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THE FOUNDATION OF THE MODERN RACING PIGEON

It is generally believed that the creator of the modern day racing pigeon was Mons. Chevalier Ulens of Antwerp, assisted by his loft manager, a Dutchman named Beeranaerts. It is said that when the fancy was still in a state of embryo, Mr Ulens practiced upon imperfect races of pigeons then existing, to endow Belgium with an illustrious and strong variety into which all fanciers of that period were drawn, both the ones with assurance upon the origins and the others without knowing anything. It is written that the Ulens pigeons were the result of combinations made with the “Persian Messenger”, “Tumbler” and the mysterious “Smyter”. Way back as early as 1925, little was known about the Smyter as it had apparently become extinct many years earlier and it is believed that this race, combined with the Persian Messenger, greatly contributed to the valuable qualities of the actual homer.

This was confirmed by an article by Felix Gigot in the “Le Martinet” of which he was the then editor, but was disputed by Mons. Georges Gits, who had been a former club mate and neighbor of Ulens. Felix Gigot had never met Ulens as Gigot had not become involved with pigeons until well after the death of Ulens. Obviously Mons. Gits was in a far better position to know the true origins of these pigeons. In 1925, about two years after the death of Gits, Mons. Gigot’s son Henri, published a book, “A Study of the Eyes of the Great Families”. It is in this publication he reports his fathers’ account of the origin of the Ulens pigeons despite the repudiation of his facts by Gits in 1912. And so down through the years this apparent myth has been perpetuated.

In his book “The Creation of a Strain” the noted and respected English fancier and author, Wing Commander Lea Rayner, also accepts Mons Henri Gigots’ version that Mons. Ulens and his loft manager Mons. Beeranearts as the founders of a pigeon dynasty, which, by its marked superiority to its contemporary strains, was the only one to survive. Rayner says quote, “ there is no doubt that the very rapid progress made by the Belgians in increasing the range and speed – more particularly the former – of the homing pigeon during the latter half of the 19^th century, was due in large measure to the work of Mons. Ulens and his brilliant loft manager, Mons. Beeranaerts.” He goes on to say, “Further, Mons. Gigot proceeds to prove, by tracing the dissemination of the Ulens pigeons in Belguim, that by the time already (1911) there was not a loft in Belgium – and, therefore, probably in the pigeon racing world of the West – whose inmates did not descend, in greater or less degree, from the Ulens. For the information of the present reader, Mons. Gigot’s proof of this statement traces the Ulens through the following Belgian strains, those in heavy type being entirely of Ulens origin:- Vekemans, Van Schingen, Wuydts, Devos, Bebruyn, Classens, Delderene, Devaleriola, Pitteville, Salsman, De Page, Cassiers, Van Den Eynden, Gigot, Delmotte, Jurion, Grooters, Sluys, Wauters, Wegge, Janssens, Hansenne, Ruhl, Soffle, Vandevelde, Bastin, Pirlot, Delrez, Gurnay, Van Der Haegen, Weilemans, Rey, Nivel, Smits, Menier, Rimbeau, Thirionet, Claes, Swiggers, Carpentier, Toulet, Desirant and Gits.

But Gits disagreed. He wrote an article in the “Martinet” in 1912 stating that anybody who was acquainted with Mons. Ulens and Beeranaerts would have known that they were determined in-breeders and never introduced new blood into the loft. Their pigeons were roupy and full of canker and fellow club mates would not allow their birds to be basketed with his for fear of contagion. His birds were put in separate baskets which always were reserved for them. Gits went on to say that these two factors prove conclusively the absurbity of claiming that this confirmed in-breeder indulged in clever outcrossing, and that his sickly pigeons were circulated among his conferes so much that the (vitiated) Ulens blood could be found in all good lofts. Also, Beeranearts, who was a sultry Dutchman was not the man to give his pigeons away to all and sundry.

The other supposed sources of pure Ulens pigeons were Mons. Jaques Vekemans and Van Schingen. Vekemans was the Director of the Antwerp Zoo, and whose strain was said to be originally based on the Pittevill and Van Schingen strains. Birds from Van Schingen made Narcisee Delmotte and Karel Wegge famous. Vekemans was attributed to being the reservoir of original Ulens pigeons. Vekemans was an old man when he started in the fancy (at least 60) and had no strain of his own at all. In fact he could be described as a collector of pigeons because strains he had in plenty. He attended many sales, however unimportant, and when a bird took his eye he had to have it, whatever the cost, yet the editor of the “Martinet” wrote his traversty of truth:- “The Ulens birds passing into the hands of M. Vekemans, changed their name, but as he (Vekemans) bought no other pigeons, one can be very precise in stating that Vekemans are pure Ulens”. Gits wrote that if the excellent Vekemans could rise from his grave , how would he chuckle that the four Ulens pigeons were all that he ever bought – he who had four aviaries filled with prisoners bought here, there and everywhere.

The other supposed source, Van Schingen, was a good and honest gardener for the Elsen family whose land adjoined the father of Git’s old friend Van Cutsem. M.Van Cutsem described Van Schingens loft as a very small one, not more than six or seven pairs in all, from which it would certainly have been impossible to supply all the lofts which claimed to have Van Schingens. He only reared about twelve youngsters each year so the strain was very limited in numbers and very difficult to get hold of and a very high price had to be paid by anyone lucky enough to get hold of some. Van Cutsem also pointed out that Van Schingen never had a single one of Ulens’ pigeons in his lofts, so the Ulens – Van Schingen pigeons were pure inventions. Mons. Gits continues on saying the “Martinet” also states that Ulens crossed his birds with the English carrier pigeon. In this he is confusing Ulens with Pitteville, one of the most serious breeders we ever had. It was he and not Ulens who used this cross.

Well, Mons. Georges Gits has presented plenty of evidence indicating that it was not Ulens who was the founder of the modern racing pigeon. It couldn’t have been the likes of Dedoyard, Gouelissen and Bonjean, names of fanciers lost in the chronicles of history. According to Renier Gurnay, these were the fanciers from whom Verviers fancier Mons. Alexandre Hansenne’s birds descended. It is understood these little known birds were mainly comprised of ship birds developed by Dutch, English, Irish and other fishermen and trace back to the early 1800’s. An egg from Dedoyard produced a bronze chequer cock for Hansenne. Dedoyard obtained his birds from Mons. Coutellier of Havre and they were known as the Irish race, old voyageurs, likely to be the McCluthin birds descended from ship birds used by Captains sailing the channel ports and relaying messages to owners re estimated docking times and details of cargo manifests etc. Way back in 1866 Hansenne took a liking to a mosaic cock which was an outstanding racer in the district. In order to secure it he had to buy the entire loft of birds from its owner and then dispose of every bird except the mosaic. This loft is thought to be that of Gouelissen although the colour does not match the Gouelissen report so it could have been another unnamed introduction to his strain. That same year a champion Blue cock had won 2000 pounds for its owner, Bonjean. Once again he purchased the entire loft to obtain that bird and disposed of the rest. Then in 1875 Hansenne obtained from Vekemans the “Mongrel from the Zoo”. It is said that this pigeon raised Hansenne from an admirable competitor to the “best in the world” overnight. This pigeon – the Schalieblauwe of 1875 – and whose origin was only known to Hansenne and Vekemans. She was a slatey coloured hen. There were actually two slatey coloured hens from Vekemans, both very small but one was quickly identified as of poor quality and dismissed.

It is also interesting to note that in his book, “The Production of a Strain”, Lt-Col A.H.Osman, O.B.E., Osman didn’t entirely agree with Felix Gigot on another subject concerning the breeding practices of Mons. Blampain. Osman says in his introduction in the book, quote, “But my visit to Blampain in the spring of 1904 to obtain these birds was an object lesson. I did not come away from the loft with the convinced idea that Blampain was the great consanguinist (in-breeder) the late F. Gigot had contended. On the contrary, certain small lofts in his garden made me think he practised crossing. His explanation, however, was that he obtained birds of his own breed back from lofts that he had supplied birds to, and that by re-introducing his own blood that had benefitted by change of environment, it was better and safer than a cross.

The early development of the Belgian Racing Homer took two distinct lines in three areas, Antwerp, and the neighbouring districts of Leige & Verviers. In Antwerp, various crosses of “Smerle” and “Cumulet” were used. The English varieties of the “Carrier”, “Dragoon” and “Horseman” (similar to the Carrier and derived from Persia via Egypt and Turkey) were added to produce a very successful flying bird which became known as the “Antwerp”. The “Antwerp”, probably due to the English Carrier cross, was a heavier bodied and bolder headed than the Leige and Verviers type. They raced very reliably in flights from London to Antwerp.

Concurrently with the development of the Antwerp racer in Antwerp, the fanciers of Liege and Verviers districts were developing one of their own, independently of Antwerp and, to a great extent, of one another. The fanciers of the Leige district used a cross of the frilled Owl or Turbit with the Cumulet and a descendant variety of the Eastern Carrier which for many years had been living wild in Belgium, produced the “Smerle” of Leige which was distinguished for its racing ability. It is well known that as far back as the 1820’s the Verviers and Leige pigeons were flying 500 miles on the day. There were several varieties of semi-wild pigeons, survivors of the domesticated varieties of previous ages in Western Europe, which may have been used at first experimentally, by the Belgians in the early development of the modern racing pigeon. It is for this reason that different districts evolved distinct and different types but although at first distinct and varying origin, the Liege and Verviers pigeons did not differ greatly in type or characteristics – certainly not so much as both differed from the Antwerp. The Antwerp pigeons were larger and coarser birds, much longer in feather, but not nearly so thick coated as the smaller Leige & Verviers pigeons. The Leige and Verviers type were short faced pigeons with bull necks, broad chests, short feet, and wonderful shoulders and stretch of wing, but all in splendid proportion.

There was a fourth development, The Brussels and the rest Family. The Brussels pigeons were smaller than the Antwerps, but larger and longer cast than the Verviers. The fanciers of Brussels, which included many fanciers outside Brussels, crossed the Leige and Antwerp , or the Liege and Verviers. The best long distance breeders of Belgium learned from experience that the Antwerps, if crossed direct with either Verviers or Leige birds, gave very bad results. That is to say, a first cross of the Verviers x Antwerp families or the Leige x Antwerp families. But good results could be obtained by crossing Verviers x Antwerp together, and then breeding from the young of Verviers x Antwerp with a full-blooded Verviers, or a full blooded Antwerp. It was in this manner that the majority of the best Brussels birds were produced. From this evolved quite a distinct type of their own and what we now know as the present modern day racing pigeon. Some of the most successful old Brussels fanciers were N. Barker, an Englishman who became a naturalized Belgian, in order to hold property rights in Belgium. Others were Jules Janssens, Delmotte, Rey, Jurion (although he did not live in Brussels but bred & flew the Brussels type), Missiaen, Duchatteau, Grooter, Carpentier and Pletinckx.

So if one is to believe Georges Gits, a man on the scene at the time and would have known, and his compatriots like Van Cutsem, Delmotte etc, to back him up when he vehemently disputed Felix Gigot’s version, it seems to me that Felix Gigot, who didn’t come into the sport until after the death of Ulens and never met the man, may have been using a bit of journalistic license or just pure guess-work in his position of Editor of “La Martinet” thus distorting the history of the origin of the racing pigeon. I personally think that while Ulens may have made some contribution to the Antwerp development there were probably a number of other fanciers who contributed greatly as well. Fanciers such as Van Schingen, Pitteville, and Wegge and possibly Gits himself, just to mention a few. I also think it unlikely Ulens had much if any influence on the Leige and Verviers developments as they were taking place in a different area amongst a different group of fanciers. Fanciers such as Hansenne who had been developing his strain since 1860 and by 1880 had the best loft of pigeons in the world. Other Verviers fanciers like Delrez , Ruhl , Dardenne, Coopman and Bastin and numerous Leige fanciers probably contributed significantly. On top of all that the modern day pigeon didn’t evolve until they were all mixed and combined together by the fanciers of Brussels.

Acknowlegements for sources of information:-

Leo Turley:- Alexandre Hansenne – “The Best Loft in the World”. (2009)

Henri Gigot:- Study of the Eyes and the Great Families. (1925)

Wing Commander Lea Rayner:- The Creation of a Strain. (1955)

Lt-Col A.H.Osman, O.B.E. :- The Production of a Strain (1914-1918)

Editor John Hofman Submit Your Information email bhofman@hotmail.com	Informative relevant articles relating to racing pigeons. This months feature article THE FOUNDATION OF THE MODERN RACING PIGEON It is generally believed that the creator of the modern day racing pigeon was Mons. Chevalier Ulens of Antwerp, assisted by his loft manager, a Dutchman named Beeranaerts. It is said that when the fancy was still in a state of embryo, Mr Ulens practiced upon imperfect races of pigeons then existing, to endow Belgium with an illustrious and strong variety into which all fanciers of that period were drawn, both the ones with assurance upon the origins and the others without knowing anything. It is written that the Ulens pigeons were the result of combinations made with the “Persian Messenger”, “Tumbler” and the mysterious “Smyter”. Way back as early as 1925, little was known about the Smyter as it had apparently become extinct many years earlier and it is believed that this race, combined with the Persian Messenger, greatly contributed to the valuable qualities of the actual homer. This was confirmed by an article by Felix Gigot in the “Le Martinet” of which he was the then editor, but was disputed by Mons. Georges Gits, who had been a former club mate and neighbor of Ulens. Felix Gigot had never met Ulens as Gigot had not become involved with pigeons until well after the death of Ulens. Obviously Mons. Gits was in a far better position to know the true origins of these pigeons. In 1925, about two years after the death of Gits, Mons. Gigot’s son Henri, published a book, “A Study of the Eyes of the Great Families”. It is in this publication he reports his fathers’ account of the origin of the Ulens pigeons despite the repudiation of his facts by Gits in 1912. And so down through the years this apparent myth has been perpetuated. In his book “The Creation of a Strain” the noted and respected English fancier and author, Wing Commander Lea Rayner, also accepts Mons Henri Gigots’ version that Mons. Ulens and his loft manager Mons. Beeranearts as the founders of a pigeon dynasty, which, by its marked superiority to its contemporary strains, was the only one to survive. Rayner says quote, “ there is no doubt that the very rapid progress made by the Belgians in increasing the range and speed – more particularly the former – of the homing pigeon during the latter half of the 19^th century, was due in large measure to the work of Mons. Ulens and his brilliant loft manager, Mons. Beeranaerts.” He goes on to say, “Further, Mons. Gigot proceeds to prove, by tracing the dissemination of the Ulens pigeons in Belguim, that by the time already (1911) there was not a loft in Belgium – and, therefore, probably in the pigeon racing world of the West – whose inmates did not descend, in greater or less degree, from the Ulens. For the information of the present reader, Mons. Gigot’s proof of this statement traces the Ulens through the following Belgian strains, those in heavy type being entirely of Ulens origin:- Vekemans, Van Schingen, Wuydts, Devos, Bebruyn, Classens, Delderene, Devaleriola, Pitteville, Salsman, De Page, Cassiers, Van Den Eynden, Gigot, Delmotte, Jurion, Grooters, Sluys, Wauters, Wegge, Janssens, Hansenne, Ruhl, Soffle, Vandevelde, Bastin, Pirlot, Delrez, Gurnay, Van Der Haegen, Weilemans, Rey, Nivel, Smits, Menier, Rimbeau, Thirionet, Claes, Swiggers, Carpentier, Toulet, Desirant and Gits. But Gits disagreed. He wrote an article in the “Martinet” in 1912 stating that anybody who was acquainted with Mons. Ulens and Beeranaerts would have known that they were determined in-breeders and never introduced new blood into the loft. Their pigeons were roupy and full of canker and fellow club mates would not allow their birds to be basketed with his for fear of contagion. His birds were put in separate baskets which always were reserved for them. Gits went on to say that these two factors prove conclusively the absurbity of claiming that this confirmed in-breeder indulged in clever outcrossing, and that his sickly pigeons were circulated among his conferes so much that the (vitiated) Ulens blood could be found in all good lofts. Also, Beeranearts, who was a sultry Dutchman was not the man to give his pigeons away to all and sundry. The other supposed sources of pure Ulens pigeons were Mons. Jaques Vekemans and Van Schingen. Vekemans was the Director of the Antwerp Zoo, and whose strain was said to be originally based on the Pittevill and Van Schingen strains. Birds from Van Schingen made Narcisee Delmotte and Karel Wegge famous. Vekemans was attributed to being the reservoir of original Ulens pigeons. Vekemans was an old man when he started in the fancy (at least 60) and had no strain of his own at all. In fact he could be described as a collector of pigeons because strains he had in plenty. He attended many sales, however unimportant, and when a bird took his eye he had to have it, whatever the cost, yet the editor of the “Martinet” wrote his traversty of truth:- “The Ulens birds passing into the hands of M. Vekemans, changed their name, but as he (Vekemans) bought no other pigeons, one can be very precise in stating that Vekemans are pure Ulens”. Gits wrote that if the excellent Vekemans could rise from his grave , how would he chuckle that the four Ulens pigeons were all that he ever bought – he who had four aviaries filled with prisoners bought here, there and everywhere. The other supposed source, Van Schingen, was a good and honest gardener for the Elsen family whose land adjoined the father of Git’s old friend Van Cutsem. M.Van Cutsem described Van Schingens loft as a very small one, not more than six or seven pairs in all, from which it would certainly have been impossible to supply all the lofts which claimed to have Van Schingens. He only reared about twelve youngsters each year so the strain was very limited in numbers and very difficult to get hold of and a very high price had to be paid by anyone lucky enough to get hold of some. Van Cutsem also pointed out that Van Schingen never had a single one of Ulens’ pigeons in his lofts, so the Ulens – Van Schingen pigeons were pure inventions. Mons. Gits continues on saying the “Martinet” also states that Ulens crossed his birds with the English carrier pigeon. In this he is confusing Ulens with Pitteville, one of the most serious breeders we ever had. It was he and not Ulens who used this cross. Well, Mons. Georges Gits has presented plenty of evidence indicating that it was not Ulens who was the founder of the modern racing pigeon. It couldn’t have been the likes of Dedoyard, Gouelissen and Bonjean, names of fanciers lost in the chronicles of history. According to Renier Gurnay, these were the fanciers from whom Verviers fancier Mons. Alexandre Hansenne’s birds descended. It is understood these little known birds were mainly comprised of ship birds developed by Dutch, English, Irish and other fishermen and trace back to the early 1800’s. An egg from Dedoyard produced a bronze chequer cock for Hansenne. Dedoyard obtained his birds from Mons. Coutellier of Havre and they were known as the Irish race, old voyageurs, likely to be the McCluthin birds descended from ship birds used by Captains sailing the channel ports and relaying messages to owners re estimated docking times and details of cargo manifests etc. Way back in 1866 Hansenne took a liking to a mosaic cock which was an outstanding racer in the district. In order to secure it he had to buy the entire loft of birds from its owner and then dispose of every bird except the mosaic. This loft is thought to be that of Gouelissen although the colour does not match the Gouelissen report so it could have been another unnamed introduction to his strain. That same year a champion Blue cock had won 2000 pounds for its owner, Bonjean. Once again he purchased the entire loft to obtain that bird and disposed of the rest. Then in 1875 Hansenne obtained from Vekemans the “Mongrel from the Zoo”. It is said that this pigeon raised Hansenne from an admirable competitor to the “best in the world” overnight. This pigeon – the Schalieblauwe of 1875 – and whose origin was only known to Hansenne and Vekemans. She was a slatey coloured hen. There were actually two slatey coloured hens from Vekemans, both very small but one was quickly identified as of poor quality and dismissed. It is also interesting to note that in his book, “The Production of a Strain”, Lt-Col A.H.Osman, O.B.E., Osman didn’t entirely agree with Felix Gigot on another subject concerning the breeding practices of Mons. Blampain. Osman says in his introduction in the book, quote, “But my visit to Blampain in the spring of 1904 to obtain these birds was an object lesson. I did not come away from the loft with the convinced idea that Blampain was the great consanguinist (in-breeder) the late F. Gigot had contended. On the contrary, certain small lofts in his garden made me think he practised crossing. His explanation, however, was that he obtained birds of his own breed back from lofts that he had supplied birds to, and that by re-introducing his own blood that had benefitted by change of environment, it was better and safer than a cross. The early development of the Belgian Racing Homer took two distinct lines in three areas, Antwerp, and the neighbouring districts of Leige & Verviers. In Antwerp, various crosses of “Smerle” and “Cumulet” were used. The English varieties of the “Carrier”, “Dragoon” and “Horseman” (similar to the Carrier and derived from Persia via Egypt and Turkey) were added to produce a very successful flying bird which became known as the “Antwerp”. The “Antwerp”, probably due to the English Carrier cross, was a heavier bodied and bolder headed than the Leige and Verviers type. They raced very reliably in flights from London to Antwerp. Concurrently with the development of the Antwerp racer in Antwerp, the fanciers of Liege and Verviers districts were developing one of their own, independently of Antwerp and, to a great extent, of one another. The fanciers of the Leige district used a cross of the frilled Owl or Turbit with the Cumulet and a descendant variety of the Eastern Carrier which for many years had been living wild in Belgium, produced the “Smerle” of Leige which was distinguished for its racing ability. It is well known that as far back as the 1820’s the Verviers and Leige pigeons were flying 500 miles on the day. There were several varieties of semi-wild pigeons, survivors of the domesticated varieties of previous ages in Western Europe, which may have been used at first experimentally, by the Belgians in the early development of the modern racing pigeon. It is for this reason that different districts evolved distinct and different types but although at first distinct and varying origin, the Liege and Verviers pigeons did not differ greatly in type or characteristics – certainly not so much as both differed from the Antwerp. The Antwerp pigeons were larger and coarser birds, much longer in feather, but not nearly so thick coated as the smaller Leige & Verviers pigeons. The Leige and Verviers type were short faced pigeons with bull necks, broad chests, short feet, and wonderful shoulders and stretch of wing, but all in splendid proportion. There was a fourth development, The Brussels and the rest Family. The Brussels pigeons were smaller than the Antwerps, but larger and longer cast than the Verviers. The fanciers of Brussels, which included many fanciers outside Brussels, crossed the Leige and Antwerp , or the Liege and Verviers. The best long distance breeders of Belgium learned from experience that the Antwerps, if crossed direct with either Verviers or Leige birds, gave very bad results. That is to say, a first cross of the Verviers x Antwerp families or the Leige x Antwerp families. But good results could be obtained by crossing Verviers x Antwerp together, and then breeding from the young of Verviers x Antwerp with a full-blooded Verviers, or a full blooded Antwerp. It was in this manner that the majority of the best Brussels birds were produced. From this evolved quite a distinct type of their own and what we now know as the present modern day racing pigeon. Some of the most successful old Brussels fanciers were N. Barker, an Englishman who became a naturalized Belgian, in order to hold property rights in Belgium. Others were Jules Janssens, Delmotte, Rey, Jurion (although he did not live in Brussels but bred & flew the Brussels type), Missiaen, Duchatteau, Grooter, Carpentier and Pletinckx. So if one is to believe Georges Gits, a man on the scene at the time and would have known, and his compatriots like Van Cutsem, Delmotte etc, to back him up when he vehemently disputed Felix Gigot’s version, it seems to me that Felix Gigot, who didn’t come into the sport until after the death of Ulens and never met the man, may have been using a bit of journalistic license or just pure guess-work in his position of Editor of “La Martinet” thus distorting the history of the origin of the racing pigeon. I personally think that while Ulens may have made some contribution to the Antwerp development there were probably a number of other fanciers who contributed greatly as well. Fanciers such as Van Schingen, Pitteville, and Wegge and possibly Gits himself, just to mention a few. I also think it unlikely Ulens had much if any influence on the Leige and Verviers developments as they were taking place in a different area amongst a different group of fanciers. Fanciers such as Hansenne who had been developing his strain since 1860 and by 1880 had the best loft of pigeons in the world. Other Verviers fanciers like Delrez , Ruhl , Dardenne, Coopman and Bastin and numerous Leige fanciers probably contributed significantly. On top of all that the modern day pigeon didn’t evolve until they were all mixed and combined together by the fanciers of Brussels. Acknowlegements for sources of information:- Leo Turley:- Alexandre Hansenne – “The Best Loft in the World”. (2009) Henri Gigot:- Study of the Eyes and the Great Families. (1925) Wing Commander Lea Rayner:- The Creation of a Strain. (1955) Lt-Col A.H.Osman, O.B.E. :- The Production of a Strain (1914-1918)