Pub Sign Study The Dog And Partridge Salford

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A lot of inn sign relating to hunting, whether it is for birds, rabbits, hares or other game, usually depict the hunting dogs and the prey as either friendly toward one another, or the hunted animal escaping underground, into the sky, etc. This gritty Salford, Greater Manchester, England sign goes for simple direct realism. The Partridge has been shot, more than likely dead, and the well trained dog is bringing it back to the man who has bagged it. That is how a hunt would go. Beaters (men with sticks) would trample through the thick grass making noise to frighten the bird into the air. The hunters would shoot the partridges and as the birds that are hit fall, the dogs would run to them and collect them in their mouth to bring them back to the hunters. The use of retriever dogs (those retrieving the catch, hence the name of a popular breed, the Golden Retriever), not only saved time, but also reduced the danger of hunters accidentally shooting each other if the shooting was still going on with other frightened birds still in the air. An impressive sign for its now rare social realism Arthur Chappell