THE OLD WORKING TERRIER 189 



distributed among privileged sportsmen about Somersetshire 

 and Gloucestershire. The working attributes of these ener- 

 getic terriers have long been understood, and the smart, plucky 

 little dogs have been constantly coveted by breeders all over the 

 country, but they have never won the popularity they deserve. 



Those who have kept both varieties prefer the Russell to 

 the Sealyham Terrier, which is nevertheless an excellent 

 worker. It is on record that one of these, a bitch of only 9 Ib. 

 weight, fought and killed, single-handed, a full-grown dog-fox. 

 The Sealyham derives its breed name from the seat of the 

 Edwardes family, near Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire, 

 where the strain has been carefully preserved for well over a 

 century. It is a long-bodied, short-legged terrier, with a 

 hard, wiry coat, frequently whole white, but also white with 

 black or brown markings or brown with black. They may be 

 as heavy as 17 Ib., but 12 Ib. is the average weight. Some 

 years ago the breed seemed to be on the down grade, requiring 

 fresh blood from a well-chosen out-cross. One hears very 

 little concerning them nowadays, but it is certain that when 

 in their prime they possessed all the grit, determination, and 

 endurance that are looked for in a good working terrier. 



A wire-haired black and tan terrier was once common in 

 Suffolk and Norfolk, where it was much used for rabbiting, 

 but it may now be extinct, or, if not extinct, probably identified 

 with the Welsh Terrier, which it closely resembled in size 

 and colouring. There was also in Shropshire a well-known 

 breed of wire-hair terriers, black and tan, on very short legs, 

 and weighing about 10 Ib. or 12 Ib., with long punishing heads 

 and extraordinary working powers. So, too, in Lancashire 

 and Cheshire one used to meet with sandy-coloured terriers 

 of no very well authenticated strain, but closely resembling 

 the present breed of Irish Terrier ; and Squire Thornton, at 

 his place near Pickering, in Yorkshire, had a breed of wire- 

 hairs tan in colour with a black stripe down the back. Then 

 there is the Cowley strain, kept by the Cowleys of Callipers, 

 near King's Langley. These are white wire-haired dogs 



