10 The Fox Terrier. 



are two sorts of terriers," said he, " the one rough, short- 

 legged, long-backed, very strong, and most commonly of a 

 black or yellowish colour, mixed with white ; the other is 

 smooth-haired and beautifully formed, having a shorter 

 body and more sprightly appearance, is generally of a 

 reddish-brown colour, or black with tanned legs. Both 

 these sorts are the determined foe of all the vermin kind, 

 and in their encounters with the badger very frequently 

 meet with severe treatment, which they sustain with great 

 courage, and a thoroughbred, well-trained terrier often 

 proves more than a match for his opponent/' Here we 

 have terriers written of as thoroughbred, so, although they 

 are not particularly mentioned in connection with the fox, 

 there is little doubt that they were oftener used in his earths 

 than in the badger's den. 



Perhaps, as a matter of completeness, before dealing, as 

 it were, collectively, with the authorities, and the various 

 sporting publications which saw the light during the first 

 fifteen years of the present century, attention may specially 

 be given to the " Cynographia Britannica," written by 

 Sydenham Edwards, and published in 1800. He describes 

 our terriers more fully than previous w r riters, but much in 

 the same strain. His note about the so-called " Tumbler" 

 is specially interesting and valuable. 



Edwards writes, " That from the evidence of Ossian's 

 poems, the terrier appears to have been an original native 

 of this island. Linnaeus says it was introduced upon the 

 continent so late as the reign of Frederick I. (this would 

 be towards the end of the seventeenth century). It is 

 doubtless the Vertagris or Tumbler of Raii and others. 

 Raii says it used stratagem in taking its prey, some say 

 tumbling and playing until it came near enough to seize." 



