329 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
THE BULL-TERRIER. 
“Nor was he of the thievish sort, 
Or one whom blood allures, 
But innocent was all his sport 
Whom you have torn for yours. 
HE Bull-terrier is now a gentlemanly 
and respectably owned dog, wearing 
an immaculate white coat and a bur- 
nished silver collar; he has dealings with 
aristocracy, and is no longer contemned for 
keeping bad company. But a generation 
or two ago he was commonly the associate 
of rogues and vagabonds, skulking at the 
heels of such members of society as Mr. 
William Sikes, whom he accompanied at 
night on darksome business to keep watch 
outside while Bill was within, cracking the 
crib. The burglar and the bruiser usually 
kept one or more of such dogs, and the com- 
panionship was appropriate. Landseer took 
the Bull-terrier as the typical representa- 
tive of low life, as the antithesis of the 
patrician Deerhound, and painted him with 
bleared eye and swollen lips and a black- 
guardly scowl that repelled familiarity. 
In those days the dog’s ears were closely 
cropped, not for the sake of embellishment, 
but as a measure of protection against 
the fangs of his opponent in the pit when 
money was laid upon the result of a well- 
fought fight to the death. For fighting was 
the acknowledged vocation of his order, 
and he was bred and trained to the work. 
He knew something of rats, too, and many 
of his kind were famed in the land for their 
prowess in this direction. Jimmy Shaw’s 
Jacko could finish off sixty rats in three 
minutes, and on one occasion made a record 
by killing a thousand in a trifle over an 
hour and a half. 
At one period in England, Bull-terriers 
were used in gladiatorial contests, being 
pitted against so formidable an antagonist 
as the lion, as they were at Warwick in 
42 
My dog! what remedy remains, 
Since, teach you all I can, 
I see you, after all my pains, 
So much resemble man?” 
—COWPER. 
1825. They were then heavier and more 
powerful dogs than are their artistically 
bred descendants. Fifty-five pounds was 
not an uncommon weight. One might 
MR. S. E. SHIRLEY'S NELSON (1872). 
almost suppose that they had an infusion of 
Mastiff blood in their veins. Their colour, 
too, was not necessarily white. Brindle and 
fawn frequently occurred, and many were 
black and tan; but the larger number, 
next to pure brindle, were white with 
fallow markings, similar in distribution to 
the colours seen at the present day in the 
Boston Terrier, who is a near relative. 
The breed is sufficiently modern to leave 
no doubt as to its derivation. In the first 
quarter of the nineteenth century atten- 
tion was being directed to the improvement 
of terriers generally, and new types were 
sought for. They were alert, agile little 
dogs, excellent for work in the country ; 
but the extravagant Corinthians of the 
