CHAPTER XVII. 



THE SCOTCH TERRIER. 



THIS interesting breed of dog is supposed by very many of its admirers to have been the 

 progenitor of the Irish Terrier, and is considered by them to have been introduced into the 

 sister isle by emigrants from Scotland, who were accompanied to so their new residence by their 

 faithful canine companions, who were destined to found the race of Irish Terriers. That there 

 is ground for this impression we willingly admit, and as the head in certain characteristics 

 approaches the Irish Terrier, we pass from one to the other, so that our readers may have a fair 

 opportunity of comparing the two varieties. As the Scotch Terrier is so little known in the 

 southern portion of these islands, and a class for this variety is a very uncommon institution at 

 any shows, we consider ourselves fortunate in being able to lay the views of Mr. James B. 

 Morrison before our readers. This gentleman has on several occasions judged the Scotch 

 Terrier, and his knowledge of and connection with the breed has extended over several years. 

 Mr. Morrison writes : 



" Every dog has his day, and, thanks to the continued efforts of a few admirers of the 

 Hard-haired Scotch Terrier, there is every likelihood of ' Scottie ' being better known and 

 more appreciated, both by authorities on canine affairs and the public generally, than he 

 has been since the advent of dog-shows. 



" The designation hard-haired Scotch Terrier implies the existence of softer haired varieties, 

 and these we find in the Skye and Dandie Dinmont. Fanciers of these two terriers can, 

 no doubt, recognise their favourites in fusty books of ' ye olden time ; ' and without denying 

 them the satisfaction of an inconceivable antiquity, it requires no great stretch of imagination 

 to suppose, that at a time considerably posterior to the Cambrian period, the three varieties 

 mentioned might have appeared under our present heading, having had a common origin, 

 just as the short hard-haired, and longer and softer coated, together with the bob-tailed variety 

 of Sheep-dog, are believed to have sprung from the same stock. 



" It is more than likely that the subject of this chapter was the original Terrier of 

 Scotland, from the fact that the hard, short coat could not have been produced from the 

 Skye or any other longer haired variety, without the presence of a smooth-coated dog ; 

 and we know that, with the exception of the Blue Paul a dog about forty-five pounds 

 weight, bred at Kirkintilloch, which has come and almost gone within the last century and 

 a half there was no smooth-coated species indigenous to the Highlands, or Islands of 

 Scotland, or even known to Lowlanders as a Scotch dog. It may be advanced that the 

 hard, short coat is the result of judicious selection, but against this theory stands the fact, 

 that in the Scotch Terrier era these dogs were used exclusively for work, and the great 

 object in breeding was to produce an intelligent, plucky terrier, of a useful size, with a 

 long powerful jaw, broad deep chest, and strong loins ; colour, length of coat, carriage, &c., 

 being secondary considerations a course followed in certain quarters to this day. Such a 



