PRESENTED BY THE DOMESDAY BOOK OF DOGS French Bassets. Basset Artesien-Normand. B. A. N. Bassets d'Artois. Bourbon, 1913 Sadly by the start of the twentieth century all the larger, grand and briquet, versions of the native hound breeds of Normandy and Artois had become extinct. Leaving only their respective bassets behind which, themselves, were in dire straits. The two basset breeds were merged into one and, in 1911, they took the name of Basset Artesien-Normand. Three renowned breeders of the time stood out above all others: Comte le Couteulx de Canteleu, and Messieurs Louis Lane and Leon Verrier. Over the succeeding decades breeders aimed for a less unwieldy and slothful hound gradually producing a lighter more svelte dog, causing some remorse amongst later breeders who think the 'streamlining' may have gone a little too far believing the breed now has a lack of stamina and drive. Basset Artesien Normand. Mason, 1915. Basset Bleu de Gascogne. ...