21 



THE AIREDALE TERRIER. 



CHAPTER I. 

 Origin and History. 



The absolute origin of the breed is " wrapped in a 

 good deal of mystery." The conviction is shared by a 

 great many fanciers that the Welsh Harrier played a 

 leading role in the first instance in the production of our 

 favourite, and without a shadow of doubt to the Welsh 

 Harrier's first cousin, the Otterhound, we are largely, 

 if not solely, indebted for the Airedale's many excellences 

 as a water dog. To me it is calamitous that we should 

 be in danger of losing that thick, piley undercoat, which 

 is oily in its nature. A coat of this sort will stand any 

 amount of water, and then only appear half wet. The 

 manufacturers of the breed were evidently in dead earnest 

 on this point, for in the original standard great stress 

 was laid upon the weather-resisting qualities of the ideal 

 jacket, and the majority of points were awarded for the 

 coat taken as a whole. Old-time fanciers were also not 

 near so keen on that cat-foot which we now insist upon, 

 arguing, and very justly so, that since the work was 

 chiefly in the water, a foot tending more to the web- 

 shape was one of the chief desiderata in swimming. 

 It was undoubtedly these sporting qualities in the water 

 that enabled the breed to make its way at the rapid rate 

 we have seen, and that without the booming of the fancier 

 press that so largely helped other varieties. Thirty-five 

 years ago the Airedale was a rara avis outside the broad 

 County of Yorkshire, and he was mostly known by the 

 name of the Working Terrier or Waterside Terrier. It 

 was no uncommon sight to see quite 200 entries at shows 

 like Bingley. At one of these shows a meeting was 



