The Collie or Sheep Dog. 1 1 1 



't porch an' the churchyard," the inference to be 

 deduced from the answer being that there were 

 ten worshippers on the day in question, as each 

 would be attended by his sheep dog " cur," as he 

 is usually locally known. 



Such continued association between man and dog 

 naturally tends to increase the sagacity and good 

 sense of the latter, and so the shepherd's dog 

 comes to be the most sensible of all dogs, but the 

 animal kept for exhibition in this respect does not, 

 as a rule, approach his working cousins. Stories 

 of the former could be mentioned without number. 



There is that of the Cumberland sheep-stealer 

 hanged at Carlisle. Accompanied by a sheep 

 dog, he, in the daytime, frequented certain farms. 

 Selecting sheep here and there, he pointed such out 

 to his dog. At night the two went near the places, 

 the dog was sent into the fields and drove out the 

 sheep already chosen, which his dishonest master 

 converted into mutton and then disposed of. Dogs 

 have been known to drive sheep for many miles by 

 themselves, and to distinguish between those that 

 belonged to their master's flock and those of a 

 neighbour's. The homing instinct is strong in the 

 collie. A farmer friend of mine says a collie that 

 belonged to him found its way from Norfolk back 

 into Scotland. 



