The Fox Terrier. 



heard what the Abbess of Sopewell said of her terriers 

 " teroures " they were called and how she worked them. 



Earlier, however, than the time of Dame Berners, an 

 allusion to terriers is found in a fourteenth century manu- 

 script, quoted by Strutt in his " Sports and Pastimes," and 

 from which he reproduces an engraving. This is an illus- 

 tration of three men, who, assisted by a dog and spades, 

 are " unearthing a fox." The colour of the dog is not ascer- 

 tainable, nor can I make sure that it has been underground, 

 for the fox is only in part out of the hole, and the terrier 

 (or whatever variety the dog may be) is springing on to 

 his prey from a little rising ground immediately behind. 

 Possibly a second terrier is out of sight in the earth. Two 

 of the hunters are in the act of digging, whilst the third is 

 vigorously blowing a horn. It may be interesting to state 

 that in the original engraving this terrier possesses a long, 

 narrow head, not unlike that of the greyhound in shape, his 

 tail is long and uncut, he is smooth-coated and has erect 

 ears. Elaine in his " Rural Sports" reproduces the 

 picture, and, with a liberty that is quite inexcusable, 

 converts the terrier into a wire-haired or long-coated one, 

 white in colour and with a dark patch over one eye. He 

 also attempts to make the original manuscript of greater 

 antiquity than is actually the case by describing the picture 

 as " Saxons bolting a fox." 



No doubt, at any rate so far as the British Isles are con- 

 cerned, this record, which the learned Strutt has given us, 

 is the oldest upon which any reliance can be placed. 

 Some may say that the dog given is not a terrier, but 

 I believe that the picture is intended to represent such a 

 terrier as might be the common dog at that time. It is 

 little bigger than the iox upon which it would like to seize, 



