1 82 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



or the man who is working the dog would be dis- 

 tinctly heard, so still and silent is the delighted 

 crowd. The sheep advance hesitatingly, approach 

 the pen, almost touch it, but will not enter. At 

 this juncture the shepherd is allowed to help his dog,, 

 and, while he stands on one side of the pen, the dog 

 goes round them on the other, and, by wonderful 

 management, gets them coaxingly up to the 

 opening. The leading sheep hesitates for a 

 moment, but, as both dog and master remain then 

 quite still, it gains confidence, walks in, its com- 

 panions (or companion, if one, as sometimes 

 happens, has been lost) follow, and the shepherd 

 then blocks the entrance. A ringing cheer goes 

 up from the crowd, the judge makes his note of 

 the performance, the sheep are removed to a pen 

 in the rear, and another dog is called up for trial. 



There were, perhaps, forty dogs on the ground, 

 all led in collar and chain, under pain of being 

 disqualified if found loose, except when called up 

 for trial. For the "first-class stakes" there were 

 thirteen entries, for the "second-class stakes" 

 twenty, the owners hailing from places with such 

 quaint-sounding names as Pen-y-clogwyn, Twlc 

 Llanllyfni, Mynydd, Cilgwyn, Llwynbedw, Ysgubor,. 

 Tynyfawnog, and Tyn-y-nant. Many of the dogs 

 were of the true " Scotch Collie " type, well-shaped, 

 good-looking animals, both rough and smooth 

 coated ; but there were also several of a very 

 different type — the old-fashioned "drover's dog," 

 short-haired, short-tailed, currish-looking animals, 

 some of them appearing to possess some terrier 



