Editing Beagle (section)

===Development of the modern breed===
Reverend Phillip Honeywood established a Beagle pack in [[Essex]] in the 1830s; it is believed{{By whom|date=April 2024}} that this pack formed the basis for the modern breed. Although details of the pack's lineage are not recorded, it is thought that North Country Beagles and Southern Hounds were strongly represented; [[William Youatt]] suspected that [[Harrier (dog)|Harriers]] formed a good majority of the Beagle's bloodline, but the origin of the Harrier is itself obscure.<ref name="Y110">{{harvnb|Youatt|1852|p=110}}</ref> Honeywood's Beagles were small, standing at about {{convert|10|in|cm}} at the shoulder, and pure white according to John Mills (writing in ''The Sportsman's Library'' in 1845). [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] and [[Edward Turnour, 4th Earl Winterton|Lord Winterton]] also had Beagle packs around this time, and royal favour no doubt led to some revival of interest in the breed, but Honeywood's pack was regarded as the finest of the three.<ref>{{harvnb|Mills|1845|p=172}}</ref>

[[File:4-beagles.jpg|thumb|right|Early images of the Beagle (clockwise from top left): 1833, 1835, [[John Henry Walsh|Stonehenge]]'s Medium (1859, reusing [[William Youatt|Youatt]]'s 1852 "Beagle" image) and Dwarf Beagle (1859).]]

Although credited with the development of the modern breed, Honeywood concentrated on producing dogs for hunting and it was left to Thomas Johnson to refine the breeding to produce dogs that were both attractive and capable hunters. Two strains were developed: the rough-coated and smooth-coated varieties. The rough-coated beagle survived until the beginning of the 20th century, and there were even records of one making an appearance at a dog show as late as 1969, but this variety is now extinct, having probably been absorbed into the standard beagle bloodline.<ref name="K7">{{harvnb|Kraeuter|2001|p=7}}</ref>

In the 1840s, a standard Beagle type was beginning to develop. The distinction between the North Country Beagle and Southern Hound had been lost, but there was still a large variation in size, character, and reliability among the emerging packs.<ref>{{harvnb|Scott|1845|pp=75–8}}</ref> In 1856, "Stonehenge" (the pseudonym of [[John Henry Walsh]]), writing in the ''Manual of British Rural Sports'', was still dividing beagles into four varieties: the medium Beagle; the dwarf or lapdog beagle; the fox beagle (a smaller, slower version of the Foxhound); and the rough-coated or terrier beagle, which he classified as a cross between any of the other varieties and one of the Scottish [[terrier]] breeds.<ref name="S98">{{harvnb|Stonehenge|1856|pp=98–9}}</ref> Stonehenge also gives the start of a standard description:

{{Blockquote|In size the Beagle measures from 10 inches, or even less, to 15. In shape they resemble the old southern hound in miniature, but with more neatness and beauty; and they also resemble that hound in style of hunting.<ref name="S98" />}}

By 1887, the threat of extinction was on the wane: there were 18 Beagle packs in England.<ref name="K9">{{harvnb|Kraeuter|2001|p=9}}</ref> The Beagle Club was formed in 1890 and the first standard drawn up at the same time.<ref name="A12">{{harvnb|Arnold||Arnold|1998|p=12}}</ref> The following year the Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles was formed. Both organisations aimed to further the best interests of the breed, and both were keen to produce a standard type of Beagle.<ref>{{harvnb|Daglish|1961|p=9}}</ref> By 1902, the number of packs had risen to 44.<ref name="K9" />