The Terrier 405 



m almost everything else. What he says of terriers is this : "As concerning 

 Terriers, every one that is a fox hunter is of opinion that he hath a peculiar 

 species of itself. I shall not say anything as to the affirmative or negative 

 point. Only give me leave to say that such terriers as are bred out of a 

 Beagle and mongrel mastiff generally prove good, for he hath courage and 

 a thick skin as participating of the cur and is mouthed from the beagle." 

 Describing the terrier more fully, he goes on to say: "This is a very small 

 dog and used for hunting the fox and badger, his business being to go into 

 the earths, and to bay them — ^that is to keep them in an angle (a fox's earth 

 having divers) whilst they are dug out; for by their baying or barking 'tis 

 known whereabouts the fox is, that he may be the better dug out; and for 

 this use the terrier is very serviceable, being of an admirable scent to find 

 out. They commonly keep a couple of terriers to the end they may put in 

 a fresh one to relieve the first." 



In a series of four fox-hunting plates from Blome's book there is one 

 of digging the fox out. The hounds are waiting about outside the earth, 

 by the side of which a huntsman is holding a leggy, lightly built dog, not 

 differing essentially from many of the hounds, but the drawing and engrav- 

 ing are not of the best even for that period. 



What is apparent from Blome is that there was no definite breed, but 

 only dogs bred to go to earth, every person breeding for that purpose alone 

 and not for definiteness of type. Mr. J. A. Doyle, in his article on the fox 

 terrier in "The Book of the Dog," finds this beagle and mongrel mastiff 

 mixture very amusing. But those who have read what we had to say 

 regarding the cur, bandog and mastiff in the chapters on the smooth sheep 

 dog and the bulldog, will not think it at all out of the way. 

 The term mastiff included the whole family of, useful dogs other than hounds, 

 spaniels, terriers and toys. The name covered the large bear-baiting dog, 

 the smaller bull-baiting dog, the watchdog or bandog, and the still lighter 

 shepherd's mastiff or cur, which name was not then a term of reproach. 

 We have not said anything with regard to the beagle, but so far as we have 

 gone into the subject of the name we incline to the opinion, though we are 

 not pledged to the statement, that it was a term akin to our use of the word 

 toy. There was an old English word beagle that meant a man that was not 

 of much account — a useless sort of fellow — and one can readily understand 

 that when the beagles were reduced to the "glove" size hunting men would 

 ridicule the idea of their being of any use; and as we would now say, "They 



