514 BRITISH DOGS 



Skye Terrier. Although some admirers of the Clydesdale Terrier 

 claim for him hardiness and fitness for Terrier work ; but it is evident 

 that a dog with a coat that looks like silk is simply a toy. 



The late Mr. Thomson Gray, the greatest authority at the time 

 upon the Terriers of Scotland, thus wrote of the Paisley, or Clydes- 

 dale, Terrier: 



" Paisley Terriers are not so large as the average show Skye, 

 which they much resemble. The non-dog-fancier would say that 

 they were Skyes with a fine coat ; but a discerning eye would see 

 that they were a more compact dog, rather higher on the leg, shorter 

 in the back, and with a greater wealth of hair of a delicate shade, 

 and very profuse ear-feather (Fig. 103). At home that is, in Paisley 

 they are spoken of as ' Silkies,' to distinguish them from the Skye 

 Terrier. At Martin's early shows in Glasgow these dogs were 

 exhibited as Skyes, and often won prizes as such. But the Skye 

 men would not have it : war was declared, and the poor Silky, with 

 its wee army of supporters, had to surrender, and retire to that 

 town of thread on the banks of the Cart, where it lived in obscurity 

 until about the year 1885, when Mr. John King, Mr. J. B. Morison, 

 the writer, and a few more, interested themselves in the breed, 

 got classes for it, and set it on its legs again. 



Evil times again fell upon poor Silky. There was a revolution 

 and a civil war. A new club was started called the Clydesdale 

 Terrier Club, and each had its supporters ; but the old adage, that 

 a house divided against itself cannot stand, came true, and the 

 poor Silky, driven from pillar to post, ceased to interest any but 

 those few enthusiasts in Paisley who may be said to have manu- 

 factured the breed. 



That injudicious mating of Skye Terriers or some accidental 

 cross with a mongrel produced a pretty-coloured, soft-haired Terrier 

 is perhaps the nearest approach to the truth with regard to the 

 manner in which the Clydesdale Terrier originated, but at best 

 it is only conjecture. That the Paisley Terrier is no new breed, 

 we know, and from it was produced the Yorkshire Terrier, a dog 

 that was not so many years ago known as a Scotch Terrier, and 

 is so described by Dr. Gordon Stables in the first edition of the 

 'Practical Kennel Guide.' 



For those who want a fancy dog for a pet and who like something 

 more substantial than a toy, I can recommend the Clydesdale Terrier. 

 They are pretty dogs to look at, and they are dogs that will repay 

 any little attention given to them. Like all long-coated dogs, they 

 require a certain amount of washing and grooming to keep them in 

 good order ; but any one with a real love for his pets could never 

 grudge them such attention. They require the same kind of 

 treatment as a Yorkshire Terrier, which, from whatever cause, has 



