The Collie or Sheep Dog. 127 



shepherds' dogs one after another driving a little 

 flock of sheep in a perfect manner. The country 

 air is bracing and healthy on the hill sides, all the 

 surroundings of the gathering are thoroughly rural 

 and invigorating, and the good humour of the 

 owners of the competitors appears in marked con- 

 trast to the jealousies so often present at competi- 

 tions of other kinds. In 1889, on a Royal visit to 

 Wales, Her Majesty expressed extreme gratification 

 with the working of the Welsh dogs that were given 

 a trial in honour of the occasion. 



As something ought to be said as to the manage- 

 ment of such trials, I cannot do better than quote 

 from what I have already written on the subject, 

 and which will be found more fully described in 

 Chapter VI. of the " Collie or Sheep Dog," and 

 already alluded to. 



" The arrangements are simplicity itself, and 

 with two or three good managers undertaking the 

 work in hand, the cost of the preliminaries is not 

 great. In the first instance, suitable ground is to 

 found. Of necessity this need not be in one field, 

 but must be of an extent of say, extending in one 

 direction about half to three-quarters of a mile by 

 about a quarter of a mile in breadth. From a note 

 made by me at the time, I find that at the trials held 

 at Gilsland, near Carlisle, in 1885, tne dogs ^ a< ^ to 



