138 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



to decry. We willingly grant that the working Skye Terrier is usually provided with an 

 extremely weather-resisting coat, and that in some instances dogs of this breed have been 

 awarded prizes who have certainly had jackets of a very soft and silky texture jackets, in fact, 

 which would incapacitate them from working for a whole day amongst whins or brackens in a 

 Scotch mist, and which are entirely opposed to the requirements of the best judges of the breed. 

 Nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that the majority of our principal prize-winners are dogs 

 which have been carefully prepared for the show-bench, and are bred from parents who them- 

 selves had existed in more luxurious homes than the rough cottage of a Scottisli keeper ; added 

 to which it should be remembered that exhibitors must have, from the earliest existence of 

 shows, selected dogs to breed from which were supposed to be likely to develop beauty and 

 improve the appearance of the race. Short rough coats are naturally harsher than long ones, 

 but their wet-resisting capacity is more or less a matter of question when a comparison between 

 the two has to be drawn. It is, nevertheless, as unfair to judge the show Skye Terrier by the 

 standard by which the working dog is judged, as it would be to draw comparisons between 

 a prize Colley and a shepherd's trusty tyke. Circumstances alter cases, even when dogs have 

 to be considered ; and freedom from exposure, combined with careful grooming, must tend towards 

 a growth of coat which it is impossible for a less-cared-for dog to develop. 



Another feature of difference which we have observed is the great length of body which 

 the majority of show dogs attain ; and here another diversity of opinion exists between the 

 extreme supporters of the two types. We have ourselves been warned by a Scotch keeper 

 against favouring Skyes which, as he expressed it, " run to back ; " since he argued that a long 

 dog finds more difficulty in his underground manoeuvres than a short one does. This reasoning 

 we ineffectually ventured to convince him was opposed to that law of Nature, which has ordained 

 that so many animals which inhabit earths should be low and long. For our own part, however, 

 we unhesitatingly adhere to the claims of a long-bodied Skye, and believe our opinion is shared 

 by nine-tenths of the breeders of this variety of dog. 



The Skye Terrier as a companion has few rivals. Though generally speaking of a peaceful 

 disposition, he will not shirk an encounter, and if thoroughly aroused, defends himself most 

 gamely against a larger dog. He is not impetuous, as so many dogs which possess Bull blood 

 are known to be, but is always on the alert and ready for business. This renders him an especially 

 useful dog for guarding dwellings of a night, as his vigilance is extreme, and he can be depended 

 on to warn the inmates of the approach of strangers. It is however in rabbiting or in the 

 pursuit of vermin that the merits of a Skye are most thoroughly displayed. Game to excess, 

 he seldom lets his keenness get the better of discretion, and the intelligence he evinces in watching 

 an earth where ferrets are working is unrivalled. No day seems too long for Skyes, and the 

 way they work amongst brakes and thorns is incredible to those who have not seen them so 

 employed. 



The origin of the breed is lost in obscurity, but it doubtless has been the subject of certain 

 crosses at remote periods. The Rev. J. Gumming Macdona, of Cheadle Rectory, Cheshire, 

 tells us of a celebrated strain of Skyes belonging to Lady Macdonald, which was known to be 

 descended from white dogs which were wrecked on the coast from a Spanish ship. These 

 white dogs were probably of Maltese extraction, and this may possibly account for the undesirable 

 silkiness of texture of coat, to which we have already alluded, in some dogs now before the public. 

 The wreck, however, took place nearly three hundred years ago, and therefore it is not unlikely 

 that the traces of so undesirable a cross have been obliterated. It is nevertheless a fact that 

 for many generations certain strains have been most jealously guarded by their owners, and 



