White English Mastiffs

The Mastiffs

To the south of the fertile crescent is the Nile River, and to the northeast are the great steppes of now Southern Russia. The steppes are a vast region of rolling pasture lands inhabited by various tribes known as the steppe nomads. These nomads were often at war over the stored 'wealth' of livestock, pasture land and water. It is from the steppe nomads the world learned the use of the domesticated horse, chariots and other advancements including dogs of war. These advancements of the steppe nomads far predate the Roman Empire. These nomads were referred to by the Romans as barbarians, as they took what they wanted, including livestock from settlements they conquered. 

"Behold, a people comes from the north...They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy. The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea; they ride upon horses, arrayed as a man for battle against you." Jeremiah 6:22-23

"... From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar a king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. He will ravage your settlements ... he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea." Ezekial 26:7-13

There is very little art and no writing system of these people to record the history of the steppe nomads, however, we can trace the more recent history of a tribe known as the Alani, as they fought as cavalry for the Roman Empire and supplied the Romans with horses, chariots and dogs of war in their vast conquests. One should note the vastness of human civilization and the interrelationship of both dog and man. The Alani descend from a vast race known as the Aryans... 'A family of peoples assumed to be of kindred race because their languages show common characteristics. The original home of the race is thought to have been either northern Europe or Asia. 

Considering the vast lands of the steppes and those of the Aryan race, one cannot limit the history of advanced domestication to a small, sedentary culture in northern Greece known as the Mollosi of which we get the so-called Mollosin breeds, however, their descriptions do imply common working traits in the vastness of Euro-Asia. 'The Molossus belong to the tribe of the Illyrians, who invaded Greece from the north around 1200 BC, drove out the Hellenes, and occupied Epirus in their place. The descendants of the Illyrian Epirians are the modern Albanians. The author Marcus Terentius Varro, who died in the year 27 BC, reports in his book on agriculture of two kinds of dogs that were bred in this country. The first were hunting dogs and the second large herding dogs, who effectively protect sheep and goats.' Fighting Dog Breeds To the north and northeast of Greece lie the vast lands of the Alani. The northern Illyrians invaded south into Greece around 1200 BC, some 1200 years before Varro reports of the dogs of the Molossi. 

The Alani peoples, an amalgamation of various nomadic tribes, known as the warrior tribe of the Caucasus, descendants of the steppe nomads and the vast Aryan race were a nomadic tribe invading as far east as China and as far west as France and Spain. "For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured." Jeremiah 50:9

It is from the Alani invaders and their settlement of France and Spain that we get the advanced light-bodied mastiff type known as the Alaunt/Alano. The Alani, having fought with the Romans as Calvary, supplied the Romans with horses, chariots, and dogs of war, thus the Alanos of Italy. 

In 1066 AD, the Normans of France invaded England bringing French Mastiffs or Alaunts. England ruled Bordeaux from 1151 to 1411, and thus was interbreeding their stock. Then from 1556 to 1649, Spain and England were trading and thus interbreeding stock. This trading of dogs between Spain and England continued up until the 19th century! A fact many an English cynologist, and in fact many an Englishman, would rather forget. Spain imported a number of English Alaunts into Cuba, that were mainly of French type. This amalgamation or interbreeding continued especially at the borders of the French Louisiana, Spanish La Florida and the English territories in the southeastern US. 

Directly in the center where these borders converge is the small town of Hawkinsville, Georgia, which, for centuries long before the European presence, was a major trade center for the vast Creek Indian Nation. Hawkinsville has long served as the military front and trade center between the Indians, the French, Spanish and English, with English forts, (which served as the military base during the Spanish and Indian wars of 1812), lining the banks of the Ocmulgee River, the boundary line of civilization and 'no-man's land.' It is from this area we have collected local stock of the WEB and Brindle Bulldog. The Carr line, known some 80+ years in the area are invariably patched with red markings, that of mainly French origin, with brindle mainly of Spanish origin, well amalgamated as France and Spain interbred throughout the ages from the original stock brought by the Alani invaders and settlers into France and Spain in 406 AD. This interbreeding continued at this convergence of territories in the southeastern US, as proven by the breed types found in this region. Both France and Spain have a long history of the arenas with Burgos Spain being the land of the Bull Fights. England was the last of the European nations to receive the alaunt and the last to practice the blood sports with dogs and animals. The English text 'The Master of the Game' was in fact a direct copy of the French text written by Gaston de Foix, and never was an original English work.

A number of historians claim the war dogs were hunting dogs, and indeed it does seem the Perro de Presas brought to the new world by Spanish Conquistadores were prey driven kill dogs. Those historians do not take into account the fact that nomadic warring tribes such as the Alanis and the Spanish kept livestock. Let's look at the original Alaunts brought to France by the invading Alani in 406 AD. 'At one time, there were two varieties, the Doguin being the smaller version, which has since vanished into nothing but a sentence in reference books. Dogues have had a wide and varied employment since their entrance into France after the fall of Rome. Originally, they served a dual purpose as war dogs and by guarding flocks from wolves and bears.' The Atlas of Dog Breeds of the World.

This war dog / flock guardian is the core alaunt aka Alano or the mastiff, those used to control / guard herds of cattle became the Alaunt de Boucherie of the Middle Ages, known in Spain as the Alano and developed in the southeastern US as the WEB / Brindle Bulldog. The baiting bulldogs of England used in blood-sports are very different in function! 'The slaughter of bulls was a public spectacle in colonial cities, just as it was in England. Butchers collared and tied up the bulls and then turned loose one or more dogs to attack them. Ideally, one particularly bold animal would seize the bull by it's nose and hold it or bring it to it's knees to be killed. Snapping, snarling dogs, bulls bellowing in rage and panic, screaming people placing bets, spraying blood-all were part of the 'sport', repeated when a captive bear was to be had as well.' A Dog's History in American by Mark Derr 

Bull-baiting was a 'sport' held in the cities. For the rural farmer, battling wild dogs, coyotes, bears, and other predators including man, are the test of the WEB and BB. Real battles in defending the farms, livestock, and family, not staged in the box, like the most advanced 'Gladiator Dogs' of our time- the APBT. For the true test of gameness is the willingness to continue in battle, not on the hunt. 

Many have claimed the White English Bulldogs and Brindle Bulldogs look like large sized APBTs, and well they should. For both are advanced breed types of Alaunts / Alanos aka Mastiffs. Performance in battle differs in the one-on-one fight in the box from the pack fighting on the farm, however, both breeds are derived from the same root stock.

'Tens of thousands of dogs have regularly been deployed in battle in Europe, up to our own time, but never with the systematic intent to terrorize, maim and kill applied by the Spanish in the New World.' A Dog's History in America  La Florida was not only Spanish domain, but the military front for the New World and it's colonial empires. Where else but here would one find descendants of dogs of war?

Old English Whites

When the English invaded the southeastern region of North America in 1733, they were faced with Alaunts of the older type, working cattle and protecting the Spanish forts and missions. Hence they referred to these old type dogs as White English or Old English Whites, (referring to those imported by the Spanish settlers in the Americas between 1556 and 1649, a time of settlement by the Spanish in La Florida). These dogs imported by the Spanish settlers were different in function than those brought by the Conquistadores. The Spanish of course brought mainly Spanish Alanos and English Alaunts, which were strains of the same breed - the Alaunt. Owing to the simple fact that the Spanish were ranchers, they mostly brought Alaunt of the Butchers / (shepherds') mastiffs to work cattle. "For the purpose of hunting, he said, the Spaniards introduced pureblood greyhounds, beagles, retrievers, setters, pointers, spaniels, and whippets. The mastiffs, according to the Inca chronicler, was the last type of dog to be introduced and he claims it was used primarily as a watchdog. Some of these dogs were brought to devour Indians, others to guard the thousands of swine that accompanied the expedition. Mastiffs, Garcilaso explains, were greatly esteemed by owners of domestic cattle...these men, as a matter of pride, wished their herds to resemble those of their homeland."  Dogs of the Conquest  As well, they brought various cur dogs, and the breed, Cracker Cur as well as other cur dogs and White English Bulldogs, aka Old English Whites are still employed by cattlemen today.

The Shepherds' Mastiff / Bulldog Proper is where the WEB got it's name; it was a reference to this old dog of England given to the dogs by the English settlers in the southeast. The dogs they saw here were of Spanish descent and not English though, brought and developed by the Spanish; as Spain had their own version of the Shepherds' Mastiff / Bulldog Proper; it was the Alano. 

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