Similarity in Varieties. 17 



not, bear a very striking resemblance in head and coun- 

 tenance to the modern sheep dog. That the collie is 

 nearly allied to all these I do not doubt for a moment. 



In Scotland there are those who believe the hard-haired 

 Scotch terrier, the deerhound, and the collie, are one and 

 the same dog. Though the bodies and general forms of 

 the three are very diverse, their heads in shape and 

 expression much resemble each other. Their ears are 

 much the same in carriage and character, and the disposi- 

 tions of the three varieties are similar or would be so 

 were they all brought up and reared under the same 

 system. The coats or jackets of the deerhound and terrier 

 are both hard and crisp, and much the same in colour, 

 fawns or light browns being occasionally found in each, 

 the prevailing shades being various degrees of brown or 

 dark brindle. The collie, on the other hand, has a longer 

 coat of a different colour, perhaps the result of crossing 

 for fancy rather than for useful purposes. No one who 

 possesses any eye for a dog, can fail to notice some resem- 

 blance between these three native dogs so unlike in some 

 particulars, so similar in others. 



Much has at times been said about crossing the sheepdog 

 with the black and tan or Gordon setter; the latter was 

 most probably crossed with the sheep dog. The Scottish 

 deerhound is a much more likely cross, and some years 

 ago I struck a trail, which, I thought, if followed to the end, 

 would result in making a discovery of some deerhound 

 strain in our modern sheepdog. Although I failed to follow 

 out the line, personally I believe that the variety of dog to 

 which this volume is dedicated at a not very remote period 

 received a considerable impression of this cross. Some 

 twenty years ago Mr. John Rigg, of the Windermere Hotel, 



C 



