322 British Dogs. 



of them known to me are terribly inbred, and that the usual conse- 

 quences often follow ; also that many of them exhale an odour which, to 

 say the least of it, is peculiar." 



The following quotation from a letter on the subject, by Mr. W. J. 

 Donkin, secretary of the Bedlington Terrier Club, is in some points con- 

 firmatory of the above, and throws some additional light on the history 

 of the breed. He says : 



" During the first quarter of the present century, Mr. Edward Donkin, 

 of Flotterton still dear to the old sportsmen of Coquetside by the 

 familiar soubriquet of ' Hunting Ned ' hunted a pack of foxhounds 

 well known in the Eothbury district. At that time he possessed two 

 very celebrated kennel terriers, called Peachum and Pincher. A colony 

 of sporting nailors from Staffordshire then flourished at Bedlington 

 (a village situated about twelve miles north from Newcastle), who 

 were noted for their plucky breed of terriers. But reform was 

 at hand, and the old favourites were obliged to make way for new 

 blood. To Joseph Ainsley, a mason by trade, belongs this honour. He 

 purchased a dog named Peachum from Mr. Cowen, of Bock Law, and the 

 result of a union of this dog with Mr. Christopher Dixon's Phoebe, of 

 Longhorsley, was Piper, belonging to James Anderson, of Eothbury 

 Forest. Piper was a dog of slender build, about 15in. high, and 151b. 

 weight. He was of a liver colour, the hair being a sort of hard 

 woolly lint, his ears were large, hung close to his cheeks, and were 

 slightly feathered at the tip. In the year 1820, Mr. Howe, of Alnwick, 

 visited a friend at Bedlington, and brought with him a terrier bitch 

 named Phoebe, which he left with Mr. Edward Coates, of the Vicarage. 

 Phoebe belonged to Mr. Andrew Eiddle, of Framlington, who subse- 

 quently made a present of her to Ainsley ; but from the fact of her home 

 being at the Vicarage she was generally known as Coates' s Phoebe. Her 

 colour was black, with sort of branded legs, and she had a light-coloured 

 tuft of hair on her head. She was about 13in. high and weighed 141b. 

 In 1825 she was mated with Anderson's Piper, and the fruit of this union 

 was the Bedlington terrier in question, Mr. Ainsley being the first to 

 claim that title for his dog Piper. Of the sagacity and courage of Piper, 

 one of their offspring, a volume might be written. 



" The Bedlington terrier is fast, and whether on land or water is equally 

 at home. In appetite theae dogs are dainty, and tkey seldom fatten, 



