98 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 



so doing ; but I am not so sure about the colour (white), which I 

 have never since that time met with in a purely bred animal, 

 and which I had previously tabooed in the first edition of this 

 book, then just published. At the same time, I defined the coat 

 as " long and straight, hard, and not silky, parted down the back, 

 and nearly reaching the ground on each side, without the slightest 

 curl or resemblance to wool." When, therefore, my definition of 

 the proper colour was quoted, I was able to retort on the coat, and 

 putting one against the other, I held my own pretty well. " Quilick," 

 the original of my former illustration, was the son of imported 

 parents, and when in full coat (which he was not at the time Mr. 

 Wells drew his portrait), was a very handsome dog. I remember 

 well his owner attempting to persuade Mr. Wells to draw on his 

 imagination in this respect, but, like Mr. Baker, he would only copy 

 what was before him, and the truthfulness of his work is quite as 

 much to be relied on as that of the latter gentleman. Anyhow, 

 the discussion waxed warm after the Birmingham Show, but it 

 was mild in comparison with the subsequent terrific fights in 

 relation to the same breed, as well as the Dandie, the fox-terrier, 

 and the Bedlington. 



For some years after Skyes were introduced in any number, 

 the exhibits were confined to the drop-eared variety, which alone 

 was prized in the South. At length, owing mainly to the exer- 

 tions of Mr. H. Martin of Glasgow, a separate class was allotted 

 to the two divisions, which cannot well be judged one against the 

 other in the same class, and I shall, therefore, follow the prece- 

 dent thus established. 



During the year 1875, Mr. Gordon Murray attempted to force 

 his own notions of the Skye on the doggy world, but without much 

 success, in spite of the circumstantial way in which he supported 

 his ideas. The portrait published by him as the real Simon Pure 

 was so unfortunately ugly, that it certainly required a strong 



