Pehruary, 1920 
51 
A LOW DOG FROM THE HIGHLANDS 
The Same Being the Scottish Terrier, a Big Dog Compressed into Little Space, a Living 
Proof of the Fact that the Best Goods Come in Small Packages 
ROBERT S. LEMMON 
ii 
t: 
A typical pose. Photo¬ 
graphs on this page by 
Levick, and courtesy of 
Walescott Kennels 
O ask a Scot¬ 
tish terrier 
“fan” to write an 
article on these lit¬ 
tle dogs is nearly 
as dangerous as en¬ 
couraging a Cali¬ 
fornia booster to 
dilate on the past, 
present and future 
qualities of the 
Golden State — he 
may never stop. 
However, if you’ll 
be patient. I’ll try 
to write fairly ra¬ 
tionally and at not 
too great length. 
The Scottie is a 
living proof that the best goods often come in 
small packages. From end to end and top to 
bottom he is of solid, substantial 
worth. Robust health, strength far 
beyond his stature, hardiness, courage 
unbounded, wit, common sense, af¬ 
fection, loyalty—but I’d better stop 
cataloging his good qualities or you | 
won’t believe in any of them. He is j 
by nature a one-person dog, and to | 
that one he quietly and steadfastly 
gives all that is best in him. Others 
will be tolerated, even made friends 
with, for the Scottie is a gentleman 
first, last and all the time; but he is 
not a dog every Tom, Dick and Harry 
can walk away with—he’s too dis¬ 
criminating for that. Time and again 
you will see a Scottie trot into a room¬ 
ful of people in search of his own 
special idol, consider them all with 
quizzical gravity, and trot out 
again with his characteris¬ 
tic manner of knowing just 
what he is doing, and why. 
There is an odd strain of 
canniness in him, a true in¬ 
heritance from the land of his 
development, which keeps 
you ever wondering just how 
much undisplayed knowledge 
is his. He is a dog with a 
great brain and an even 
greater heart. If he were a man, he would 
write the same sort of poetry that Robert Burns 
did. 
Without going deeply into the history of the 
Scottish terrier, it may not be amiss to say that 
his is an old and firmly established breed of 
the Highlands. He was and still is a famous 
vermin destroyer; hence his powerful low-set 
body, wir}' coat, strong legs and feet and “pun¬ 
ishing” jaw—grand assets in underground bat¬ 
tles with fox, badger or lesser prey. “Die¬ 
hard” is one of his nicknames, and he deserves 
it well. But do not think that he is a quarrel¬ 
some fellow, with either other dogs or people. 
On the contrar}% he is extremely self-contained 
and aloof. He is too much of a gentleman to 
seek trouble, but trouble had better be mighty 
sure of itself before it seeks him, for he is 
astoundingly well able to take care of him¬ 
self and his. For generations before the era 
of dog shows the Scottie was born and bred, 
A good puppy. The Scot¬ 
tish terrier is quizzically 
wise, with a streak of 
Highland shrewdness 
A splendid speci¬ 
men is shown 
above. Note espe¬ 
cially the head 
formation and tail 
carriage 
(Below) He is a 
loyal, brainy, cour¬ 
ageous gentleman 
first, last and all 
the time 
lived and died, in 
close companion¬ 
ship with his mas¬ 
ter. He was as 
intimate a member 
of the family in the 
little Highland cot¬ 
tage as the baby 
itself. This long 
association with 
people instilled in 
him a vivid imagi¬ 
nation, unw'avering 
patriotism, courage 
reckless of the cost, 
and a quiet seri¬ 
ousness and fixity 
of purpose. Noisy 
yapping and deser¬ 
tion are not listed among his native traits. 
A certain expert has said that the Scottish 
terrier possesses two manners: out¬ 
doors he is a rollicking schoolboy on 
a holiday, but indoors he is a sedate 
and dignified gentleman of the old 
school. Nothing more true was ever 
written of him. He has the true ter¬ 
rier love of activity—rat-hunting, 
rom{:)ing or long tramps with his mas¬ 
ter or mistress—but he also has an 
almost uncanny wisdom in realizing 
when these things would be out of 
place. This fits him ideally for a 
wide variety of living conditions and 
surroundings, whether in city or 
country. He is small enough for the 
apartment and big enough for the 
mansion. 
^ You need never have any fear as 
to the children’s safety when the fam¬ 
ily Scottie is around. He 
really is. an extremely capa¬ 
ble guardian as well as play¬ 
mate, and he is reliability 
personified. Another thing— 
he can and will stand a lot of 
mauling without resentment. 
Of course, I know your chil¬ 
dren are far too well brought 
up ever to dream of pulling 
his tail or using him for a 
{Continued on page 64) 
The Scottie is pow¬ 
er f idly built and 
gives the impres¬ 
sion of consider¬ 
able size greatly 
condensed 
No, he’s not pretty, 
but his heart is 
big and his faith¬ 
fulness knows no 
bounds 
