Welsh Collies 5 



Long Haugh, more than a quarter of a mile from where the 

 conversation took place, and quite hidden from the dog's 

 sight by a high stone wall ; when the shepherd remarked, 

 without apparent change of accent, and without particularly 

 addressing the dog at his heel, " I'm seeing a yewe ackward 

 in the Lang Hough yonder, Moss'll hae te gan an' rise 

 her." Without further word or sign Moss ran off, went 

 down the whole length of the field, found and raised his 

 sheep, and returned to his master's heel as if nothing 

 unusual had happened, as indeed it had not, for such 

 incidents are of everyday recurrence where man and dog 

 understand one another properly, but, as already mentioned, 

 they could not occur in this part of Wales. 



The Collie found in these parts is a rather small, wiry, 

 but well-formed animal, hardy to a degree, and an adept 

 in the catching of moles, field voles, and such small deer, 

 all of which he eats with avidity. Indeed, such perquisites 

 form a substantial portion of his daily fare, for in a great 

 measure he is shut out of doors at night and left to forage 

 for himself, and as a natural consequence he is no great 

 favourite with the gamekeeper. Where sheep are so largely 

 kept, of course dogs are proportionately numerous, and 

 under his lease a tenant is frequently restricted in the 

 number of dogs he is allowed to keep. As an illustration 

 I may mention that one keeper informed me that, upon 

 his beat, the sheep allowed to be depastured ran approxi- 

 mately to 25,000 and the collies to 250 ; but, as in a matter 

 of this sort it is manifestly impossible to insist upon exact 

 conditions, he added ruefully that he calculated the 

 number of dogs to be nearer 500. A considerable propor- 

 tion of these collies are more or less " Blue Merles," many 

 of them beautiful specimens, with coats almost as patch- 

 work in pattern as that of a tortoiseshell cat, and with 

 finely broken-up wall eyes. The prevailing hue is a palish 

 pigeon blue, often accompanied with white blaze on face 

 and feet, and sometimes by rich red-tan points. If the 

 recently established movement for the cultivation of the 

 breed should develop, and the Blue Merle collies become 

 as fashionable as Sables once were, then those in search 



