The Scotch Colley. 203. 



The wise and faithful, yet sonsie that is, open, jolly, engaging look 

 is admirably descriptive ; and the bawsint face that is, with the bold 

 white blaze down it, like a badger ; and the gawcie, or large abundant 

 swirling tail, are eminently characteristic of the breed. 



To take the points seriatim : 



The head should be in size proportionate to the whole body, although 

 it looks rather small in the best specimens from the long thick ruff of 

 hair round the neck and throat in which it is set. The skull is broad 

 and rather flat, slightly narrowing towards the front. The forehead is 

 slight, and there is more or less fulness over the eyes, but this, if much 

 exaggerated, is a suspicious point. It should not, however, be a long 

 lean and gradually tapering head from occiput to nose, but the muzzle 

 gradually tapering and of fair length, without becoming what is termed 

 snipey. The teeth should be strong, white, and those of the upper and 

 lower jaw should meet. I have never seen a decidedly undershot colley. 

 Such a feature would be a great disfigurement, and the opposite, over- 

 shot or pig-jaw, is so also, although not to the same extent. This was a 

 great fault in Old Jack and in Carlyle, the subject of our illustration. 



The eyes are pretty close together, being set well forward and at an 

 oblique angle, as, indeed, the eyes of all breeds are, more or less, 

 although in most not so pronounced as in the colley. The colour varies 

 with the colour of the coat, but generally some shade of brown. Those 

 with a good deal of white have generally the lightest eyes. 



With the ear, the large drooping or " saddle-flap" style is almost a 

 certain indication of impurity, and if there is a silky fringe to it a setter 

 cross may be pretty safely inferred. I have seen colleys of undoubted 

 purity with prick ears, but they are not a nice feature. The ear that is 

 thrown back, with its tip embedded in the thick frill as the dog scampers 

 about or comes bounding towards you in his pleasure, and is seen imme- 

 diately to be at half cock, that is, pricked up when he is on the qui vive 

 is the one to be desired. It drops when the dog is still. 



In a rough-coated dog the shoulder must be felt to know what it is, 

 but it can be pretty well judged of by the dog's action a stiff stilted 

 movement betrays a straight and useless shoulder ; it should slope well, 

 and be well clothed with elastic muscle. 



The chest is deep ; a wide one throws the elbows out, and indicates 

 too slow and laboured a pace. On the other hand, if the depth is 



