CHAPTER XXXI 



THE SHORT-HAIRED SKYE TERRIER 



MANY people will probably take me to task for in- 

 cluding such a chapter as the above in this book, 

 but there has been so much controversy about the 

 short -coated Skye Terrier that it is interesting to 

 place the facts upon record, and give photographs 

 and particulars of a breed which, though far from 

 new, has been little talked about until the present 

 year of grace. This is curious, to say the least of 

 it, for the terriers that we have seen have quite as 

 much to commend them as the Scottish, or the long- 

 coated Skye. Their appearance is not strikingly un- 

 familiar, because they follow more or less upon the 

 lines of the other short -legged varieties indigenous 

 to Scotland. Their presence on the show bench has 

 been resented by some of the votaries of the long- 

 haired Skye, but there seems to be quite sufficient 

 evidence to support the assertion that they have been 

 in existence as a distinct breed for a very con- 

 siderable period. Whether or no they are the original 

 terrier of Skye is entirely another matter, and I 

 for one should hesitate to express an opinion. I 

 can, however, serve as a vehicle for conveying the 

 views of others. Mr. L. P. C. Astley assigns to 



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