THE SKYE TERRIER 259 



shund they approximate more closely than any other breeds 

 to the shape of the badger, the weasel, and the otter, and so 

 many animals which Nature has made long and low in order 

 that they may inhabit earths and insinuate themselves into 

 narrow passages in the moorland cairns. 



There can be no question that these dogs, which are so 

 typically Highland in character and appearance, as well as 

 the Clydesdale, the Scottish, the Dandie Dinmont, and the 

 White Poltalloch terriers, are all the descendants of a purely 

 native Scottish original. They are all inter-related ; but 

 which was the parent breed it is impossible to determine. 



It is even difficult to discover which of the two distinct 

 types of the Skye Terrier was the earlier the variety whose 

 ears stand alertly erect or its near relative whose ears are 

 pendulous. Perhaps it does not matter. The differences be- 

 tween the prick-eared Skye and the drop-eared are so slight, 

 and the characteristics which they have in common are so 

 many, that a dual classification was hardly necessary. The 

 earliest descriptions and engravings of the breed present 

 a terrier considerably smaller than the type of to-day, carrying 

 a fairly profuse, hard coat, with short legs, a body long in 

 proportion to its height, and with ears that were neither erect 

 nor drooping, but semi-erect and capable of being raised to 

 alertness in excitement. It is the case that drop-eared puppies 

 often occur in the litters of prick-eared parents, and vice 

 versa. -> 



As its name implies, this terrier had its early home in the 

 misty island of Skye ; which is not to say that it was not also 

 to be found in Lewis, Oronsay, Colonsay and others of the 

 Hebrides, as well "as on the mainland of Scotland. Dr. John- 

 son, who visited these islands with Boswell in 1773, noticed 

 these terriers and observed that otters and weasels were plenti- 

 ful in Skye, that the foxes were numerous, and^that they 

 were hunted by small dogs. He was so accurate an observer 

 that one regrets he did not describe the Macleod's terriers and 

 their work. They were at that time of many colours, varying 



