374 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



panied by an objectionable light tan on 

 the legs, the whole being a certain sign 

 of a soft, silky, unterrierlike coat. 



The coat of the Welsh Terrier slightly 

 differs from that of the wire-hair Fox- 

 terrier in that it is, as a rule, not so abundant, 

 and is, in reality, a different class of coat. 

 It is not so broken as is that of the Fox- 

 terrier, and is generally a smoother, shorter 

 coat, with the hairs very close together. 

 \Mien accompanied with this there is a 

 dense undercoat, one has, for a terrier used 

 to work a good deal in water, an ideal 

 covering, as waterproof almost as the 

 feathers on a duck's back. The other 

 difference between the Fox and Welsh 

 Terrier — viz., type — is very hard to define. 

 To anyone who really understands Welsh 

 Terriers, the selection of those of proper 

 type from those of wrong type presents 

 little if any difficulty. 



The Welsh Terrier, the standard of points 

 says, should present a more masculine 

 appearance than that usually seen in a Fox- 

 terrier, but it must not be taken from this 

 that any degree of coarseness is required. 

 There is, it is believed, such a thing as 

 masculine quality to be found even amongst 

 men ; it is this that is wanted in a Welsh 

 Terrier. He must be, in fact, a gentleman, 

 quite ready and able to take his part in 

 anythmg, however disagreeable and rough, 

 and he must further look the part. 



Amongst those of wrong type that are 

 sometimes to be seen are specimens which 

 show a distinct likeness to an Airedale, 

 Fox, Irish, or Bedhngton Terrier, even to 

 a Colhe. All these are, as has been said, 

 easily discernible by competent judges, who 

 will have none of them and adhere manfully 

 to the proper Welsh type. 



As a show-bench exhibit the Welsh 

 Terrier is not more than twenty-two years 

 old. He has, however, resided in Wales 

 for centuries. 



There is no doubt that he is in reality 

 identical with the old black and tan wire- 

 haired dog which was England's first terrier, 

 and which has taken such a prominent part 

 in the production and evolution of all the 

 other varieties of the sporting terrier. 



The real old Welsh gentry have ever been 

 keen sportsmen, and they are still. We 

 know that years ago a good deal of fighting 

 used to take place between gentlemen of 

 England and Wales Uving anywhere near 

 each other on the border ; and what more 

 likely than that in some of these Httle 

 affairs — where the Welshman, maybe, was 

 the victor — the Englishman's terrier was 

 " raised " by the former in common with 

 other loot ? However this may be, there 

 is not a shadow of doubt that the old 

 black and tan wire-hair had at one time 

 practically died out in England, and yet 

 was stuck to and cherished in ^^'ales, in 

 parts of which country, such as Carnarvon- 

 shire, he has unquestionably been bred for 

 hundreds of years. 



There are several people living in or 

 about Carnarvonshire who can show that 

 Welsh Terriers have been kept by their 

 ancestors from, at any rate, a hundred to 

 two hundred years ago. Notable among 

 these is the present master of the Ynysfor 

 Otter-hounds, whose great grandfather, John 

 Jones, of Ynysfor, owned Welsh Terriers 

 in or about the year 1760. This pack of 

 Otter-hounds has always been kept by the 

 Jones of Ynysfor, who have always worked 

 and still work Welsh Terriers with them. 

 From this strain some good terriers have 

 sprung, and this although neither the present 

 master nor any of his ancestors have con- 

 cerned themselves greatly about the looks of 

 their terriers, or kept anything but a head 

 record of their pedigrees. They are all, how- 

 ever, pure bred, and are set much store on 

 by their owner and his family, just as they 

 always have been by their predecessors. 



Well over a hundred years ago there 

 existed, near Dolwyddelan, an old farmer 

 named Griffith Hughes, noted for his Welsh 

 Terriers that were famed throughout the 

 countryside for their prowess with fox o-r 

 otter. There is in existence an original 

 painting of this old sportsman with one of 

 his best Welsh Terriers, a dog that was 

 known to have killed a great number of 

 foxes. The original picture is in the posses- 

 sion of Mr. Rumsey WiUiams, of Carnarvon, 

 and a copy of it is to be seen at Ynysfor. 



