THE BEDLINGTON TERRIER. 215 



pedigrees of Nailor and Rosebud, the subjects of our engraving, as furnished me by 

 the secretary of the Bedlington Terrier Club, Mr. W. J. Donkin, go back through 

 the same channel, claiming as the fountain head Old Flint, the property of Squire 

 Trevellyan, of Netherwitton, the same date being given as the limit to which the 

 breed can be traced. Granting, however, that these facts are correct and I think 

 there is very good evidence that they are at least approximately so, which is all that 

 can be reasonably expected in such a case there is no proof that Old Flint or the 

 Miller's dog had the characteristics of the modern Bedlington ; and I think, had 

 there existed a breed in that district at the date referred to differing so widely from 

 the ordinary run of terriers, we might expect to find some notice of it in Bewick, 

 whose book was first published at Newcastle in 1790. But the terrier shown in his 

 woodcut is a totally different animal, being a heavy, coarse, unshapely dog, with 

 rather short and thick legs, the fore ones heavily feathered, a rough bearded muzzle, 

 prick ears, and coarse tail turned over the back ; and of terriers he writes : " There 

 are two kinds, the one rough, short-legged, long-backed, very strong, and most 

 commonly of a black or yellowish colour, mixed with white ; the other is smooth, 

 sleek, and beautifully formed, having a shorter body, and more sprightly appearance ; 

 it is generally of a reddish brown colour, or black with tanned legs, and is similar to 

 the rough terrier in disposition and faculties, but inferior in size, strength, and 

 fierceness." 



Neither of these varieties, it will be seen, bears any resemblance to the modern 

 Bedlington ; and how this dog, as he is, was produced must be to a great extent 

 matter of conjecture. If we go beyond the present century or I might fix a much 

 more recent date there does not exist, so far as I have been able to discover, an 

 engraving of a terrier with other than prick ears ; and I imagine the Bedlington 

 owes his hanging filbert-shaped ones to otter-hound blood, whilst his general 

 conformation suggests a combination of greyhound and terrier. When once the 

 properties desired if the breeder had a design were developed, they would be 

 improved and fixed by selection ; but, as often happens, the first real Bedlington, as 

 we now understand it, may have been the result of haphazard breeding. It was 

 not, however, until the year 1825 that the name Bedlington was given to this breed 

 of terriers by Mr. Ainsley, the breeder of a celebrated dog, Young Piper ; and this 

 date gives some confirmation to the claim that the pedigree dates back to 1792, for 

 Young Piper was by Anderson's Piper out of a bitch known as Coate's Phoebe. 

 This bitch was brought from Bedlington in the year 1820, and given to Mr. Andrew 

 Riddle, of Framlington, and subsequently passed into the hands of Mr. Ainsley; 

 and as her pedigree is traced for four generations, and that of Piper, with which 

 dog she was mated, for five generations, it is just barely possible that it might take 

 us back to 1792. The names of the principal breeders before the Young Piper era 

 were Messrs. R. Cowen, Rocklaw, Dixon, Longhursley, Anderson, Rothbury, and 

 Edward Donkin, known during the first quarter of this century to sportsmen of 

 Coquetdale as " hunting Ned." He was the owner of two celebrated dogs, Peachem 

 and Pincher, whose blood runs in the veins of all our best dogs. 



Before proceeding to give a description of the Bedlington as he is, I will put on 



