308 THE 
to win prizes, but rather for his true and 
trusty heart, that exacts no return and 
seeks no recompense. He may be but an 
indifferent specimen of his kind, taken in 
as a stranger at the gates; but when at 
length the inevitable time arrives, as it 
does all too soon in canine nature, one then 
discovers how surely one has been har- 
bouring an angel unawares. 
Statistics would probably show that in 
numbers the Fox-terrier justifies the re- 
putation of being a more popular breed, 
and the Scottish Terrier is no doubt a 
formidable competitor for public esteem. 
It is safe, however, to say that the Irish 
Terrier shares with these the distinction 
of being one of the three most popular 
dogs in the British Isles. 
This fact taken into consideration, it is 
interesting to reflect that thirty years ago 
the Dare-Devil was virtually unknown in 
England. Idstone, in his book on dogs, 
published in 1872, did not give a word of 
mention to the breed, and dog shows had 
been instituted sixteen years before a class 
was opened for the Irish Terrier. The dog 
existed, of course, in its native land. It 
may indeed be almost truthfully said to 
have existed “as long as that country has 
been an island.” 
About the year 1875, experts were in dis- 
pute over the Irish Terrier, and many 
averred that his rough coat and length of 
hair on forehead and muzzle were in- 
dubitable proof of Scotch blood. His very 
expression, they said, was Scotch. But 
the argument was quelled by more knowing 
disputants on the other side, who claimed 
that Ireland had never been without her 
terrier, and that she owed no manner of 
indebtedness to Scotland for a dog whose 
every hair was essentially Irish. 
In the same year at a show held in Belfast 
a goodly number of the breed were brought 
together, notable among them being Mr. 
D. O’Connell’s Slasher, a very good-looking 
wire-coated working terrier, who is said 
to have excelled as a field and water dog. 
Slasher was lint white in colour, and re- 
puted to be descended from a pure white 
strain. Two other terriers of the time were 
NEW BOOk 
OF “PHE. DOG, 
Mr. Morton’s Fly (the first Irish Terrier 
to gain a championship) and Mr. George 
Jamison’s Sport. These three dogs were 
heard of with curiosity in England, and in 
The Live Stock Journal of August 2oth, 
1875, an engraved portrait of Sport was 
published. The illustration was received 
with great interest, representing as it as- 
suredly did a genuine and typical Irish 
Terrier. In the portrait the dog’s muzzle is 
seen to be somewhat snipy ; he is light in 
the eye, but his ear carriage is good and his 
shape of head, his limbs, body, stern and 
coat are admirable. From all that one 
can gather concerning him, he seems to 
have been, in reality, a far better example 
of his intrepid breed than any that were 
put above him in competition—better, for 
instance, than the same owner’s Banshee, 
who died a champion, and at least equal 
to Mr. W. Graham’s Sporter or Mr. E. F. 
Despard’s Tanner, by whom he was fre- 
quently beaten. 
The prominent Irish Terriers of the ’seven- 
ties varied considerably in type. Stinger, 
who won the first prize at Lisburn in 1875, 
was long-backed and short-legged, with a 
“dark blue grizzle coloured back, tan legs, 
and white turned-out feet.” The dam of 
Mr. Burke’s Killeney Boy was a rough black 
and tan, a combination of colours which 
was believed to accompany the best class 
of coats. Brindles were not uncommon. 
Some were tall on the leg, some short. Some 
were lanky and others cobby. Many were 
very small. There were classes given at 
a Dublin show in 1874 for Irish Terriers 
under g lb. weight. 
Jamison’s Sport is an important dog 
historically, for various reasons. He was 
undoubtedly more akin to our present type 
than any other Irish Terrier of his time of 
which there is record. His dark ears were 
uncropped at a period when cropping was 
general; his weight approximated to our 
modern average. He was an all coloured 
red, and his legs were of a length that would 
not now be seriously objected to. But in 
his day he was not accepted as typical, 
and he was not particularly successful in 
the show ring. The distinguished terrier of 
