This Article first appeared in the December 2009 Newsletter of The Finnish Spitz Club (UK)

This article is a follow up to the article "In search of Hammon Irmas" which I wrote for the Newsletter in 2007. However, it starts a few years earlier than the first article with some of the first dogs brought over from Finland to Britain. I know that this story has been told several times over the years but some members may not have seen the photographs included here and the articles and other writings that are quoted from, particularly those concerning correspondence and meetings between a Finnish breeder and Lady Kitty Ritson who imported a bitch from him in 1934.  Once again, much of the source material is from the archives of the late Jean Seel.

Finnish Spitz dogs have been imported to Britain from Finland for over 80 years now.  Sir Edward Chichester possibly brought the first ones over in 1927.  The first pair was a dog called Tommi and a bitch called Hammon Siro.  A couple of years later he imported a second pair - a dog called Riku II and a bitch called Hammon Ulla.  This second bitch died soon afterwards but Hammon Siro had a number of litters and featured in the pedigrees of many of the Finnish Spitz in Britain during the 1930s and 1940s.

Sir Edward Chichester's dogs early 1930s - Minka, Taava, Rusty, Tommi, Mira, Hammon Siro (Photo by Fox Photos, London)

Siro and Ulla both came from the Hammon kennel of a breeder called Dr. S.E. Multamäki of Helsinki. In the late 1920s or early 1930s, Dr. Multamäki produced a leaflet written in English which started:

After describing the history and nature of the dogs, details of the Finnish Kennel Club's revised list of characteristics from the start of 1927, and the specialities and use of the breed, he offered to arrange the sale and transport of dogs - both adults and 'cubs' - from Finland.  Deliveries would be to London, New York, or Montreal and the leaflet ends by saying: 

I don't believe that any of these dogs ever went to the USA or Canada at that time, but the new arrivals in England stirred the enthusiasm of several other people including Lady Kitty Ritson.  Many years later, she would recall (in an article written in 1953 for "Finnish Fauna"):

Some time after this encounter, she got her first puppy - registered as Finks Finsie, but known simply as Finsie - from Sir Edward.  In her book "Me and my dogs" (first published in 1933), she says:

  * Helsingfors is the Swedish name for Helsinki

Finland Steamship Images courtesy of the collection of Björn Larsson http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/index.htm

The 'elusive' Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957) at Ainola in the 1930s

The penultimate chapter of "Me and my dogs" is titled "Finsie and Finland" and rather strangely she doesn't say all that much about the dogs except for this extract starting:

Lady Kitty Ritson with Dr Multamäki and others In Finnish Lapland in May 1933

I believe that this visit to Finland described in the book was in the spring of 1933. A number of photographs accompanying this article show Lady Kitty with Dr. Multamäki and others with several of his Hammon dogs.  The backs of the photographs are dated May 1933 in Dr. Multamäki's handwriting. 

Lady Kitty Ritson and her friend in Northern Finland in May 1933

Lady Kitty Ritson with friends and Finnish Spitz in Finnish forest in May 1933

In the summer of the following year (1934) Dr. Multamäki visited England and "had an informal gathering of Finkies to criticise" These included Finsie about whom he said "I am very pleased to see how good Finsie is".  After his visit Dr. Multamäki wrote an article titled "Finnish Spitz - a fashionable dog in England" for the nationwide Finnish magazine "Suomen Kuvalehti".  He said that he had an opportunity to meet some Finnish Spitz in England with their breeders and owners.  He added that he was very surprised how well the people he met knew the breed already.  He was surprised that from a limited stock so many dogs had been bred in such a short time.  It seems that he brought one of his own dogs Hammon Urkki with him as in a letter to Lady Kitty dated 15^th May 1935 he says :

Several years later, Lady Kitty referred to the visit and correspondence in her "Dog World" column (14^th November 1941) and commented:

Hammon Äry in Finland with Mrs Larja early 1930s

Although they didn't buy that dog, they did arrange to import a bitch from Dr. Multamäki.   So Hammon Äry sailed to England in the autumn of 1934.  Äry was mated with Fin Ch. Hammon Urpo before leaving Finland and as I mentioned in my earlier article Hammon Irmas was born in quarantine on 29^th November 1934.  I believe that Äry was around 4 years old when she arrived in England.  Lady Kitty added her "of Tulchan" name and gave her the everyday anglicised name of "Ru".  Her father was Haka Ukko and her mother Hammon Ypä .  Both Urpo and Ypä can be seen with Dr. Multamäki in the pictures from May 1933.

Dr Multamäki and a colleague with Hammon Dogs including Urpo and Ypä, Helsinki May 1933

Hammon Ypä, mother of Hammon Äry, Helsinki May 1933

Presumably Äry and the puppy were not released from quarantine until early 1935.  Apparently she had injured her leg on the boat and Lady Kitty had to have this treated by an orthopaedic surgeon.  However, she gained her first CC on 30^th May of that year at the LKA, the second at Crystal Palace on 7^th November, and the third on 21st May 1936 at WELKS.  So on that day she was the first ever Finnish Spitz bitch to become a champion and was jointly the second ever Finnish Spitz champion (the dog CC winner also became champion that day).  She got a 4^th CC at Crufts in February 1937 but Lady Kitty said in her "Dog World" column in December 1937:

A few months later ("Dog World" 18^th March 1938) there was an illustration of this last comment:

Dr Multamäki (who was at that time Chairman of the Spitz Club of the Finnish Kennel Club) also referred to this incident in a letter dated 5^th April 1938: 

Lady Kitty wrote an article about Ru (Äry) and Finsie for the Finnish Spitz Club's "Finnish Fauna" magazine in 1953 and the first part of that is reproduced at the end of this article.  With the passage of time, recollections of a few things had slightly changed - e.g. Green Park became Hyde Park, 'owner' became 'breeder', six years became five.  She also commented "I put Ru to sleep at the very beginning of the war, before the bombing started … ".  However, an advertisement in "The Dog World Annual" for 1943 seems to contradict that by saying "Although Ch. Hammon Ary of Tulchan is now 13 years old, she is as active as when a youngster, and can keep going with the younger generation" – so I think she probably lasted until late 1943 or early 1944!

From Dog World Annual 1943

Head of Hammon Urpo (father of Hammon Irmas)

Written by Irene Slater (Valokki)

Lady Kitty with Hammon Äry of Tulchan and Finsie, Äry's puppies on her lap

The following is an extract from "Finnish Fauna" Vol I No.4 July – September 1953

"Ru and Finsie" by Lady Kitty Ritson

Hammon Äry (pronounced Aru) was imported from Finland and was sent to me by Mr. Multamäki. 

When I went to see her in quarantine, I was horrified to discover that she was hopping lame – apparently in a stifle joint. It subsequently transpired that she had fallen down a hatch on her way over in the boat.

She whelped in quarantine, a dog and a bitch. Unfortunately the bitch died and the dog became Ch. Hammon Irmas. When Ru left quarantine she was still too lame to show, and a doctor friend of my acquaintance who was an orthopaedic surgeon was kind enough to manipulate her and she became perfectly sound.

I have never seen another Finkie with such a glorious red coat. She had a perfect body and wonderful legs, feet and tail carriage. Her head was perhaps a little masculine.

Unfortunately she was the most terrible barker and would bark at nothing for hours on end – she transmitted this fault to her son Jan (Hammon Irmas) – but apart from this fault (and it was a grave one) she was a most wonderful personality. She was extremely courageous and self-sufficient, and although she was very fond of us, she allowed no unseemly demonstrations of affection.

She would trot along in front of me when out walking, her little hind legs going up and down with piston-like regularity, and I would be so entranced by her that I would catch her up and bend down and fondle her, "my darling little piston dog". I would say in that foolish dog talk which we all know so well. Ru would submit with a look of bored politeness on her face and then shake me off gently and trot on again.

She hated to return for any reason, once she had started on her walk. Supposing I had left a handkerchief or something similar behind and I went back to fetch it, she would then refuse to come out again.

She slept in the kitchen in a Tate's sugar box because she liked sleeping there. Like all Finkies she was scrupulously clean and if she wanted to go out in the night she would bark firmly. Cold and cursing, I would go downstairs and let her out. Out she would trot, returning when she was ready, rushing into her box. "Darling Ru", said I, the slave, hoping for a loving lick as a recompense for my kindness. "Gr-r-r" growled Ru, "go away and leave me to sleep".

But she was a loving dog at heart. Her breeder came to England and asked if he might see her, and a meeting was arranged in Hyde Park. He had not seen her for five years. She stood on a leash with me at the appointed spot and when he was yards away, (I did not know him) she sprang up, sniffed the air, and tore towards him with me at the end of the leash. She cried over him with loving whimpers and we were both nearly in tears. Eventually she was dragged away crying and barking, and I longed to give her back to him.

Finsie I had from Sir Edward Chichester. She was a daughter of the imported Riku II and Hammon Siro. She and Finsie were very fond of each other, but sometimes Finsie was so annoyed with Ru's barking, that she would fly at her snarling. Ru would gaze at her in amazement, but she neither stopped barking nor retaliated.

I put Ru to sleep at the very beginning of the war, before the bombing started, and I was thankful that I did so, for it was bad enough with Finsie who was not so highly strung. Finsie herself survived the war, and died at the age of 14 after a day's illness."