218 THE DOGS OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 



look but a poor scarecrow in dishabille, and, possibly, too, on account of his dwelling 

 or reception room, in the construction of which art is mostly set at defiance, one 

 is apt to leave him with the scarcely concealed contempt for a scion of the 

 " Veneering family," who in aping the aristocrat fails, as all parvenues do ; such 

 as he is, however, there can be little doubt that should ever a canine Teufelsdrockh 

 promulgate a philosophy of clothes for the benefit of his species, the Yorkshire 

 terrier will represent the " dandiacal body ;" whilst, in striking contrast, those 

 every-day drudges, the Irish terriers and the Scotch terriers, with their coarse, 

 ragged, unkempt coats, will be exhibited as the " bog trotters " and " stock o' duds " 

 sects of the doggy family. 



Although so very modern, it is difficult to trace satisfactorily the pedigree of 

 this breed; indeed, pedigree he may be said at present to have none, and it is 

 hard to say out of what materials he was manufactured ; but the warp and woof 

 of him appear to have been the common long- coated black and tan, and the 

 lighter-coloured specimens of what is known as the Glasgow or Paisley Skye 

 terrier, the former of no certain purity, and the latter an admitted mongrel ; and 

 from which I think the Yorkshire gets the softness and length of coat due to 

 Maltese blood. In shape this dog is in the proportion of height to length between 

 the Skye and English terrier rather nearer to the latter ; a long back is objected 

 to, and was a fault found by many breeders with that excellent dog, Miss Alderson's 

 Mozart. As they are always shown in full dress, little more than outline of shape 

 is looked for; the eye, except when the hair is tied up, is invisible; the tail is 

 shortened, and the ear is generally cut; when uncut it must be small, and is 

 preferred when it drops slightly at the tip, but this is a trivial point, and sinks 

 into significance before coat and colour ; the coat must be abundant over the 

 whole body, head, legs, and tail, and artificial means are used to encourage its 

 growth; length and straightness, freedom from curl and waviness, being sought 

 for ; the body colour should be clear, soft, silvery blue, of course varying in shade ; 

 with this is preferred a golden tan head, with darker tan about the ears, and rich 

 tan legs. The style in which the coat is arranged for exhibition is beautifully 

 shown by Mr. Baker in the sketch of Huddersfield Ben ; but that stage of perfec- 

 tion is not attained without much time, trouble, and patience. When the pups 

 are born they are black in colour, as are pepper Dandle Dinmonts and others ; 

 at an early age the tip of the tail is nipped off to the desired length, the ears 

 if cut at all not until the age of six to eight months ; and before this the coat 

 will be changing colour, getting gradually lighter. To prevent the hair being 

 scratched and broken, little or no meat is given all food likely to heat the blood 

 and create irritation of the skin being avoided; and, as a further precaution, the 

 hind feet are carefully kept in stockings; but, as "muffed cats are never good 

 mousers," so a terrier in stockings stands a poor chance against his active enemy 

 of the genus Pulex. Therefore, he should be kept free from these insects, and 

 once a week must be washed and carefully brushed until quite dry ; and to assist 

 the growth of hair, and keep it soft and from getting matted, it must be well 

 greased, cocoanut and other oils being used for this purpose. 



