THE IRISH TERRIER 463 



found, and by way of winding up says : " When we consider how 

 much we owe to the Irish in dogs, the Wolfhound, the Greyhound, 

 the Spaniel, the Setter, we may readily, and without strain of faith, 

 believe that such a sporting race kept a ' breed of Terriers also,' 

 but to ask us to believe that the show dogs of the present day 

 are purely descended from the Terriers of the ' Long-boat ' men 

 is rather too much." 



This is quoted to show the difference in opinion that exists 

 as to the real origin of the Irish Terrier. 



Probably the show specimens of the present day are not abso- 

 lutely pure descendants of the Irish Terrier as known in Ireland 

 forty years ago ; but there is certainly a big percentage of that 

 blood in their composition, and were proof of this required, it 

 could be forthcoming over and over again. Mr. Dalziel was 

 doubtless actuated by the purest motives in all that he said ; 

 but had he dived deeper into the subject, he certainly would 

 have found that the breed did exist in Ireland years and numbers 

 of years prior to its advent on the show-bench in either that country 

 or our own, and might then have deemed it prudent to be less 

 caustic in his remarks, and not quite so hard on a breed that so 

 many have come to admire, and which without flattery may be 

 considered one of the best of present-day Terriers. 



The writer holds no brief for Mr. Krehl or any one else, but he 

 must say, in fairness to those who have expressed opinions adverse 

 to those of Mr. Hugh Dalziel, that he has at some considerable 

 trouble made personal inquiries in almost every part of the land 

 of the shamrock, from Londonderry in the north to Limerick and 

 Waterford in the south, and from Dublin in the east to Galway 

 in the west, and has it on unimpeachable authority that the 

 breed has been well known and kept in various parts of Ireland 

 as long as the oldest living man can remember. A personal friend 

 of the writer in County Wicklow, whose veracity may be vouched 

 for, told him many years ago that he had kept the breed for 

 upwards of thirty years. And this is typical of many assurances 

 from men whose statements are beyond suspicion, which might 

 reasonably be accepted as sufficient proof that the Irish Terrier is 

 not quite of the mushroom-like growth that Mr. Dalziel would have 

 us believe. 



Although good specimens were known in Ireland long before 

 dog shows were in existence, it must not be taken for granted 

 that collectively they were of the high class we are so accustomed 

 to see now. A change has naturally come about with this, as 

 with many other breeds that have been carefully bred for ex- 

 hibition for thirty years. They were rather a scratch lot, or perhaps 

 more correctly described as bad specimens of the present type. 

 They were dogs that in many cases were light in colour, and had 



