Year: 1872

HE will, though such dogs are rare, run
over the back of flock to head them in
lane, jump the hedge to present his
grim features at gap ahead, or drive
them as his master walks in front He
will keep them from defined piece of
pasture, or as his master sets the evening
fold, confine them to the old boundary.
These last are the ordinary duties of the
sheep dog; the first may be looked upon
as an exceptional refinement, which
would raise dog five shillings or so in
the estimation of his master but now
and then he gives proofs of devotion and
intelligence far surprising the bounds of
instinct | remember a case in point.
The dog belonged to a shepherd whom all
our large agriculturists coveted, but never
could keep after his years service had ex-
pired, because of his drunken habits, or
rather his fits of drunkenness. No mans
sheep throve so well no one reared so
many lambs, or, in a general way, was
more devoted to his flock. He had that
natural gift f attracting animals to him,
and attaching them to him also, which
can neither be impaired nor acquired, and
his dogs were the best for miles around.
At last, having lost the confidence of the
leading farmers, he might have got a
place with some little two or three-hun-
dred acre farmer, but such preferment he
despised so he turned drover, and he
and his dog, Quick, a blue grizzle, bought
as a puppy, at Salisbury market, for
pint of beer and the promise of a
shilling, as he informed me, set off to-
gether. One autumn evening he was
leaving WeyhiE Fair with a flock of
something like three hundred sheep, and
walking for some point about twenty-five
miles to the west. when it came on to
blow Just as the sun was going down, and
before they had got seven miles on the
road he was wet through, and it was near
ly dark 'I couldn't see the flock, but as
/ walked in front, could hear Quick bark
now and then" he told nae, land / war
rant they were all right, and just on the
left hand there was little public-house.
/ thought give it in his own words
''there could be no harm in having one
glass of beer" Zone glass in the vernacular
means one gallon). 1 suppose" he con-
tinued, ''that must have tied the dog to
the sign-post, but / don't remember it, and
stayed about an hour" this in the YER
nacular for three hours at least, land /
found from the landlord that could turn
in the sheep for the night and get shake


down myself Ii was raining worse than
ever when came out, and the first thing
l saw was the old dog. Well, that put
me out of temper, for / thought he had
let the sheep run back, as they will; so /
sung out to him to go after them, and
turned in to have another glass till he
came back / came ont in quarter of
an hour, and there he was, wagging
his stump of a tail, and not gone. /
thought, as / sat in the chimney-corner,
i heard him bark, and made no more to
| do, but threw the crook at him, as / gen.
orally did, and, by bad luck, broke his
fore-leg. When the poor thing began to
cry out, the landlord began to abuse me;
and when they brought the light, there
were the sheep all lying under the hedge,
| as quiet as could be. They declared /
shouldn't go on, nor the dog either; but l
did, and old Quick hoped after me. L
don't remember nothing else but trying
| to find the field to put the sheep in; but
| Just before the light broke / was awoke
| by the policeman throwing his bulps-eye
on me- He told me he heard the dog
barking, and that when he came to within
fifty yards there was the dog lying on my
breast, calling for help like Christian.
l was sober then, and ] made two rough
splints and bandage, and did Q1tick's leg
up in rough way; and I've never struck
a dog since, nor drank anything either,
and never will, and I've bought two
cottages out of my savings" ''What be-
came of the old dogs" 'Oh, kept him
till he died, though for six months he was
stone-blind. That's his grandson by the
fold, keeping my sheep off the young
clover. The Dog, By Idstone.