44 The Collie or Sheep Dog. 



This was Cockle, then shown by Mr. W. White, Sherwood 

 Rise, near Nottingham, of which more anon. The first 

 Newcastle show was followed by others, and in 1864 a class 

 for sheep dogs in the county town of Northumberland 

 secured eight entries, two of the exhibitors being Mr. James 

 Hedley, the well-known greyhound coursing judge, and Mr. 

 Jacob Wilson (now Sir Jacob Wilson), so well known by 

 his work in connection with the Royal Agricultural Society. 



Hanley, in Staffordshre, was responsible for a good 

 provincial show in 1868, and amongst the nine sheep- 

 dogs benched were two by the Rev. W. J. Mellor, and by 

 Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price, of Rhiwlas. The first named took 

 leading honours with his dog, which had not a name, but 

 Mr. Price was not so fortunate. Another exhibitor, who 

 survives, could show and win in this class so long ago as 

 1863, viz., Mr. T. Wootten, whose old, heavy-coated, 

 characteristic, if rather coarse headed dog, Rover, came 

 second at Birmingham that year, and in the following one 

 likewise; Mr. Greaves, M.P., of Barford, Warwickshire, 

 winning first on both occasions, with a dog called Yarrow. 



Between this period and 1870 the London and provincial 

 shows, the latter especially, secured fairly large entries 

 when classes were given for sheep dogs ; and it was during 

 this decade that such exhibitions became popularised, and 

 at the same time the dogs that made them attracted more 

 than passing attention. In 1868 Darlington took the 

 initiative, and duplicated the class by giving one for dogs 

 and one for bitches, there being twenty-four entries in the 

 one and seven in the other. A strange anomaly appears 

 here, not an error as it has been considered, but merely a 

 local custom, the males were called "shepherds' dogs," the 

 females "cur bitches." In many parts of the country the 



