78 The Fox Terrier. 



before his death looked as well and was as fresh and 

 lively as many dogs at half his age. How the writer of 

 these chapters obtained the fox terriers he once owned and 

 showed so successfully may be interesting and instructive 

 to others who would desire to go and do likewise ; though 

 perhaps a different procedure as accounted later on would 

 be more likely to be successful nowadays, when " cham- 

 pions " are not readily found at 10/. or 15/. a-piece, and the 

 best of brood bitches for less than a moiety of either sum. 



As a commencement it must not be forgotten that twenty- 

 five years ago there were fewer dog shows than now, fewer 

 people who knew a terrier when they saw one, and that 

 canine knowledge was comparatively rudimentary. I lived 

 in a country town, and had then visited very few dog 

 shows, the principal ones, however, amongst the number. 

 I went, saw, and fancied the fox terrier as he then was, and 

 in due course, after obtaining a couple of puppies from the 

 same source, which died, got a bitch through the late Rev. 

 T. O'Grady, of Hognaston Rectory, Ashbourne. This was 

 Riot, by Old Trap — Venus, by Old Jock — a suspicious 

 pedigree to be handed to a novice, but ultimate results 

 convinced me of its correctness. 



After sending her over to the Hilmorton Paddocks, near 

 Rugby, to be served by Jock II., said to be by Old Jock out 

 of Grove Nettle, I had for my pains and expense a litter of 

 mongrels, one of which, because it had an " evenly-marked 

 black and tan head," I was persuaded to show. However, 

 so disgusted was I with my own dog alongside others, that 

 I sold him for seven shillings, and, though the entry fee 

 and expenses had cost ten times that sum, was told, by one 

 who knew, that I had made a good bargain. Purchasing 

 Crack (brother to Trimmer), in due course Riot became 



