The Collie or Sheep Dog. 107 



hissing, bringeth the wandering wethers and stray sheep into the 

 self-same place where the master's will and work is to have them, 

 whereby the shepherd reapeth the benefit, namely, that with little 

 labour and no toil of moving his feet, he may rule and guide his 

 flock according to his own desire, either to have them go forward 

 or stand still, or to draw backward, or to turn this way, or take 

 that way. For it is not in England as it is in France, as it is in 

 Flanders, as it is in Syria, as it is in Tartary, where the sheep 

 follow the shepherd, for here in our country the shepherd 

 followeth the sheep, and sometimes the straying sheep, when no 

 dog runs before them, nor goeth about and beside them, gather 

 themselves into a flock, when they hear the shepherd whistle, for 

 fear of the dog (as I imagine), remembering that (if unreasoning 

 creatures may be reported to have memory) the dog commonly 

 runneth out at his master's warrant, which is his whistle. This 

 have we oftentimes marked when we have taken our journey 

 from town to town ; when we have heard a shepherd whistle, we 

 have reined in our horse and stood still a space to see the proof 

 and trial of this matter. Furthermore, with the dog doth the 

 shepherd take the sheep to slaughter, and to be healed if they 

 be sick, and no hurt or harm is done by the dogs to the simple 

 creature. 



The above is one of the oldest records we have 

 of the working of sheep dogs, and it is interesting 

 because it almost exactly corresponds with their 

 duty at the present day. 



It must not be forgotten that the sheep dogs of 

 other countries, and probably in England when 

 wolves and other wild beasts abounded, are and 

 were much more ferocious and powerful creatures 

 than our collies. The so-called Pyrenean guard dog 

 we often see on our show benches, is a dog some 



