11th September 2020

 
We are in the third season of this very strange year.  I do not think anyone will regret this year coming to an end.  In going through old cuttings from the ‘Our Dogs’ Saluki Breed Feature of October 1999, I have come across an article written by myself entitled “  A brief look at the development of Britain’s Saluki kennels” I am reprinted it here as it very much follows on from some of my earlier writings regarding the earlier importation of Salukis.
 
SINCE THE Second World War, Salukis in Britain have mainly developed from the stock that was imported to the UK by the returning officers who had been stationed in the Middle East during and after the First World War.  The kennels that were prominent in pre-war Britain and survived the war were the Knightellingtons and the Mazuris.
 
Except for an occasional import, from the desert the foundations of all the modern kennels come down from these two kennels, utilising this original stock, apart from the introduction of a German line through Burydown Uki.  Of the two lines that were established only the Knightellingtons are still actively breeding.  Rosemary Lewis, daughter of Mrs Helen Baker who in turn was daughter of the founder, Lady Gardner, made up a champion last year; she is Ch Knightellington Zafa.
 
In keeping with this theme the earliest bitch champion for the famous Burydown Kennels, owned by Hope Waters and now co-owned with her daughter Tessa Abbott, was Ch Burydown Aphodel.  This bitch, born in June 1951, was the product of the imported dog, Uki and Burydown Saladin, who in turn was from a combination of the Knightellington lines and the Mazuris.  In 1955, Hope Waters repeated this breeding to produce her famous Ch Burydown Freyha. Utilising different combinations of the early Burydowns the following kennels have established themselves; Mr. E. Tebbs’ Almanza; Miss S. Lambrinudi’s Geldara; Mrs. J. Jaques’ Classicus; Mrs. C. Ormsby’s Yazid; Miss A. Chanter & Miss V. Davies’ Chandav; Mr. & Mrs. K Allan’s Jazirat and Mr. & Mrs. A. MacDonald’s Mabrooka.  Ann MacDonald owned the top CC winning bitch Ch Saklawi Bashah of Mabrooka.  Many others have utilised this combination but these kennel have produced numerous champions. 
 
Mrs Eileen. Skelton-Fortune, of Daxlore Kennels had her first champion bitch, Ch Rebecca of Daxlore which was born in July 1955.  She too came from using the Knightellingtons, this time with Burydown Beelzebub of Daxlore, which once again came down from the German import, Burydown Uki.   Terry Thorn based his Tahawi Kennels on a combination of the Daxlores.  His Ch Tahawi Belinda came down from Ch Alexis of Daxlore and Stella of Daxlore (Knightelleington/Mazuri/Burydown Uki combination) sired by a dog bred by Vera Watkins.  Some of the kennels that used Daxlore as a foundation are; The Amena Kennels of Mary Long, which unfortunately is not breeding today.  Eric and Doreen Stansfield’s Ishieya Kennels; Harry and Pauline Kendall’s Gulzars and the Lusaki Kennels of Owen and Joan Davies.  Their first Champion, Ch Lusaki Delroba of Elaref was owned by Lesley Wiggins was predomonately of Daxlore lineage. 
 
 
Vera Watkins, Windswift Kennels used the Knightellington/Mazuri combination but Miss Watkins introduced Sabbah the Windswift which was imported from Arabia.  Debbie Copperthwaite’s Al Caliph Kennel began with Ch Bedouin Caliph who was bred by the partnership of Barbara Lucas and Jean James.  Caliph went back to the original Uki/Burydowns Knightellington combination.  Debbie Copperthwaite combined this with the Windswifts.  A direct descendant is Ch Windswift Al Caliph, who holds the breed record for winning the most CCs.
 
Another descendant of the original combination is the Sedeki Kennels, owned by  Don Wieden and Mr. Frank Farrar.  The Sedekis have been bred strongly on the lines of Gwen Angel’s Mazuri Kennels.  In the USA, all Sedeki bred Salukis were registered utilising the prefiz ‘Sedeki Mazuri’.   Kay Perkins’ Pennyworth Salukis are a combination of the Sedeki with a little something else from the gene pool, introduced to produce a specific line.
 
Looking at the Mumtaz Kennels of Zola Rawson, the early stock including Ch Mumtaz Topaz came down from the Knightellington and the Burydowns.  The Seafleet Kennel of Roger and Mavis Shellard were bred similarly to our own Kasaque Kennels.  We started with Ilsham Timandra (bred by Mrs B. Payne and Mr P. Beeley).  On her sire’s side she carried the Burydown line through Almanza and her dam.  The Tahawi side of her pedigree went back to the earliest Windswifts and Knightellingtons.
 
The above lines and combinations have had an impact in the USA, Canada, Germany and the UK as, of course, did the original stock and several of the other lines mentioned in this brief overview.  Most of the dogs in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and Europe will have some combination of these original dogs.  This does not mean that that they are similar in type, each breeder has endeavoured through the decades to reinforce attributes that they wanted to retain and use for the future.
 

here to edit.