Northumbrian Strains. 73 



and they are mostly similar in colour. The difficulty 

 in obtaining perfectly smooth-coats in certain strains is 

 great, especially in many of the black and white dogs, 

 which appear to me to approach a variety of their own. 

 The black is almost inclined to be blue, the coat is longer 

 and more open than usual, and there is never the slightest 

 touch of tan or brown appearing a blue black dog, with 

 more or less white on the neck, chest, and feet. Of such 

 Mr. Alexander Hastie, of Newcastle, has at times shown 

 many splendid representatives, Herdwick Herdsman, Herd- 

 wick King, and others to wit. They are all bred in his 

 neighbourhood ; for collie character I know nothing to 

 exceed them, and their reputation for work is spoken of 

 equally highly. This ardent admirer of the variety does 

 not, however, stick to colour alone, and awaiting us at the 

 Collie Club's show in London in 1890 was perhaps the very 

 best smooth bitch we ever saw Herdwick Eva. In type 

 she is perfect ; a model collie in size, expression, character, 

 and in all that distinguishes one variety of dog from 

 another. Her ears, too, are small, beautifully carried, and 

 so is her stern ; with legs and feet of the best ; in colour 

 a dull sable or fawn ; and then we come to her defects, 

 one of which was the cause of the judge placing her below, 

 what I considered, comparatively inferior bitches. Her 

 coat is rather too profuse and soft, still a minute examina- 

 tion did not lead one to suspect that her pedigree might 

 include a rough-coated strain. Then she was very much 

 "pig jawed" or "over-shot," a fault or deformity already 

 alluded to. Still, I considered her type so far in advance 

 of that of any other smooth-coated collie I have perhaps 

 ever seen, that I give her a place here, and her portrait 

 faces this page. 



