116 The Collie or Sheep Dog. 



Mr. Martindale's Mite and by Mr. Barcroft's Trim. But 

 all round I believe Rob was the best working sheep-dog I 

 ever saw. Other good animals of a like pattern have been 

 Mr. Barcroft's Nip, Mr. R. Huck's Corby, and Mr. R. W. 

 Metcalf's Sep. None of these latter are, however, collies 

 proper under the modern acceptation of the term, and so the 

 leading meetings both in Wales and in the North of England 

 are called. " sheep-dog trials/' in order that any dog, 

 irrespective of his strain, so long as he be properly 

 trained and broken to work sheep, may compete. This is 

 a very wise precaution in order to save trouble so far 

 as objections are concerned. Any evil it might do to 

 the breed by allowing cross-bred dogs to compete, is 

 counteracted by the special prizes awarded to the hand- 

 somest dog on the ground whose work has been to the 

 satisfaction of the judges. 



At the Kirkby Stephen meeting in 1881, one of the hand- 

 some collies competed, Mr. F. Pott's (Brampton) Rob, then 

 nine years old, but still possessing all that expression and 

 character, with size and an excellent coat, required to win 

 on the show bench. Performing his work very well indeed, 

 under most unfavourable circumstances, he was not 

 quite fast enough and sufficiently sharp and brisk to 

 compete successfully against much younger animals, though 

 he came second at Llangollen in 1872, and the judges 

 there, as others had previously done at Kirkby Stephen, 

 presented him with the beauty prize. Rob on this occasion 

 was entered as belonging to Mr. Harding (Castle Carrock). 

 Mr. R. Huck (Barrows Green, Westmoreland), also had a 

 goodish looking bitch called Fly, a most successful and 

 consistent performer in the field, both in England and 

 Wales. She, however, appeared neither long nor short 



