THE OLD WORKING TERRIER 187 



the other smooth-haired and smaller, with more style. The 

 wire-hairs were white with spots, the smooths were black and 

 tan, the tan apparently predominating over the black. The 

 same writer states that it was customary to take out a brace 

 of terriers with a pack of hounds, a larger and a smaller one, 

 the smaller dog being used in emergency when the earth 

 proved to be too narrow to admit his bigger companion. It is 

 well known that many of the old fox hunters have kept their 

 special breeds of terrier, and the Belvoir, the Grove, and Lord 

 Middleton's are among the packs to which particular terrier 

 strains have been attached. 



That even a hundred years ago terriers were bred with care, 

 and that certain strains were held in especial value, is shown 

 by the recorded fact that a litter of seven puppies was sold 

 for twenty-one guineas a good price even in these days 

 and that on one occasion so high a sum as twenty guineas was 

 paid for a full-grown dog. At that time there was no definite 

 and well-established breed recognised throughout the islands 

 by a specific name ; the embracing title of " Terrier " included 

 all the varieties which have since been carefully differentiated. 

 But very many of the breeds existed in their respective locali- 

 ties awaiting national recognition. Here and there some 

 squire or huntsman nurtured a particular strain and developed 

 a type which he kept pure, and at many a manor-house and 

 farmstead in Devonshire and Cumberland, on many a High- 

 land estate and Irish riverside where there were foxes to be 

 hunted or otters to be killed, terriers of definite strain were 

 religiously cherished. Several of these still survive, and are 

 as respectable in descent and quite as important historically 

 as some of the favoured and fashionable champions of our 

 time. They do not perhaps possess the outward beauty and 

 distinction of type which would justify their being brought 

 into general notice, but as workers they retain all the fire and 

 verve that are required in dogs that are expected to encounter 

 such vicious vermin as the badger and the fox. 



Some of the breeds of terriers seen nowadays in every dog 



