35 o British Dogs. 



narrow, opens himself a way with his feet, and that with so great labour 

 that he frequently perishes through his own exertions.' 



" No subsequent writer, until comparatively recent times, describes 

 the Scotch terrier with any minuteness ; but Caius, who wrote his work 

 on ' Englishe Dogges ' a few years before the Bishop of Boss, mentions 

 Iseland 'dogges,' which, there can be little doubt, were of the same 

 breed as afterwards came to be known by the name of Skye terriers. 

 They were fashionable in his time as lap dogs, and were ' brought out of 

 barbarous borders from the uttermost countryes northwards,' &c. ; and 

 * they,' he says, ' by reason of the length of their heare, make show 

 neither of face nor body, and yet these curres, forsooth, because they are 

 so straunge, are greatly set by, esteemed, taken up, and made of, in room 

 of the spaniell gentle, or comforter.' It would be vain to conjecture 

 whence this ' straunge ' animal came, or when it first found a home in 

 the Western Islands, but it seems certain that it was there three 

 centuries ago. Once there, everything was favourable for its preserva- 

 tion as, or development into, a distinct breed. The sea forms a natural 

 barrier, which would prevent contamination, and the only influences 

 likely to effect any change in the characteristics of the dog would be 

 food, climate, and selection, unless other dogs were brought to the 

 island. 



" An incident did happen in 1588, as we are told, on the authority of 

 the Rev. J. Gumming Macdona, in Webb's Book on the Dog, by which a 

 foreign blood was introduced amongst them. He informs us that the late 

 Lady Macdonald, of Armadale Castle, was possessed of an extraordinary 

 handsome strain of Skye terrier, which was descended from a cross of 

 some Spanish white dogs that were wrecked on the island at the time 

 when the Spanish Armada lost so many ships on the western coast. So 

 far as this particular strain is concerned, great care appears to have been 

 taken to keep it pure and distinct from the breed common in the island ; 

 however, other dogs may have found their way to Skye in a similar 

 manner, although there is no record of the fact. At the time when 

 Professor Low wrote, the distinctive features of the Skye terrier were 

 well marked. He says ' the terriers of the Western Islands of Scotland 

 have long lank hair, almost trailing to the ground.' There could not be 

 a happier description than this. There is no ambiguity about the length 

 of the coat, and the word ' lank ' conveys the idea that it lay straight 



