THE BEDLINGTON TERRIER. 121 



Excepting in the case of foxhounds, I confess I have little faith 

 in them — even those of greyhounds — until the time of " Thacker," 

 being in many instances unreliable. As Mr. Dalziel (himself a 

 North-countryman) has remarked, if such a breed had existed in 

 the time of Bewick, who was a native of Newcastle, surely he 

 would have noticed its existence, and its absence from his History 

 of British Quadrupeds is certainly an argument in favour of its 

 modern creation. 



No other terrier at all resembles the Bedlington, which is a 

 leggy dog, with hound-like ears, and at the first glance seems to 

 be a cross between a greyhound and an otter-hound. He is very 

 quarrelsome, and is said to be extremely plucky. Of these 

 qualities those who have seen a class exhibited on overcrowded 

 benches must be convinced, for in many cases dogs allowed two 

 or three inches too much chain have half-killed each other during 

 the first night of their being put together. Whether this kind 

 of pugnacity could induce its possessor to face a badger in his 

 earth, I do not pretend to say, but jprimd facie it is an argument 

 in favour of high pluck. My own experience of the breed is nil, 

 never having had one in my possession; but the evidence in 

 support of their courage is beyond dispute. Still I am not aware 

 that there is any reason to suppose it higher in them than in the 

 Dandie or fox-terrier of a good strain, and the Bedlington must 

 be taken to be merely an average representative of the terrier 

 tribe in point of courage, or perhaps a little above that level. In 

 the South his " soft " appearance for a long time set every one 

 against him, but at last it is generally admitted that in his case, 

 at least, appearances are deceptive. 



The numerical value of the points of this dog is as follows, 

 according to the scale of the Bedlington Club : — 



