A wire-haired black and tan terrier was once common in Suffolk and Norfolk, where it was much used for rabbiting, but it may now be extinct, or, if not extinct, probably identified with the Welsh Terrier, which it closely resembled in size and colouring. There was also in Shropshire a well-known breed of wire-hair terriers, black and tan, on very short legs, and weighing about 10 lb. or 12 lb., with long punishing heads and extraordinary working powers. So, too, in Lancashire and Cheshire one used to meet with sandy-coloured terriers of no very well authenticated strain, but closely resembling the present breed of Irish Terrier; and Squire Thornton, at his place near Pickering, in Yorkshire, had a breed of wire-hairs tan in colour with a black stripe down the back. Then there is the Cowley strain, kept by the Cowleys of Callipers, near King's Langley. These are white wire-haired dogs marked like the Fox-terrier, and exceedingly game. Possibly the Elterwater Terrier is no longer to be found, but some few of them still existed a dozen years or so ago in the Lake District, where they were used in conjunction with the West Cumberland Otterhounds. They were not easily distinguishable from the better-known Border Terriers of which there are still many strains, ranging from Northumberland, where Mr. T. Robson, of Bellingham, has kept them for many years, to Galloway and Ayrshire and the Lothians, where their coats become longer and less crisp.
There are many more local varieties of the working terrier as, for example, the Roseneath, which is often confused with the Poltalloch, or White West Highlander, to whom it is possibly related. And the Pittenweem, with which the Poltalloch Terriers are now being crossed; while Mrs. Alastair Campbell, of Ardrishaig, has a pack of Cairn Terriers which seem to represent the original type of the improved Scottie. Considering the great number of strains that have been preserved by sporting families and maintained in more or less purity to type, it is easy to understand how a "new" breed may become fashionable, and still claim the honour of long descent. They may not in all cases have the beauty of shape which is desired on the show bench; but it is well to remember that while our show terriers have been bred to the highest perfection we still possess in Great Britain a separate order of "earth dogs" that for pluckily following the fox and the badger into their lairs or bolting an otter from his holt cannot be excelled all the world over.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE WHITE ENGLISH TERRIER
This dog, one would think, ought, by the dignified title which he bears, to be considered a representative national terrier, forming a fourth in the distinctively British quartette whose other members are the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh Terriers. Possibly in the early days when Pearson and Roocroft bred him to perfection it was hoped and intended that he should become a breed typical of England. He is still the only terrier who owns the national name, but he has long ago yielded pride of place to the Fox-terrier, and it is the case that the best specimens of his race are bred north of the border, while, instead of being the most popular dog in the land, he is actually one of the most neglected and the most seldom seen. At the Kennel Club Show of 1909 there was not a single specimen of the breed on view, nor was one to be found at the recent shows at Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, or Islington, nor at the National Terrier Show at Westminster. It is a pity that so smart and beautiful a dog should be suffered to fall into such absolute neglect. One wonders what the reason of it can be. Possibly it is that the belief still prevails that he is of delicate constitution, and is not gifted with a great amount of intelligence or sagacity; there is no doubt, however, that a potent factor in hastening the decline is to be found in the edict against cropping. Neither the White Terrier nor the Manchester Terrier has since been anything like so popular as they both were before April, 1898, when the Kennel Club passed the law that dogs' ears must not be cropped.
Writers on canine history, and Mr. Rawdon Lee among the number, tell us that the English White Terrier is a comparatively new breed, and that there is no evidence to show where he originally sprang from, who produced him, or for what reason he was introduced. His existence as a distinct breed is dated back no longer than forty years. This is about the accepted age of most of our named English terriers. Half a century ago, before the institution of properly organised dog shows drew particular attention to the differentiation of breeds, the generic term "terrier" without distinction was applied to all "earth dogs," and the consideration of colour and size was the only common rule observed in breeding. But it would not be difficult to prove that a white terrier resembling the one now under notice existed in England as a separate variety many generations anterior to the period usually assigned to its recognition.
In the National Portrait Gallery there is a portrait of Mary of Modena, Queen Consort of James II., painted in 1670 by William Wissing, who has introduced at the Queen's side a terrier that is undoubtedly of this type. The dog has slight brown or brindle markings on the back, as many English White Terriers have, and it is to be presumed that it is of the breed from which this variety is descended.
Apart from colour there is not a great difference between the White English Terrier and the Manchester Black and Tan. But although they are of similar shape and partake much of the same general character, yet there is the distinction that in the black and tan the conservation of type is stronger and more noticeable than in the white, in which the correct shape and action are difficult to obtain. It ought naturally to be easier to breed a pure white dog from white parents than to breed correctly marked and well tanned puppies from perfect black and tans; but the efforts of many breeders do not seem to support such a theory in connection with the English Terrier, whose litters frequently show the blemish of a spot of brindle or russet. These spots usually appear behind the ears or on the neck, and are of course a disfigurement on a dog whose coat to be perfect should be of an intense and brilliant white. It appears to be equally difficult to breed one which, while having the desired purity of colour, is also perfect in shape and terrier character. It is to be noted, too, that many otherwise good specimens are deaf—a fault which seriously militates against the dog's possibilities as a companion or as a watch.
Birmingham and Manchester were the localities in which the English Terrier was most popular forty years ago, but it was Mr. Frederick White, of Clapham, who bred all the best of the white variety and who made it popular in the neighbourhood of London. His terriers were of a strain founded by a dog named King Dick, and in 1863 he exhibited a notable team in Laddie, Fly, Teddie, and Nettle. Mr. S. E. Shirley, M. P., was attracted to the breed, and possessed many good examples, as also did the Rev. J. W. Mellor and Mr. J. H. Murchison. Mr. Alfred Benjamin's Silvio was a prominent dog in 1877.
Silvio was bred by Mr. James Roocroft, of Bolton, who owned a large kennel of this variety of terrier, and who joined with his townsman, Joe Walker, and with Bill Pearson in raising the breed to popularity in Lancashire. Bill Pearson was the breeder of Tim, who was considered the best terrier of his time, a dog of 14 lb., with a brilliant white coat, the darkest of eyes, and a perfect black nose.