 1980s from South Africa from Mr. Trevor Wostenholms ( Rockford Josh Wind'em and others) and from America from Mr. Glen Roark (Highland Ambassador Bondhu ).

It is Interesting that the "European rule" mandates that when a component of the Dashing Bondhu or Scinn Amach families is mated with a Wind'em or a Cloncurragh the new borns loose the original name and become a Wind'em or a Cloncurragh.

* My friend, Carolyn Orr, who lives in the United States (Wyoming) has three Llewellin Setters, all kin to my Win. My thanks to her for assistance with the English translation of my text.