THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER. 441 



us from adding any further testimony relating to the 

 "mystery" of the origin of this breed. 



In an interesting article on this breed, published in the 

 Century Magazine in 1886, and written by Mr. James Wat- 

 son, of Philadelphia, is given about the first public infor- 

 mation tending to positively identify its origin to a certain 

 extent, at least. The writer says : 



Some of our authorities have attempted to throw a great deal of mystery 

 about the origin of the Yorkshire Terrier, where none really exists. If we 

 consider that the mill operatives who originated the breed by careful selection 

 of the best long-coated small Terriers they could find were nearly all ignorant 

 men, unaccustomed to imparting information for public use, we may see some 

 reason why reliable facts have not been easily attained. Tin se early writers 

 show but little knowledge of the possibilities of selection. Stonehenge, for 

 instance, in his early editions, speaks of its being impossible for a dog with a 

 three-inch coat and seven-inch beard to be a descendant of the soft-coated 

 Scotch Terrier, without a cross of some kind. The absurdity of this is seen 

 when we remember that within a few years of the date of his history, York- 

 shire Terriers were shown with twelve inches of coat. Then, again, he speaks 

 of the King Charles Spaniel as being employed to give the blue and tan, than 

 which a more ridiculous statement could not have been penned. To get a blue- 

 and-tan, long, straight, silky coat, breeders were not likely to employ a black- 

 and-tan dog with a wide chest, tucked-up loin, a round, bullet head, large, 

 protruding eyes, and heavy Spaniel ears. The idea is too absurd to be enter- 

 tained for a moment. As arrayed against all the conjectures of theorists, I 

 have in my possession a letter from Mrs. M. A. Foster, of Bradford, England, 

 who in writing of the dog Bradford Hero, the winner of ninety-seven first 

 prizes, says: " The pedigree of Bradford Hero includes all the best dogs for 

 thirty-five years back, and they were all originally bred from Scotch Terriers, 

 and shown as such until a few years back. The name of Yorkshire Terrier 

 was given to them on account of their being improved so much in Yorkshire." 



Following this, and about a year later, Mr. Ed. Boot- 

 man, of Halifax, England, furnished an article on the 

 origin of the breed, for publication in the English Stock- 

 Keeper, which that journal, "feeling the importance of all 

 facts relating to the origin of the breed," published, as fol- 

 lows: 



Swift's Old Crab, a cross-bred Scotch Terrier, Kershaw's Kitty, a Skye, 

 and an old English Terrier bitch kept by J. Whittam, then residing in Hatter's 

 Fold, Halifax, were the progenitors of the present race of Yorkshire Terriers. 

 These dogs were in the zenith of their fame forty years ago. The owner of 

 Old Crab was a native of Halifax, and a joiner by trade. He worked at Old- 

 ham for some time as a journeyman, and then removed to Manchester, where 



