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CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE BULL-TERRIER. 



"Nor was he of the thievish sort, 



Or one whom blood allures, 

 But innocent was all his sport 

 Whom you have torn for yours. 



THE Bull-terrier is now a gentlemanly 

 and respectably owned dog, wearing 

 an immaculate white coat and a bur- 

 nished silver collar ; he has dealings with 

 aristocracy, and is no longer contemned for 

 keeping bad company. But a generation 

 or two ago he was commonly the associate 

 of rogues and vagabonds, skulking at the 

 heels of such members of society as Mr. 

 William Sikes, whom he accompanied at 

 night on darksome business to keep watch 

 outside while Bill was within, cracking the 

 crib. The burglar and the bruiser usually 

 kept one or more of such dogs, and the com- 

 panionship was appropriate. Landseer took 

 the Bull-terrier as the typical representa- 

 tive of low life, as the antithesis of the 

 patrician Deerhound, and painted him with 

 bleared eye and swollen lips and a black- 

 guardly scowl that repelled familiarity. 

 In those days the dog's ears were closely 

 cropped, not for the sake of embellishment, 

 but as a measure of protection against 

 the fangs of his opponent in the pit when 

 money was laid upon the result of a well- 

 fought fight to the death. For fighting was 

 the acknowledged vocation of his order, 

 and he was bred and trained to the work. 

 He knew something of rats, too, and many 

 of his kind were famed in the land for their 

 prowess in this direction. Jimmy Shaw's 

 Jacko could finish off sixty rats in three 

 minutes, and on one occasion made a record 

 by killing a thousand in a trifle over an 

 hour and a half. 



At one period in England, Bull-terriers 

 were used in gladiatorial contests, being 

 pitted against so formidable an antagonist 

 as the lion, as they were at Warwick in 



My dog! what remedy remains, 



Since, teach you all I can, 

 I see you, after all my pains, 



So much resemble man ? " 



COWPER. 



1825. They were then heavier and more 

 powerful dogs than are their artistically 

 bred descendants. Fifty-five pounds was 

 not an uncommon weight. One might 



MR. S. E. SHIRLEY'S NELSON (1872). 



almost suppose that they had an infusion of 

 Mastiff blood in their veins. Their colour, 

 too, was not necessarily white. Brindle and 

 fawn frequently occurred, and many were 

 black and tan ; but the larger number, 

 next to pure brindle, were white with 

 fallow markings, similar in distribution to 

 the colours seen at the present day in the 

 Boston Terrier, who is a near relative. 



The breed is sufficiently modern to leave 

 no doubt as to its derivation. In the first 

 quarter of the nineteenth century atten- 

 tion was being directed to the improvement 

 of terriers generally, and new types were 

 sought for. They were alert, agile little 

 dogs, excellent for work in the country ; 

 but the extravagant Corinthians of the 



