later in the seventies, viz., in 1877, when it was announced that the awards would be made by points, the judges being Messrs. Pool and J. B. Richardson. There was the largest entry which had hitherto been brought together at any show, eighty-five Dandie Dinmont terriers competing. There was no particular uniformity in the awards of prizes after all, and two of the chief honours went to animals of quite distinct type the one to Shamrock, already alluded to, who then weighed 20lb. and was given seventy-eight points out of the possible hundred; the other to Mr. W. Carrick's mustard dog Harry Bertram, which weighed 27 lb., and was given fifty-nine points out of the possible hundred. This, I fancy, was the beginning and ending of judging Dandie Dinmont terriers by points, and there were some odd awards made by the Scotsmen in those days, whatever they might say about those made by English judges. One of the latter had written that a Dandie Dinmont terrier should have erect ears! The terrier of which I write was, at this period, in the hey-day of his popularity. Leading exhibitors and the chief shows were supporting him. The late Mr. J. H. Murchison, the Rev. J. C. Macdona, Mr. James Locke, Selkirk; Mr. W. Carrick, Carlisle; Mr. James Cook, Edinburgh; the late Mr. A. Irving and Mr. Pool, Dumfries; Capt. H. Ashton, Mr. A. H. T. Newcomen, then of Kirkleatham; Mr. W. Dorchester, Reading; Mr. Slater and Mr. Coulthard, Carlisle ; Mr. J. Finchett, Wales, at one time or another were working in the dog's interests. Following them, or almost contemporary with them, came Mr. Archibald Steel, the late Capt. Keene, Mr. R. Stordy, the late Mr. D. J. T. Gray, Mr. A. Weaver, Mr. A. Kemball Cook, Mr. W. Walker, Mr J. Sherwood, jun., the Rev. S. Tiddeman, Mr. T. Maxwell, Mr. J. Clarke, London; Mr J. Nutsford, Carlisle; Mr. E. W. H. Blagg; Mr. J. Flinn, Portobello; Dr. Haddon, Melrose; Mr. G. Shiel, Hawick; Mrs. Grieve, Croydon; Mr. C. Cornforth, Leiston; Mrs. R. P. Hewitt, Kensington; Mr. J. E. Dennis, Gateacre; Mr. Alex. Downie, Eaglesfield; Mr. J. Houliston and Mr. James Morley, Dumfries. Later admirers and supporters of this terrier, in addition to many of those already named, are Mrs. A. Steel, Kelso; Mrs. Kate Spencer, Ewell, Surrey; Mr. J. Tweddle, Liscard; Mr. W. G. Copestake, Kirk Langley; Mrs. Lloyd Rayner, Ormskirk; Mr. H. J. Bidwell, Frimley, Farnborough ; Mr. G. Shiel; Mr. J. W. Oram, Carlisle; Miss M. Collyer, Fulham; Mr. J. Flinn. All have at one period or another owned excellent specimens, and for a time the Earl of Antrim was a most enthusiastic admirer of the variety. He tried various 1 界 crosses, and was so fortunate that at one of the Mr. G. A. B. Leatham, when residing at Thorp saw. They are first-rate ratters; he has bolted foxes with them when hounds have run them to ground, and they do their duty willingly. But," said Mr. Leatham, "the best test is with badgers," which he had every opportunity of utilising in their wild state, as there were several earths in the neighbourhood in which he resided. He has never known one of his Dandie Dinmonts show the "white feather," though he has seen fox terriers bolt directly the badger came in sight. On the contrary, they will stand terrible punishment, and Ainsty King, a wellknown bench winner, had an hour and a half with one badger and received a severe mauling; one bite through the shoulder incapacitating him from further work for a long time. King, though not more than 19lb. in weight, would tackle a badger and never leave go until compelled to do so. Mr. Leatham also used his terriers for rabbiting, and found them particularly handy in the prickly gorse coverts through which an ordinary terrier would not work, and he likewise trained them to hunt the hedgerows, and generally for doing the work of an all-round dog. He concluded his eulogy of his favourite breed by pronouncing them excellent house dogs, kindly with children, and he considered them as game as ever they were, even when the Border gipsies had them as assistants in killing otters in the ponds and the rivers of their "patrons." Recently a considerable amount of discussion has been going on relative to the reputed trimming of the coat and face of the Dandie Dinmont terriers. That this has been done, and is still being done in many instances, there is and was ample proof, and I have always blamed the judges for not putting it down with a strong hand. This they could easily do by disqualifying any dog where the hair had been removed off the face, and where the top knot had been artificially whitened. Dogs with uneven mouths, either overshot or undershot, ought likewise to be firmly dealt with, and kept altogether out of the prize lists. Of course, there are some exhibitors who do not so "trim" their dogs, as there are others who deny that anything of the kind is done to any unfair extent. But the fact remains, and at least two owners of good, dogs to my knowledge discontinued exhibiting, their chief reason for so doing being the prevalence of plucking and general trimming of the coat and face. However, the Dandie Dinmont Terrier Club eventually moved in the matter, and at a meeting held in October, 1902, it was unanimously decided that none of the club's prizes should be given to any dog which has had hair removed from its face by plucking, |