4i6 The Dog Book 



agle adding his contemporary testimony to the same end — ^that the terrier 

 was a dog of moderate length of leg, if not short on the leg, possessed of 

 sufficient substance to look a sturdy little fellow, and with a hard, rough, 

 wiry coat — ^we cannot accept Pitch as pure terrier. A cross with the hound 

 would not produce such a dog, nor would the beagle and terrier result in 

 that lightness of build, for Thornton's beagles were of the small, sturdy kind. 

 We know that, for we have pictures of them by Reinagle and Chalon. We 

 fancy that, as he used the foxhound to get more speed in his pointers, he 

 used a small greyhound to effect the same in his terriers, for it must be borne 

 in mind that the custom was to have a couple of terriers run with the hounds, 

 and Thornton was just the kind of man to breed a dog that would do what 

 was needed if the hounds were becoming too fast for the ordinary run of 

 terriers. If what he wanted was speed, he doubtless went to the dog that 

 Would give it and produced a whippet. It was called a terrier because it 

 did a terrier's work, and, being fast and game, became as well known to fox 

 hunters as were the Thomville foxhound-pointers to shooting men of that 

 time. Hence it was used extensively as a stud dog, and was credited within 

 fifteen years of the date that Gilpin painted him with being the progenitor 

 of "most of the white terriers in this kingdom." 



It was a strain to which the Colonel continued to give attention and 

 bred with care, for we find that he took one with him on his tour in France 

 — one he calls a parlour terrier, but thoroughly game, notwithstanding that 

 appellation. This tour of Colonel Thornton's had as one of its objects the 

 selection of an estate which he desired to purchase in France, and he took 

 with him twelve foxhounds, a pointer, and "Vixen, a beautiful parlour ter- 

 rier." Writing from Les Orme on August 26, 1802, the Colonel tells of a 

 wolf hunt in which some of his hounds participated in company with the 

 local hounds. Vixen took part in the hunt also, and after remarking upon 

 two of his hounds that "seemed the most vermin," he adds that they were 

 immediately followed by Vixen, "who appeared full as vicious." 



The hunt was in a wood, with gentlemen posted about in the roads to 

 shoot the wolf, which doubled about at sound of the shots and the horns.. 

 As the chase progressed the wolf Was more seriously wounded and more often 

 seen. "He crossed an avenue tolerably clear, when Vixen, who had joined 

 us, saw him, and although just before jaded, the little devil got the scent and 

 gave tongue. When she seemed to be near, and teasing him, my hounds, 

 came up all in a sheet. ... At this moment the wolf turned to us, when 



