Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1939-01-19
DOGGIE DOINGS
THE SCOTTISH TERRIER
By M. G. DENLINGER

this breed is the most ancient of any
of the Highland Terriers; that the
other breeds are only offshots from
this, the parent stem, and that the
Scottie is the original, died-in-the-
wool, simon-pure Highland Terrier.
They will tell you that the Syke Ter
rier mentioned in early histories and
chronicles was not the Syke as we
know it today, but the forerunner of
our favorite and very similar in type
to it. They will refer you to such
early writers as Jacques du Fouilloux,
who published La Venerie in 1861;
Touberville and DIR. Stevens whose
books "The Noble Art of Venerie"
and "The Maison Rustique" appeared
in 1870 and 1872 respectively. All of
these works described an "Earth dog
used in hunting the fox and the
brooke, and these descriptions fit
closely to what might have been the
forerunner of our present day Scottie.
In the seventeenth century, when
King James vi, of Scotland became
James I of England, he wrote to Ed
inburgh to have half dozen terriers
sent to France as a present and adj
dressed the letter to the Laird of
Caldwell, naming the Earl of Mont
ieth as having good ones. Later the
great English authority, Rowdon B.
Lee wrote as follows:
"The Scottie is the oldest variety
of the canine race indigenous of Brit
ain >. For generations he had been
popular dog in the Highlands
where, strangely enough, he was
always known as the Skye Terrier
although he is diffedent from the
long-coated, unsporting-like creature
which with that name is now associ-
ated."
While all of this is very interesting
and quite possibly true, the fact re-
mains that it is not definite nor con-
elusive.
Leaving the dealm of specula-
ton and inference and the coming
down to history and known facts, we
do know that the Scottish Terrier as
we find it today has been bred in pur-
ity for over sixty years. The first
show to have a class for Scottish
Terriers was at Birmingham in Eng
land, in 1860. Later a number of other
shows carried this classification but
the dogs shown in these classes were
not Scottish Terriers, but Skyes, DAN
die Dinmonts and Yorkshires.
All of the while, however, Scotch
men who saw these dogs winning as
Scottish Terriers were indignant, and
about 1877 they broke into print in
the Live Stock Journal with series
of letters protesting this situation
and discussing the points and char
acter of the true Scottish Terrier.
The discussion waxed so furious that
the editors finally called halt, with
the statement, eve see no use in pro-
longing this discussion unless each
correspondent describes the dog which
he holds to be the true type. This
challenge was taken up by Captain
Gordon hurry, who in letter to the
"Stock Keeper" under the nom de
plume of "Strathbogie', described in
detail his conception of a proper Scot
fish Terrier. This quilted the warning
factions and about 1880 ]. B. Morri-
son was persuaded to draw up a
standard. This was accepted by all
parties.
The essentials of this standard
have been retained in all later stand
ards, only minor changes having been
introduced. In 1882 the Scottish Ter
rier Club was organized, with joint
officers for England and Scotland.
Later, as interest in the breed grew,
the two countries organized separate
clubs, although they have always
worked tremendously together. A
joint committee revamped the Morri-
son standard and in 1888 the English
Club again revised this standard. The
present American standard, which
follows, was adopted in 1925, Messrs.
Bixby, Cadwalader and Megargee be-
ing the committee who made the re-
visions. In most essentials these
standards are identical, the chief
difference between the American and
the foreign standards being in the
weight requirements.
John Naylor is credited with being
the first to introduce the Scottish
Terrier to this country, his first inn
portation in 1888 consisting of dog
and bitch, "Tam Glen" and "Bonnie
Bell". He showed extensively and con-
tinued importing, among his later inn
portations being his famous "Glen-
lyon" and "Whinstone", the first
Scottish Terrier registered in Amer
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