by Williams Haynes 
THE STIFF UPHILL FIGHT THAT MADE THE SCOTTIE WHAT HE IS TO-DAY— 
HIS GOOD POINTS INSIDE AND OUT—THE DUAL PERSONALITY OF “ DIEHARD ” 
I T is an axiom that a Scottish terrier is different from all other 
dogs. Anyone who has seen one can tell you they are quite 
unique in looks, and everyone who has known them well will 
testify they are remarkably individual in disposition. 
In common with other Scottie owners, since the breed is not 
common in America, it has been my good fortune to introduce 
him to many people who before never dreamed of the existence 
of such a dog. At these first meetings I have heard Scottie 
likened to a “coon,” a “bear cub,” and a “sort of pig,” and I have 
heard him described as “curious looking,” “odd,” and “downright 
ugly.” Only once was he complimented upon his looks. It was 
down in North Carolina, and Aunt Sally, the old colored mammy 
who did our washing, exclaimed, when she first saw one of my 
terriers, “Lordy, Massa Billie, whar’d you get dat pretty lil’ dog?” 
The dog’s physical appearance is indeed peculiar. There are, 
however, any number of good people thoroughly capable of stand¬ 
ing in a show ring and judging a class of Scottish terriers, but, 
as the little boy wrote in his essay on physiology, “there are two 
sides to a man, the in-side and the out-side, and both are impor¬ 
tant.” The “in-side” of a Scottish terrier can never be learned 
at a bench show nor in the kennels, and I am glad that I have 
known him long and under circumstances trying to any dog’s — 
or man’s—disposition. 
To understand the Scottish terrier’s peculiar physical confor¬ 
mation and to appreciate his mental characteristics, one must 
know something of his romantic past. , The breed’s original home 
was in the rugged Highlands of Scotland. These heather-clad 
heights, all seamed with deep glens, have since time immemorial 
sheltered wily foxes and hard-bitten badgers. Strong sea otters 
have made their homes in the ragged inlets of the coast, and the 
caves and cairns of the hillsides have served as dens for wild cats 
and martens. In ancient times these bandits levied a heavy tax 
on the gudewife’s poultry yard and the farmer’s lamb pens. Nor 
did they always show a nice respect for proper authority, but they 
boldly raided the Laird's preserves for young hares and baby 
grouse. So a price was set on their lawless heads, and it came 
that every district in the Highlands supported its “todhunter,” 
who was deputized to wage a war of extermination against the 
vermin. Such a war cannot be carried on without allies. In so 
broken a country, horse and hound would be worse than useless, 
and the crafty enemy laughed to scorn such clumsy weapons as 
traps and snares. 
The conditions demanded a terrier and a very special kind of 
terrier. He must be short of leg and compact in build, so as to 
be at once small enough to negotiate successfully his quarry’s low, 
narrow dens, and sturdy enough to fight a fight in which quarter 
is neither asked nor given. He must have a long, punishing jaw, 
armed with big, strong, white teeth, “the better to bite with, my 
child.” The best coat for him will be one of wire, a capital armor 
against thorns, and claws and teeth with a woolly undervest to 
keep out the freez¬ 
ing damp of the 
long Highland win¬ 
ters. He must be 
game to the core, in¬ 
telligent, and docile 
to training, since he 
is to engage in a 
business in which a 
coward or a fool 
will surely fail. 
Such was the 
standard set up by 
the hard conditions 
of his work, and 
long before bench 
shows or stud books 
were thought of, a 
rigid natural selec¬ 
tion brought the ter¬ 
riers of the Lligh- 
lands to conform to 
this model. The tod- 
hunters knew noth¬ 
ing of scientific 
breeding, and they 
A typical Scottie gives the impression of great 
size and strength squeezed down into very 
small compass 
135 
