The Great Bruce

"The Great Bruce"
Sire: "Frazier of Ireland" Dam: "Mandy of Dublin"



Achievements:
"The Great Bruce" was one of the greats in the Irish badger trials,winning 15 certificates of gameness,known as "Teastas Mor".I believe he was brother to Ch.Red Warrior,who was brought to England by M.Dann.Bruce also found his way to England in the 1980s,he was also known as "Wolf Island Warrior. The trials were conducted strictly within the law,and a veterinary surgeon was present at all times with all trials carried out in natural setts.The dog must stay at the badger for at least 5 minutes and must not bark while in contact with the badger. They were all governed by strictly enforced Irish Kennel Club rules at that time. Wheaton terriers,Glen of Imaal and kerry blues also competed in the trials along with the Stafford and a few English Bulls. Cross breeding of these dogs was also undertaken only of course,if both dog and bitch were proven game. Badgers are now a protected species in the U.K and Ireland and their setts must not be disturbed by man or his dogs).

Pedigree of " The Great Bruce""
Parents GrandParents GreatGrandParents
SIRE
"Frazier of Ireland"



"Ch.The Great Ceaser"


" Ch.Mandy of Rommel"
DAM

"Mandy of Dublin"

"Ch.Marion Terrace Boy"
"Ch.Gorey Sadie"

 

In Memory of Mr.W.Delaney.

WILLIE DELANEY
Although i never knew the man or even had the pleasure of meeting him i feel that given the content of this website it would be appropriate to acknowledge the late Mr.Willie Delaney of Dublin,Eire,who along with Eddie Byrne was founder/creator of the dogs that later became known as the "Dublin Red Strain" of Irish Staffords.It was Willie who owned "Ch.Brindle Devil" and many other great working dogs of Ireland.Here is a short story told by Willie's good lady wife on how he came to own "Ch.Brindle Devil".......Willie was working in England when he travelled down to Piccadilly circus to an animal market that was attended by people selling Pigeons and Dogs etc,Willie spotted a man walking into the market with this fine looking Stafford.Willie immediately spotted the quality of this dog and approached the man who was a school teacher,he told Willie that he purchased the dog from the breeder Mr.H.Payne and that the dog was for sale as he could'nt handle the dogs temperament.He went on to tell Willie that the dog was killing the cats and dogs around the area where he lived. Willie finally purchased the dog for good money,and arranged for his younger brother to meet him at Liverpool Ferry Port to collect "Brindle Devil" and take him back to Ireland,as Willie was still working in England for a few weeks. Willie's brother met him at Liverpool and took the dog on-board the boat.During the voyage back to Dublin,Willie's brother had to restrain the dog from trying to get at some cattle that were on the boat.There was also a guard patroling the Decks with a large German Shepherd dog,who would insist on winding Willie's brother up about "Brindle Devil".He was saying "Go on son let your little dog go,my fella will take him" He ignored the Guard,but "Brindle Devil" did'nt...He lunged at the German Shepherd and caught it by the throat,and it was a good two or three minutes before they finally separated them.Needless to say,the guard and his dog were no bother afterwards.

"Outside the ring Marciano was gentle,courteous and slow to anger.Inside it he was frightening.His raw power,ability to absorb punishment and sheer will to win gave him an air of invincibility"....This was written about former World Heavyweight Champion "Rocco(Rocky)Marciano".It could just as easily be a reference to the canine warriors such as those featured on this website.



"Red Bull"
The following is a fictional account of a sporting event from days gone by...

“RED BULL” VS SCRATCH KENNELS “LAD” M 37LBS REF.LIONHEART,TIMEKEEPER DR DEATH.
Lad a black Apbt sired by Biscuit out of a bitch called Kess (Biscuit sired by Ch Curstopper, Kess a daughter of Ch Wizard), Lad comes in at 36.8lbs. Red Bull a red Staffordshire bull terrier from English K.C. breeding comes in at 37.1 lbs is 1 ounce over no forfeit taken. Flying start Red Bull gets straight in to the chest & shakes it out! Real fast pace, Lad tries to hold Red Bull out by the ear but Red Bull finds his way back in and gets on a front leg shaking it out & swaps to the shoulders, turn claimed on Lad and allowed by ref, Lad starts the scratching at 12 minutes, Red Bull still ahead but Lad finds his way in and takes a front leg & shakes hard, Red Bull bottom dog works Lad off from underneath gets up and drives in to the chest, fast handling and it’s Red Bull’s turn to scratch he goes like a rocket. Lad gets on top a few times but Red Bull is real fast always manages to get out to push back in. Lot of scratching Lad meets Red Bull on his scratches in to his own corner couple of times, Lad comes back in flurries but hesitates before making his eighth at 45 & probably would have been counted out if Red Bull didn’t scream in his corner, next handle at 49 Red Bull flies across, new handle at 51 minutes Lad hesitates a few seconds before he walks across but can’t beat the count! Lad makes a stumbling courtesy, Red Bull runs his hardest! Winner:“ Red Bull” in 51 minutes & now a 1x Winner.



"Gr.Ch.Duke"
Pictured above is "Gr.Ch.Duke" who was the only Stafford to be registered as an official "Sporting Dog Journal" Grand Champion,there were others who were not reported,such as "Gr.Ch.Rocky" who was to have met "Duke" in a battle of the Grand Champion Staffords,but this never materialised."Duke" was regarded as one of the best ever,a talented,hard mouthed dog weighing around 32/33Ib.




"Gr.Ch.Rocky"
Rocky was bred from kc stock and matured into an athletic,tenacious and friendly Stafford who particularly loved children.At two years old he was given a series of rolls into various dogs (who each outweighed Rocky by several pounds) showing heart,mouth,good wind and intelligence .Rockys first match was at 35Ib winning in 22 mins.He was matched at his correct weight of around 32Ib for his next four matches,all going well over the hour mark,in his fifth Rocky gave away weight and youth to beat Bomber in 1hr 10mins to become "Grand Champion Rocky"(unofficial).



"DT's Louis"
A Sporting Stafford (1xw). "DT's Louis" stood 17ins and weighed in at 36Ib.In 1987 at a weight-pulling event he pulled 1135 Ibs.Over 31 times his own bodyweight.



"Dillinger" (Sam Junior)
Dillenger(pictured with son,Grip) was yet another game KC Stafford bred from Rapparee stock.It is said he won 8 or more matches in his time at a weight of around 43Ib,most notably against Ch.Red Joe in 1hr 03 mins,Joe was picked up to save his career as a stud dog,Dillinger had a hold of his balls! He also lost 2 against Pitbulls,to Buzz in 35 mins and to the great bitch Limey's Tug ROM,going 2 hours 16 mins. Dillenger was out of Jasmarc Jamajay and Brindle Molly.

 

"Scarecrow's Duke"

"Duke" was a KC Reg Staff of "Rapparee" breeding who was very highly regarded in sporting circle's with a reputation for giving a torrid time to some well-bred Pitbull's,not to mention leaving their owner's somewhat red-faced!The first was a game-tested Gino X Reid dog that had seen quite enough of Duke by the 42 minute mark.Next was a Bronson/Nelis dog with a reputation,who saw Duke as a warm-up to "Bigger & Better things" but half an hour in Duke's company was enough warming-up for this one!Duke was then matched against the very game,and future Champion "Scotsman's Bash",after a hard,evenly contested 1hr 30mins,it was becoming apparent that one of these game animals would have to take his death before a winner was found so Duke was picked-up by his owner,conceding the match but showing his desire to continue by giving a hard courtesy scratch. Duke was'nt bred very much for various reasons but apparently 2 or 3 of his son's are a chip of the old block causing the odd nightmare among the Pitbull's!.Duke was over 15 year's old before he passed away.



"Havoc" (Amos' Bane)
"Havoc" was a black/brindle dog of English k.c. breeding,he weighed around 40Ib and stood 19 ins at the shoulder.He was rolled into an APBT bitch,a daughter of "Dann's Gar".This bitch was regarded as one of the best around at the time and was giving "Havoc" a beating for 15 mins until the tables were turned and she was picked up at 20 mins,unable to continue. "Havoc" won several other private rolls before his life was taken in a road accident while still a young dog.However he was bred a few times and among the progeny were a male called "Gus" and "Piper" a bitch. "Havoc" was out of "Badge Boy" & "Lynn's Pet".



"Ch.Brock"
Ch.Brock was purchased from a puppy kennels for the reduced price of Ł59.00 due to being the runt of the litter.He was of English K.C. breeding and weighed around 30/31 Ib. "Brock" was raised as a hunting dog along with his owner's working terriers.He was matched on four occasions,winning the first two,one of which was against the well known and respected "Springview's Oscar".He was defeated in his third by "Bullit" in 32 mins due to his owner messing up on "Brock's" keep.A rematch was made and "Brock" emerged victorious at 1:25.



"Ch.Stormer"
Ch.Stormer was a Staff X English bull match dog who won 7 matches with 4 being unreported while in Ireland,one match lasting 2hrs 26mins.He was then sold to interests in England where he was to have his most famous victory defeating Ch.Psycho.His impressive record shows that he was a very good fighting dog,however he was a one off and although he was bred a few times with many good looking dogs around today carrying his name he was never able to produce any match worthy offspring.



"Harris' Big Red"
The dog pictured above is featured simply for his superb eye catching physique and conformation as prefered by todays fancier of the old sort.Achieved through dedication,correct diet,exercise and of course,breeding. "Big Red" was an awesome looking son of "Ch.Red Joe",he was not entered for the same sporting events as his well known sire but he was a useful weight-pull dog and gained a Grand Championship in conformation as recognition for his excellent condition and physique.



"Bullpowers DJ"
"DJ" is a Red strain/Rapparee cross sired by "Red Joe III" and out of a pure "Rapparee" bitch.He won several prizes when shown at the S.I.B.T.C shows in England.I believe DJ now resides in Israel.



The "Flynn" Strain of working Stafford's.
Regarded as one of the gamest of the Stafford lines the "Flynn" Strain has certainly had its share of game dogs worthy of admiration. It all started in Ireland with the brothers "Flynn" who kept game trial dogs such as Wheaten Terriers and working Staffords.
Over a period of time they obtained and bred their own versions of how they thought a game dog should be and so formed a Strain of Stafford's known as the "Evergreen" and "Faranee" stock. The main foundation dogs included some of the dogs you will find in the Northford/Psycho line's background. Dogs like "Hegarty's Black Tiger","Cork Rose","Mutton Skull" and a dog of dubious background,but known to be an excellent worker,the mysterious "Lynchahaun". The story goes that "Lynchahaun" was stolen by a seaman in England who then sold him in Ireland to a priest named Father Jordan.It was said that the children in his parish tormented the priest and so he thought that the children would take to the dog and so stop the pestering. I guess the dog made the tormenting stop,because when the children saw this dog they began setting their own dogs on him, but "Lynchahaun" would go ballistic and kill any dog they put before him,and sure enough Father Jordan was soon left alone. This was probably heard about in the parish and since the dogs name appears behind a great many of the dogs from that area I guess it is safe to assume that someone thought he would be worth taking their bitch to for a breeding.



"Paddy of Plymouth"
"Lynchahaun" was the Sire to many great Trial dogs,some of which are in the background of the "Flynn" dogs. He was the Sire to "Moneys Pet" who was mated to "Cork Rose's" brother "Faranee Lad",this produced two pups that later became known as "Faranee boy" and Evergreen Dolly. These were then mated to give "Evergreen Patsy",a very good bitch, which was put to Gerry Allen's "Geronimo" dog. A lot of thought went into this breeding and it gave excellent results."Evergreen Patsy" was also put to "Barney",a Staff/ EBT cross and "Wolf Island Boy", both appear in the pedigree of the "Irish Jack" dog. The "Flynn" brothers were also involved in some of the breeding behind Ch.Psycho,such as "Evergreen Tiny Peggy" or Doneal Flynn's "Old Peggy". The mating between "Geronimo" and "Evergreen Patsy" was another good breeding,"Patsy" was also bred back to her Sire "Faranee Boy",which resulted in "Max of Plymouth" who was sent to England.The breeding of "Geronimo" to "Patsy" resulted in "Paddy","Leo" and "Candy"."Paddy" and "Candy" were sent to Peter W. in the UK and "Leo" was shipped to Joe Orday in the U.S.A.



"Judy of Plymouth"
With these dogs now in the UK, a tight breeding program begun. When "Max" was put across his half sister "Candy",they produced "Judy of Plymouth" and "Blue Wolf" AKA "Springview's Wolf". "Judy" was in turn put to "Paddy of Plymouth",which resulted in "Abby of Plymouth","Floyd of Plymouth","Bess of Plymouth" and "Slade of Plymouth". "Floyd" was bred to his sister "Bess" and produced "Cass of Plymouth" and "Limerick Kennels Nelson"."Nelson" was said to be a very game dog,who lost twice. One of his matches was reported as following: The Potman's Blue Vs. Limerick Kennels Nelson. Blue,sired by Ch.Smuggler comes in at 43lb.Nelson a Flynn bred dog comes in at 39 lb. Fast pace with Blue on the shoulder,Nelson on the head and neck. Blue works the chest and shoulder most of the time and pushes Nelson about. Nelson is picked up at 21 minutes, and is counted out on his courtesy scratch. Winner Blue 21 minutes.



"Slade of Plymouth"
"Slade of Plymouth" was said to be a very game bitch, rolled into many dogs Staffords and APBT's, showing deep gameness. She was bred back to her father "Paddy" producing "Hey's Peggy" and "Hooker"."Peggy" was later bred to "Springview's Wolf" producing two sons,"Sonny" and "Jock".While "Hooker" was covered by "Moonshine","Josh" and "Irish Jack",giving some good results. "Paddy of Plymouth" was reputed to have won 7 matches and when mated to a bitch from "Rapparee" lines called "Lucky" they produced a great bitch."Ch.Molly" won as many as 6 matches,but some of these were considered to be "off the chain" and consequently were not reported contract matches. Whatever the case "Molly" was a very game bitch. Since this mating was a total outcross it makes sense that she was bred back to "Springview's Wolf",making the resulting pups 3/4 Flynn 1/4 "Rapparee".She was however also bred to the famous "Red Strain" dog "Russell's Red Joe" and also to well known "Psycho" Strain dog "Farmers boys Jocko"."Molly" was in fact bred back to "Wolf" more than once,producing,"Belcher of Taunton"(see "Irish Dogs" section)"Trap","Twister","Vicci","Rhona" and "Jed".



"Rhona"
"Twister" was from the second mating of "Wolf" and "Ch.Molly" and was said to have performed well at the Badger.She was bred to "Lee's Sylus",("Lee's Lightfoot" by "Johnson")and threw some healthy pups,one of these,a bitch ended up in Sweden,where she was registered under a fake name and is now behind some show stock over there.



"Ch.Molly"
"Trap" was known to be a very game dog, but I have not heard much about him or his offspring.A grand daughter of his was mated with "FFB's Jack" in early 2002, but so far I have heard nothing of the results. "Vicci" was a litter sister to "Trap" and "Belcher" and i believe that she did very well against the badger although she never really proved herself against other dogs.



"Hooker"
I don't have any info on what happened with "Rhona" and "Jed" but there are still a few dogs of this line around. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately,depending on how you look at it) this strain never reached the popularity the "Dublin Red" and "Northford/Psycho" strains did, but nevertheless the "Flynn" strain is very highly regarded today.
Acknowledgment & Thanks to "H of Eastford Kennels".



"Trap" (Wolf x Molly)




"S & A's Twister"




"Tinker" Modern day "Flynn" bred female.




"Woodside Lad"

 

Written by;

Staffordshire Bull Terriers

 

Joe Mallen pictured with "Stowcote Pride" and one of his Gamefowl.
"Never forget the past..... Without it there is no Future".




Wednesbury Stafford 1920s
Wednesbury is in the heart of the Black country (Staffordshire).
In the 1920s/30s the bull & terrier fighting dogs kept mainly by the iron workers and chainmakers of these districts, began to become known as the Staffordshire bull terrier in an attempt to gain kennel club recognition,in a campaign led by Joe Mallen and Joe Dunn they achieved this in 1935,with the formation of "The original Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club" at the Old Cross Guns Hotel,Cradley Heath. The dog pictured above,along with others shown in this section, has the conformation prefered by today's fancier/breeder of the old type Stafford.




Early Stafford show (England 1937).





Bill Boylan pictured with Game Laddie & Emden Challenger. 1939





W.A.Boylan
Bill Boylan pictured with "Ch.Game Laddie" in 1938.

 

Fred Southall (a black country man) pictured with Georgecroft Mandamus & Satan's Mistress

Fred Southall bred his bitch Satan's Mistress(a daughter of Bellerophon Billy Boy)to Georgecroft Mandamus(sired by Ch.Head lad of Vilmar)and produced a litter that included Ch.Bandits Brintiga. John F Gordon bought the whole litter, purely on the recommendation of Fred Southall, and history was made.Bandits Brintiga was later taken to South Africa with his new owner. Some of the "Bandits" dogs are pictured below......................




"Ch.Bandit's Brintiga"
One of the greatest "R" line dogs of all time and the sire of "Ch.Topcroft Toreador" amongst others.Fred Southall told John F Gordon that Brintiga was worth the cost of the whole litter and it seems he was right.




Ch.Fearless Red of Bandits





Ch.Brigand's Red Rogerson





"Brigand's Bashum(above left) & Brigand's Judy".





"The Old Crossguns Inn"
"Win or Lose,we'll have some booze".




Count V.C. Hollander with English Bull Terrier(1936).





The late Joe Graham.
Shown here with APBT & SBT,Joe was editor of the "Pitbull News" before his untimely death in a road accident around the time he was due to appear in court to fight the "Dangerous Dogs Act"(DDA).




(L to R) Ch.Godfreys Pride,Ch.Della of Impking & Ch.Godellas Pride.
Father,Mother and Son(Early 1950s).




"Ch.Eaststaff Danom".
A prolific stud dog and producer of quality stock including many Champions in his day (late 1950s/1960s).





James Hinks kennels

 

Great history,it is a shame that when people started getting the pit bulls,the game staffords were more or less left to die out.If only the people who kept these dogs could have forseen what was going to happenwith regards to the dda,maybe then they would have tried to keep the game stafford lines alive.

 

You've been putting some good reads on here lately keep it up.

 

Absolutely sad that the game Stafford is pretty much gone. Last Staff Ch that I know of is probably 10 years ago now. That dog whooped Pitbulls.
There are som good game staffords left in Northern Europe. But I guess you can count them on one hand nowadays.

 

Hoping Fink comes back on here,the man is a fount of knowledge.

 

Fake news! Spin! Complete distortion of truth! One of them would have taken his death all right, but it wouldn't have been Bash and Duke showed zero desire to continue after he got picked up, he refused to courtesy! Bash came home that night, ate a full bowl of food and ready to go again next day (at least he thought so).. The above history (regarding Bash) isn't only untrue, it detracts from how great a Champion Bash really was.. He was never an ace like GR.CH.Bill, or as talented as CH.Hagar (although I still believe Bash would have won @ 38lb) but seems more in UK interested in a hard mouth cur called Scarecrows Duke than the dead game tornado CH.Bash.

 

The above post is no reflection on FWK.. He only reposted the fake news what was already printed in SDJ and PBN long time ago.

 

Nothing like a bit of first hand evidence.

 

excellent thread.. made me do bit of research .
i wonder how the Staffordshire bull terrier would compare with american staffordshire terrier in the gameness department. would the american staffordshire be gamer or throw more game dogs on average then the english stafford. giving that both are show breeds predominately.

 

Really good post. Wish I had d time to read tru it dis mornin. I looked at d pictures quickly. I have reached out to descendants of the Delaney. If my mind is ndshsrp this morning they have a superb cattle farm in TX. He also made a site dedication to the dogs of various hunting breeds. Crosses and such.
O Flynn the same. I like the history you share. A hell of post FWK. Thank ya

 

It would be 50/50 since neither are really bred for gameness anymore. When a good one comes along it’s pretty much a happy accident that’s hard to breed good ones from.