THE IRISH TERRIER. 



219 



Of the oldest dogs of note of this breed were Walshaw's Sandy, Eamsden's 

 Bounce, Inman's Don, Burgess's Kitty, and the celebrated Huddersfield Ben, 

 represented in our engraving ; and he, sharing the blood of three of the above, 

 proved the best of his day, and there is now scarcely a dog exhibited that is not 

 a descendant of Ben his companion in the engraving, Lady Giffard's Katie, being 

 also of his blood. Huddersfield Ben was the property of Mrs. M. A. Foster of 

 Bradford, a very large and successful exhibitor of this breed ; the dog was bred 

 by Mr. W. Eastwood, of Huddersfield, and was sire to Benson, Bright, Bruce, 

 Bounce, Cobden, Emperor, Mozart, and numerous other winners at first-class 

 shows. 



The classification of these dogs at shows and in the Kennel Club Stud Book 

 is confusing and absurd, as shown by the fact that some of the above, all being 

 of the same breed and blood, are classed as Yorkshire terriers; others as rough 

 or broken-haired toy terriers. It would be much better to divide them by weight, 

 and classify them as large and small Yorkshire terriers. In assessing the value 

 of points, shape, coat, and colour absorb nearly all. I would, however, give ten 

 points for ears, and five for tail, and deduct points for cropped ears and docked 

 tail ; also for carriage of the tail over the back. There is no reason for mutilating 

 pet dogs, and perfect tails and ears should be bred, not clipped into shape with 

 scissors. Lady Giffard's Katie, in the engraving, has natural ears, and very good 

 ones. 



VALUE OF POINTS. 



Value. 



Symmetry 15 



Clearness in blue 15 



Distinctness and rich- 

 ness of tan 15 



45 



Value. 



Length of coat 10 



Texture of coat 10 



Straightness of coat ... 10 

 Ears 10 



40 

 Grand Total 100. 



Value. 



Tail 5 



Condition in which 

 shown . .10 



15 



THE IRISH TERRIER. 



BY GEOEGE E. KEEHL. 



I believe I am only repeating an admitted fact when I say that the progress 

 of this breed in the last few years is almost without precedent. In 1878 the 

 original supporters and discoverers of the breed were dropping off for want of 

 encouragement. Amongst these I would name Messrs. Ridgway, Pirn, Jameson, 

 Erwin, and Crosbie Smith. The Messrs. Carey still owned a good kennel, and Mr. 

 Wm. Graham bred them more for work than show. Mr. E. P. Despard was winning 

 with his Sporter (now in the possession of the writer), and his sons Tanner and 

 Tanner II. The mother of these pups, Belle, was a very large grey bitch of the 

 old sort. The old dog Sport was still being exhibited, and Banshee, a big bitch 

 with a generous amount of bull in her, was a champion. The show bench at this 

 period presented anything but a level appearance. At the time my brother and I 



