

THE ENGLISH SHEEP-DOG. 149 



improperly termed it the ban-dog, whereas that name belongs to 

 the true English mastiff alone. 



The English sheep-dog is larger and less shaggy than the 

 colley. In some individuals the ears are quite erect, and others 

 have the tail very short, the latter peculiarity being apparently 

 inherited from parents whose tails have been cut. 



" The shepherd' s-masty that is for the folde, must neither 

 be so gaunt nor swifte as the greyhound, nor so fatte nor heavy 

 as the masty of the house, but verie strong, and able to fighte 

 and follow the chase, that he may beat away the woolfe or other 

 beasts, and to follow the theef, and to recover the prey, and 

 therefore his body should rather be long than short and thick : 

 in all other points he must agree with the ban- dog. His head 

 must be great, smooth, and full of veins, his ears great, and 

 hanging, his joints long, his fore-legs shorter than his hinder, 

 but very straight and great, his claws wide, his nails hard, his 

 heel neither fleshy nor too hard, the ridge of his back not too 

 much appearing, nor crooked, his ribs round, and well knitte, 

 his shoulder points well distant, his buttocks fatte, and broad, "# 



THE CUR, OR DROVER'S DOG. 



Though the true sheep-dog is frequently used to conduct 

 flocks of sheep along the roads leading to the markets, yet the 

 cur, or mongrel breed, is generally employed for that purpose, 

 as well as to attend herds of oxen. The colour is generally black 

 and white. 



Cur dogs are usually doomed to wear very short tails to their 

 coats. A shepherd assured Mr. Jesse that his bitch had seldom 

 a litter of puppies, without one of them being born with a bob 

 tail, like that of its parent. When, however, it is remembered 

 that the tails of animals help to facilitate their movements, and 

 to beat off the flies and other annoying insects, no one can 



* Foure Bookes of Husbandrie, by Conrad Heresbatch: newly Englished 

 and Increased by Barnaby Googe. (London, 1586,) p. 154. 



