The Terriers. 



Nicholas Cox's well-known book, " The Gentle- 

 man's Recreation," published in 1677, gives us 

 less information about terriers than one would 

 have expected. He describes them as of two 

 sorts one with legs more or less crooked, with 

 short coats ; the others, straighter on their legs, 

 and with long jackets. Possibly the first-named 

 were the ordinary turnspits, or, may be, some bold 

 breeder of the Dandie Dinmont will lay claim to 

 them as the original progenitors of that variety of 

 vermin terrier. Anyhow, whatever these crooked- 

 legged dogs were, the long-coated ones " with 

 shaggy hair," like water spaniels, were said to be 

 the best workers, because they could both chase 

 their game above ground and drive it from the 

 earths, as occasion required. Other authors have 

 followed much in the same strain ; indeed, the 

 general description of the terrier about this time 

 appears to have been copied by one writer after 

 another without acknowledgment, and without 

 taking any trouble to ascertain the truth of the 

 original statement. Master Cox, especially, seems 

 to have been a great offender in this respect not 

 only where he deals with dogs, but where he treats 

 of the fishes likewise. 



The writer who suggested that terriers could be 

 bred from a cross between a "mongrel mastiff and 



