Turnspit dog
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| Turnspit dog | |
|---|---|
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. A dog at work inside a wheel near the ceiling; from Remarks on a Tour to North and South Wales (1800) | |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Breed status | Extinct |
| Dog (domestic dog) | |
The turnspit dog was a short-legged, long-bodied dog bred to run on a wheel, called a turnspit or dog wheel, to turn meat. It is mentioned in Of English Dogs in 1576 under the name "Turnespete".[1] William Bingley's Memoirs of British Quadrupeds (1809) also talks of a dog employed to help chefs and cooks. It was also known as the Kitchen Dog, the Cooking Dog, or the Wheeling Dog. In Linnaeus's 18th-century classification of dogs it is listed as Script error: No such module "Lang". (also used as Latin name for the Dachshund).[citation needed] The breed was lost, since it was considered to be such a lowly and common dog that no record was effectively kept of it. Some sources consider the turnspit dog a kind of Glen of Imaal Terrier,[2] while others make it a relative of the Welsh Corgi.[3]
With advancements in kitchen technology, the need for turnspit dogs declined. Over time, they were no longer bred for their specific function, and their numbers dwindled, eventually leading to their extinction.
A preserved example of a turnspit dog is displayed at Abergavenny Museum in Abergavenny, Wales.[4]
Work
The turnspit dog was bred to run on a wheel in order to turn meat so it would cook evenly. Due to the strenuous nature of the work, a pair of dogs would often be worked in shifts. According to John George Wood in The Illustrated Natural History (Mammalia) (1853):[5]
The dogs were also taken to church to serve as foot warmers. One story says that during service at a church in Bath, the Bishop of Gloucester gave a sermon and uttered the line "It was then that Ezekiel saw the wheel...". At the mention of the word "wheel" several turnspit dogs, who had been brought to church as foot warmers, ran for the door.[6]
Queen Victoria kept retired turnspit dogs as pets.[7]
Appearance
Turnspit dogs were described as "long-bodied, crooked-legged and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them".[8] Delabere Blaine, a 19th-century veterinarian (and self-described "father of canine pathology"), classified the Turnspit dog as a variety of spaniel.[9] Often they are shown with a white stripe down the center of their faces. According to Bingley's Memoirs of British Quadrupeds (1809):[10] Template:Quote
The turnspit dog is again described by H.D. Richardson in his book Dogs; Their Origin and Varieties (1847):[11] Template:Quote
The crooked leg is most likely owed to very distant ancestors as noted in Dogs And All About Them (1910), by Robert Leighton:[12] Template:Quote
The gene for chondrodysplasia in various short-legged breeds has been confirmed to trace back to a single ancestral mutation.[13]
See also
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Caius, John (1576). Of English Dogs. Translated from Latin by Abraham Fleming. pp. 34–35.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.American Kennel Club (2007). The Complete Dog Book (20th ed.). Random House. p. 467. ISBN 978-0-307-41699-5.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.The Kitchen Sisters (13 May 2014). "Turnspit Dogs: The Rise and Fall of the Vernepator Cur". The Salt. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Wooden case containing Whiskey". BBC - A History of the World. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wood, J.G. (1853). The Illustrated Natural History (Mammalia). Routledge and Sons. pp. 316–317.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Coren, Stanley (2002). The Pawprints of History: Dogs and the Course of Human Events. Simon and Schuster. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-0-7432-2228-0.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Vesey-FitzGerald, Brian Seymour (1957). The Domestic Dog: An Introduction to its History. Routledge and Paul. p. 137.
- ^ Template:Gutenberg
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Blaine, Delabere (1832). Canine Pathology [...] London: T. & T. Boosey. p. 25.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bingley, W. (1809). Memoirs of British Quadrupeds. Darton and Harvey, etc. p. 151.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Richardson, H.D. (1847). Dogs; Their Origin and Varieties. Dublin: James McGlashan. p. 73.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Leighton, Robert (1910). Dogs and All About Them. Cassell and Company.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Parker, H. G.; VonHoldt, B. M.; Quignon, P.; Margulies, E. H.; et al. (16 July 2009). "An Expressed Fgf4 Retrogene Is Associated with Breed-Defining Chondrodysplasia in Domestic Dogs". Science. 325 (5943): 995–998. Bibcode:2009Sci...325..995P. doi:10.1126/science.1173275. PMC 2748762. PMID 19608863.
Further reading
- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morris, Desmond (2002). Dogs: the Ultimate Dictionary of over 1,000 Dog Breeds. Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-187091-7.
External links
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- "Whiskey" the turnspit dog, 19th century, stuffed, at Abergavenny Museum
- Dog wheel turnspit, 18th century, from Coed Cernyw, Monmouthshire, at Abergavenny Museum
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