Sir Cavendish. 93 



not cloddy like guinea pigs ; at the same time size should 

 not weigh against type and quality. The more hair on 

 the jaws the better ; I mean hair, too, not wool. 



" I remember, as quite a boy, that the generality of old 

 English sheep-dogs were grey or blue in colour, with white 

 feet, and white head and neck. Nearly every drover 

 had one, and every shepherd, for we had no collies then. 

 An old drover who died here (near Woodb ridge) last year 

 at a very great age, named Chuffy Plant, told me that my 

 dogs were the right stamp, but they were ( little rat-dawg 

 things ' ; too much quality ; were not big enough or strong 

 enough. I could not argue with the old man, as I felt he 

 was an authority, but I explained to him that I had to 

 breed for the show-bench. Whereupon he anathematised 

 the show-bench with this remark : ( Drat it all, ye can 

 allus breed minnifers ; dround them and rear the bigfuns ! ' 

 Minnifer or miniver signifies the weasel, but is a term 

 applied in Suffolk to any small or weedy specimen of 

 animals." 



Sir Cavendish, the dog so admirably drawn on the 

 adjoining page, I consider the handsomest and best of his 

 breed hitherto seen ; moreover, he possesses to a remark- 

 able degree all the attributes required to approach per- 

 fection. He may well be considered the typical specimen of 

 his variety, and, as such, particular trouble has been taken 

 to obtain his full description, which, in combination with 

 the general one already given, will enable those interested 

 to know exactly the sort of animal required in this variety. 



Sir Cavendish is a pigeon-blue and white dog, with 

 correct markings, 23^ in. in height at the shoulder, 

 52lb. in weight, with very small flat ears, almost entirely 

 buried in coat, which is long, thick, and shaggy, free 



