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CHAPTER XXXI. 

 THE BLACK-AND-TAN TERRIER. 



BY F. C. HIGXETT. 



Calm though not mean, courageous without rage, 

 Serious not dull, and without thinking sage ; 

 Pleased at the lot that Nature hath assigned, 

 Snarl as I list, and freely bark my mind : 

 As churchman wrangle not with jarring spite. 

 Nor statesmanlike caressing whom I bite ; 

 View all the canine kind with equal eyes, 



THE Black - and - tan, or Manchester, 

 Terrier as we know him to-day is a 

 comparatively new variety, and he 

 is not to be confounded with the original 

 terrier with tan and black colouring which 

 was referred to by Dr. Caius in the six- 

 teenth century, and which was at that time 

 used for going to ground and driving out 

 badgers and foxes : 



" Another sort there is that hunteth the 

 fox and the badger only, whom we call 

 Terrars," wrote the Doctor's translator. 

 " They (after the manner and custom of 

 ferrets in searching for coneys) creep into 

 the ground, and by that means make afraid, 

 nip and bite the fox and the badger in such 

 sort that either they tear them in pieces 

 with their teeth being in the earth, or else 

 hail and pull them perforce out of their 

 lurking angles, dark dungeons, and close 

 caves, or, at least, through conceived fear, 

 drive them out of their hollow harbours, 

 inasmuch as they are compelled to prepare 

 speedy flight, and being desirous of the 

 next (albeit not the safest) refuge are other- 

 wise taken and entrapped with snares and 

 nets laid on holes to the same purpose. But 

 these be the least in that kind called Sagax." 



Formerly there was but little regard 

 paid to colour and markings, and there 

 was a considerably greater proportion of 

 tan in the coat than there is at the present 

 day, while the fancy markings, such as 

 pencilled toes, thumb-marks, and kissing 

 spots were not cultivated. The general 



I dread no mastiff, and no cur despise. 

 True from the first, and faithful to the end, 

 I balk no mistress, and forsake no friend. 

 My days and nights one equal tenour keep, 

 Fast but to eat, and only wake to sleep. 

 Thus stealing along life I live incog., 

 A very plain and downright honest dog." 



WiLLi.\M Hamilto.n' (of Bangour). 



outline of the dog, too, was less graceful 

 and altogether coarser. A fair idea of 

 what the ancient Black-and-tan Terrier was 

 like may be gathered from the accompany- 

 ing woodcut, where the dogs appear not 

 only of a very different colour, but also far 

 heavier in build, as well as thicker in the 

 head, than would now be tolerated. 



During the first half of the nineteenth 

 century the chief accomplishment of this 

 terrier was rat-kiUing. There are some ex- 

 traordinary accounts of his adroitness, as 

 well as courage, in destroying these vermin. 

 The feats of a dog called Billy are recorded. 

 He was matched to destroy one hundred 

 large rats in eight minutes and a half. 

 The rats were brought into the ring in bags, 

 and as soon as the number was complete 

 Billy was put over the railing into their 

 midst. In six minutes and thirty-five 

 seconds they were all destroyed. In another 

 match he killed the same number in six 

 minutes and thirteen seconds. At length, 

 when he was getting old and had but two 

 teeth and one eye left, a wager was laid of 

 thirty sovereigns by the owner of a Berk- 

 shire bitch that she would kill fifty rats in 

 less time than Billy. The old dog killed his 

 fifty in five minutes and six seconds. The 

 pit was then cleared and the bitch let in. 

 When she had killed thirty rats she was 

 completely exhausted, fell into a fit, and lay 

 barking and yelping, utterly incapable of 

 completing her task. 



It was a popular terrier in Lancashire. 



