2go British Dogs. 



every class of them possesses marked qualities in common, 

 and are, above all things, vermin destroyers, and in a 

 variety of ways used for that purpose, they thus form 

 a natural group on the lines we laid down for classi- 

 fying the dogs upon which we treat in these pages. 



CHAPTER XVII. THE FOX TERRIER. 



BY T. H. SCOTT (PEEPING TOM). 



AMONG all those who have written on fox terriers of late years, none 

 appear to have been inclined to go to the root of the matter and tell 

 us anything of the origin and early history of this breed. 



A general idea seems to prevail that fox terriers are a production of 

 modern times, and this idea has no doubt been fostered by the way in 

 which spurious imitations of them have been from time to time manu- 

 factured, and by the ignorance of judges who have permitted various 

 and very opposite types to find favour. 



The fox terrier proper is not a modern breed, and perhaps there were 

 as good dogs fifty years ago as there are now. 



Some of us will, I dare say, remember the old black and tan English 

 terrier not in any way resembling the whip. tailed, smooth-coated, and 

 pencil-toed black and tan of the present day, but a dog of very similar 

 appearance to the Old Jock and Old Trap type of fox terriers. 



My father has at present in his possession a painting of a noted terrier 

 that belonged to his grandfather. This dog was a black and tan that 

 is to say, black, with a considerable quantity of light tan, and white 

 breast. He, upon one occasion, went to ground in Newburgh Park, and 

 stayed several hours, until dug out, when it was found that he was 

 engaged with two large badgers, and though fearfully cut up, he showed 

 no signs of giving in. This dog had good drop ears, and in all other 



