CHAPTER XLI 

 THE DANDIE DINMONT TERRIER 



HAD not Sir Walter Scott written " Guy Mannering," there would 

 never have been a breed of dogs named Dandie Dinmont Terriers. 

 He, therefore, must be credited with being the author of the 

 name of a Terrier that had existed long before, and not of 

 the breed. Had the great novelist given us a description of the 

 Terrier of the time when he created Dandie Dinmont as a character, 

 what a lot of petty cavillings it would have saved ! That Sir Walter 

 Scott himself possessed a brace of these Terriers admits of no doubt, 

 as in one of his Notes he says : " The race of Pepper and Mustard 

 are in the highest estimation at the present day, not only for vermin- 

 killing, but for intelligence and fidelity. Those who, like the author, 

 possess a brace of them, consider them as very desirable companions." 

 Elsewhere, too, there is ample evidence to show that these Terriers 

 were hard biters, capable of tackling the fiercest ground vermin. 



Enthusiasts in the past have claimed too much for the dog 

 idealised him, in fact ; and strong desire has created good qualities 

 as inherent and never wanting in the breed, but which are not 

 always found. It is a mistake to claim for every Dandie Dinmont 

 Terrier all the best attributes of his family. As a variety there is no 

 dog gamer, and with gameness he generally possesses considerable 

 intelligence and tractability ; but every fancier has known Dandie 

 Dinmont Terriers of the bluest blood that were worth very little, 

 although, speaking broadly, as a Terrier he is unexcelled. A good 

 specimen has all the courage and perseverance of the Bull-terrier, 

 and is under far better control, and, in comparison with his cousin 

 the Bedlington, his temper alone gives him the palm. 



A point much insisted on by some of the most ardent admirers 

 of the breed is absolute purity of descent from Dandie Dinmont's 

 dogs. There is abundance of proof that the very great bulk of 

 our Dandie Dinmont Terriers have at least a large proportion of the 

 blood of Mr. Davidson's Terriers in them ; but to suppose that they 

 have been kept absolutely free from crosses, whether occurring by 

 accident or design, is to take up with the improbable. 



A gentleman who, when a boy, was on the most intimate terms 



