Origins of the Basset Hound

Sir Everett Millais, was a prominent English breeder of Bassets, and history acknowledges him as the father of the modern Basset Hound.   Millais was convinced that the Basset Hound originated from larger French hounds, the now endangered Chien d'Artois (Artois Hound) [wiki] and the Chien du Haut-Poitou (Poitevin Hound), and those in turn from the St. Huberts Hound, mentioned earlier. 

The book, Dogs of All Nations by Walter Espelin Mason, published in 1915, describes these hounds on pages 57-60.  The book also makes a distinction between the Poitou Hound and the Poitevin Hound, but to all intents and purposes the dogs are very similar.

Chien d'Artois (Artois Hound), Chien du Haut-Poitou (Poitou Hound) and the Chien Poitevin (Poitevin Hound) from the book Dogs of All Nations

Millais further postulated that, through selective breeding, low, crook legged versions of these Hounds were produced, in order to arrive at a slower type of hound, one that was more suited to a hunter hunting on foot.

Millais imported his Bassets from the Le Couteulx kennels - bred from Artois Hounds, whilst other English imports came from the French kennels of Mons. Lane - bred from the Poitevin Hound.

There was some breeding between the Le Couteulx and Lane strains, but the pure Lane strain effectivly disappeared - as they were not bred to each other, so here we will concentrate on the Couteulx Hounds.