The
Marriots
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The
pigeons under consideration is that of
the late Fred Marriott of Birmingham,
England, who many believe has not received
its rightful status amongst the great
families of racing pigeons.
Marriott
began racing pigeons in 1899 and flew
both the North Road and the South Road
into England and in due course prior to
his clearance sale in January 1956 on
the South Road he was Ist Open in both
1924 and 1925 NFC races with Triumph and
Repetition, plus 2nd Open 1929 with Nap,
to be followed by 6th 1907, 11th 1936,
15th 1937, 1st 1940 (with Premier), 5th
1948, and many other other positions over
the years of his involvement. On the North
Road Marriott was 1st, 4th and 5th Open
Lerwick with the NRCC 1920, 1st, 3rd &
25th in 1921, 3rd 1922, 10th 1923, 2nd
1934, 6th & 7th 1953. Of course there
were also many successes at Federation,
Combine and Club levels.
The
base of the Marriott pigeons was a cock
called Dreadnought, who was bred in 1908
containing the bloodlines of Marriott's
old Bordeaux Cock and Toft's winner of
1st NFC Bordeaux 1899. The Bordeaux Cock
was from an unnamed Belgian source and
a full sister to Jumbo who flew and won
from Granville, Rennes and Marennes in
three consecutive years, plus 6th Open
NFC San Sebastian in 1907. W.C. Moore
bloodlines were also involved including
Barker's Marcia with traces of Gits, Debue
and Plentinckx blood. In fact the pedigree
contains a mosaic of well known fancier
names prominent in the sport of the time.
Dreadnought himself was not particularly
outstanding as a racer although winning
prizes from Ventnor, Granville, Rennes
and Marennes. Marriott however as an astute
observer saw his potential as a breeder
and retired him As a stock bird Dreadnought
earned his laurels but Marriott mysteriously
disposed of him in 1915 admitting later
that he had made a great blunder. He apparently
had sired winners with any hen he was
ever paired with. Of his many winning
offspring perhaps the greatest was the
famous Lerwick Hen who in 1920 won 1st
Open Lerwick and in the following year
won the Kings Cup outright for Marriott
by repeating what she accomplished the
previous year. This great racer also contained
Moss bloodlines.
As
the Editor for a time of the British Homing
World it has been said that Fred Marriott
was in the position of obtaining pigeons
from the best fanciers of his day. Whether
or not it was his position as the editor
of the BHW which helped him in his ambitions
as a racer there is no doubt that a perusal
of his pigeons pedigrees show an array
of the names of the leading fanciers and
their outstanding pigeons of the time.
This would imply I think an outcross approach
to the production of pigeons capable of
bringing the bacon home so to speak and
a study of the Marriott technique would
tend to confirm that he relied more upon
outcrossing rather than anything else.
That as a fancier the possibility of procuring
so many good pigeons led to a situation
in which the appearance of good racers
was inevitable based upon the concept
of luck or fate alone. There is no escaping
the truth however that Fred Marriott was
one of the elite fanciers of the 20th
century but whether one could safely state
that what he produced was a strain is
questionable according to others. Based
upon the 'Marriott phenomenon' however
there are those who contend that the traditional
concept of a 'strain' and what constitutes
one requires to be re- assessed.

by: Liam O Comain
|