The Smooth Sheep Dog 371 



colour. It does not invariably, like the preceding kinds, attack its ad- 

 versary in front, but frequently seizes cattle by the flank. It attacks with 

 eagerness, and its bite is keen and dangerous." 



Of the cur dog he writes that it " is a trusty and useful servant to the 

 farmer and grazier, and although it is not taken notice of by naturalists 

 as a distinct race, yet it is now so generally used, especially in the north of 

 England, and such great attention is paid in breeding it that we cannot help 

 considering it a permanent kind. In the north of England this and the 

 foregoing, the shepherd's dog or Scotch collie, are called Coally dogs. 



"They are chiefly employed in driving cattle, in which they are ex- 

 tremely useful. They are larger, stronger and fiercer than the shepherd's 

 dog and their hair is smoother and shorter. They are mostly of a black 

 and white colour, their ears are half pricked, and many are whelped with 

 short tails, which seem as if they had been cut; these are called self-tailed 

 dogs. They bite very keenly, and as they always make their attack at the 

 heels the cattle have no defence against them. In this way they are more 

 than a match for a bull, which they quickly compel to run. 



"Similar to the cur, is that which is commonly used in driving cattle 

 to the slaughter, and as these dogs have frequently to go long journeys, 

 great strength as well as swiftness is required for that purpose. They 

 are therefor generally of a mixed kind, and unite in them the several 

 qualities of the shepherd's dog, the cur, the mastiff^ and the greyhound." 



The name of cur, curr, or curre, which was more frequently given to 

 this dog, is generally attributed to the cutting or docking of the tail of the 

 sheep dog, and as being a diminutive of curtail. Some even go the length 

 of explaining that cut-tailed dogs were exempt from taxation, and that that 

 was the origin of the custom. But these dogs had their tails cut long 

 before dog taxes were imposed, and cur was a good old Middle English 

 name for a dog, without restriction to breed or the possibility of the tail's 

 being docked. We hazard as a speculative guess that as sheep were docked 

 the shepherds took a fancy to cut their dogs' tails, and it is well known that 

 it was a current belief among the lower classes of Englishmen up to a very 

 recent date that cutting a dog's tail strengthened his back. The common 

 use of the term cur about the time of Shakespeare is not so well known as 

 it might be, for quotations from that dramatist are generally taken to cover 

 the entire ground of his time. From the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" we 

 have "Marry, she says, your dog was a cur; and tells you currish thanks 



