THE IRISH TERRIER. 
his era was Burke’s Killeney Boy, to whom, 
and to Mr. W. Graham’s bitch Erin, with 
whom he was mated, nearly all the pedigrees 
of the best Irish Terriers of to-day date 
back. Erin was said to be superior in all 
respects to any of her breed previous to 
1880. In her first litter by Killeney Boy 
were Play Boy, Pretty Lass, Poppy, Gerald, 
Pagan II., and Peggy, every one of whom 
became famous. More than one of these 
showed the black markings of their grand- 
dam, and their 
progeny for several 
309 
and Bawn Beauty, Mr. Wallace’s Treasurer, 
Mr. S. Wilson’s Bolton Woods Mixer, Dr. 
Smyth’s Sarah Kidd, and Mr. C. J. 
Barnett’s Breda Muddler. Of these Sarah 
Kidd was, perhaps, the most perfect, but 
unquestionably the most famous was Bolton 
Woods Mixer. Probably no dog of any breed 
has in its career been more familiar to the 
public. In his prime he was to be seen at 
almost every important dog show, always 
occupying a prominent position. He must 
have earned quite 
a respectable in- 
generations were 
apt to throw back 
to the black-and- 
tan, grey, or brin- 
dle colouring. 
Play Boy and 
Poppy were the 
best of Erin’s first 
litter. The dog’s 
beautiful ears, 
which were left as 
Nature made them, 
come for his 
master. Indeed, 
he was known as 
“Sam Wilson’s 
Bread -winner.’’ 
Over two thousand 
first prizes, cups, 
medals, and cham- 
pionships were 
credited to him, 
and it is not to be 
wondered at that 
were transmitted 
to his son Bogie 
Rattler, who was 
sire of Bachelor and Benedict, the latter 
the most successful stud dog of his time. 
Poppy had a rich red coat, and this colour 
recurred with fair regularity in her descend- 
ants. Red, which had not at first been 
greatly appreciated, came gradually to be 
the accepted colour of an Irish Terrier’s 
jacket. Occasionally it tended towards 
flaxen ; occasionally to a deep rich auburn ; 
but the black and brindle were so rigidly 
bred out that by the year 18go, or there- 
about, they very seldom recurred. Nowa- 
days it is not often that any other colour 
than red is seen in a litter of Irish Terriers, 
although a white patch on the breast is 
frequent, as it is in all self-coloured breeds. 
In addition to the early celebrities already 
named, Extreme Carelessness, Michael, 
Brickbat, Poppy II., Moya Doolan, Straight 
Tip, and Gaelic have taken their places in 
the records of the breed, while yet more 
recent Irish Terriers who have achieved 
fame have been Mrs. Butcher’s Bawn Boy 
47 
Mr. Wilson refused 
as much as £700 
for him. Mixer 
lived to a good old age, for at the time of his 
death from pneumonia and blood poisoning, 
in April, 1907, he was in his twelfth year. 
Naturally in the case of a breed which has 
departed from its original type, discussions 
were frequent before a standard of perfec- 
tion for the Irish Terrier was fixed. His size 
and weight, the length or shortness of his 
limbs, the carriage of his tail, the form of his 
skull and muzzle, the colour and texture 
of his coat were the subjects of contro- 
versy. It was considered at one juncture 
that he was being bred too big, and at 
another that he was being brought too much 
to resemble a red wire-hair Fox-terrier. 
When once the black marking on his body 
had been eliminated no one seems to have 
desired that it should be restored. Red 
was acknowledged to be the one and only 
colour for an Irish Terrier. But some held 
that the correct red should be deep 
auburn, and others that wheaten colour 
was the tone to be aimed at. A medium 
MR. GEORGE JAMISON'S SPORT (1875). 
