Who are Merkuri

Merkuri is the registered Affix from the Kennel Club, of Messrs. E.G. 'Ted' Adams BSHI & D 'Burt' Weedon BIPP, FPS.

Ted:

For most of his life has been involved in purebred horses, Arabs, Anglo-Arabs and Thoroughbreds.

With the horses, Ted bred, broke to saddle, and judged, and as with most horse people, whose whole life has been involved with horses, has hunted. Also acted as whipper in for the hunt. Ted also kept some dogs which the after a while became a pack of dogs, mostly Hunt Terriers, and a couple Chow Chow's.

   
Burt:

His interest in dogs first began as a child, his father had Beagles and Working Fox Terriers, (Wires & Smooths), and used to help out for pocketmoney, by cleaning out the Hounds & Terriers Lodges on a daily basis.

In his early teens he was allowed to have a dog of his own, (so long as it was a Terrier or Hound). He chose a Beagle, since then the love for hounds has grown. For 15 years he went without a hound due to work. The employ of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Then on retirement from the Forces decided to obtain a hound.

We enjoy the company of the Basenji immensely, and at Merkuri we are lucky that we can allow the pack to work (hunt) and run free. Obviously showing and breeding is also a big part of our lives, but since we met and made a firm commitment to the Basenji.

 

How Merkuri got its Name

When at Merkuri they decided it was time to breed, they wanted a name that acutely meant something, and not just made up. Combining Ted's vast knowledge of horses, and Burt's former career So they set about looking at names a few sprang to mind.

Selous The Great white hunter of Rhodesia.

Mercury The winged messenger of the Greek gods.

Rookobou The story of the pygmies messenger who decided never to speak again.

After finally deciding on Mercury, Burt wrote it down, spelling it Merkuri because of his dyslexia. He did not see it was spelt wrong, then when Ted looked at it and said 'you've spelt it 'Merkuri' Merk-u-r-I, 'I like it' and that was it. So we sent off the paperwork to the Kennel Club and it was passed in 1995.

 

Club Memberships

We try to support the breed, as much as possible, and one way we do this is by being members of all three Basenji Clubs in England.

Starting with the premier basenji club in the world, the first, and oldest was founded in 1939.

  • The Basenji Club of Great Britain, (BCoGB), of which Ted is a committee member.
    The Secretary is Mrs. J Savage Tel 01362821445. Unfortunately they do not have a web site, (pending). If however you require further information about the club you can e-mail me and I will pass on any information on your behalf.

  • The Basenji Owners and Breeders Association, (BOBA) founded in 19
    The Secretary is Mrs. C Wright you can contact her via the BOBA web site http://homepages.which.net/~lawrence.whitaker/about.htm

  • Northern Basenji Society, (NBS) the Acting Secretary is Mr. L Siddall
    Tel 01422844393. Unfortunately they do not have a web site. If however you require further information about the club you can e-mail me and I will pass on any information on your behalf.

  • We are also members of the Basenji Club of America Inc., (BCoA)
    The Secretary is A Graves you can contact her via the web site at http://www.basenji.org

Ted and Burt are also members of: -

  • Hound Association, which is the largest single group championship show in England (Houndshow) they also manage to bring together hounds, from the packs that give a parade.

  • The Hound Club of East Anglia, (HCEA), which is purely, dedicated to hound breeds. This club has 2 open shows a year and their web site is at http://www.houndclubofeastanglia.exl.co.uk

  • The Herts and Essex Canine Border Society, which holds 2 open shows a year, judged on the group system. Ted and Burt are members of their committee.

 

Acknowledgments

We at Merkuri would like to thank Peter Papadopoulos for allowing us to have this web page and making it all possible.

And a special thank you to 'Anne Gilpin' of the world famous Wenonah Greyhounds, (who is a much accomplished artist in her own right) for drawing our very own Merkuri © Basenji.

© Merkuri Basenjis, 2000