The mane and frill should be very abundant, the mask or face smooth, as also the ears at the tips, but they should carry more hair towards the base; the fore legs well feathered, the hind legs above the hocks profusely so; but below the hocks fairly smooth, although all heavily coated Collies are liable to grow a slight feathering. Hair on the brush very profuse.

Colour.-Immaterial.

General Character.-A lithe, active dog, his deep chest showing lung power, his neck strength, his sloping shoulders and well-bent hocks indicating speed, and his expression high intelligence. He should be a fair length on the leg, giving him more of a racy than a cloddy appearance. In a few words, a Collie should show endurance, activity, and intelligence, with free and true action.

Size and Weight.-Dogs, 22in. to 24in at the shoulders; bitches, 20in. to 22in. Dogs, 45lb. to 65lb.; bitches, 40lb. to 55lb.

The Smooth Collie only differs from the Rough in its coat, which should be hard, dense, and quite smooth.

Faults.-Domed skull, high peaked occipital bone, heavy, pendulous, or prick ears, weak jaws, snipy muzzle, full, staring, or light eyes, crooked legs, large, flat, or hare feet, curly or soft coat, cow hocks, brush twisted or carried right over the back, and an under- or an over-shot mouth.

The Smooth Collie Club thus describes the variety whose cause it espouses:

Head.-Should be in proportion to dog's size; skull moderately wide between the ears, and flat, tapering to the end of the muzzle, which ought to be of a fair length but not too snipy, with only a slight stop.

Teeth.-Strong and white, the top jaw fitting nicely over the lower, and where much over- or at all under-shot, it should count against the dog.

Eyes.--Of almond shape, set obliquely in the head, and the shade consistent with the colour of the dog. A full or staring eye is very objectionable.

Ears. Small, and when the dog's attention is attracted, carried semi-erect; but when in repose it is natural for them to be laid back.

Neck.-Long and well arched, and shoulders muscular and sloping.

Back. Rather long, strong, and straight, the loin slightly arched, and the chest fairly deep, but not too wide.

Fore Legs. Straight and muscular, with a fair amount of bone. The hind legs should be rather wide apart, with stifle well bent, forming sickle hocks.

Feet.-Compact, knuckles well sprung, claws strong and close together, pads cannot be too hard.

Coat. "Short, dense, flat coat with good texture with an abundance of undercoat."

Symmetry. The dog should be of fair length on the leg, and his movements active and graceful.

Height.-Dogs, 22in. to 24in.; bitches, 20in. to 22in.

Tail. Of medium length, and when the dog is standing quietly, should be slightly raised, but more so when excited.

CHAPTER XVII

THE OLD ENGLISH BOBTAILED

SHEEPDOG

FEW varieties of British dogs are so well known by the absolute novice as the Old English Sheepdog, Bobtail, or Drovers' Dog. Nor is the reason far to seek. Long ere fickle Fashion set her seal upon the breed, or clubs and shows existed, the dog was one of those that every day, by reason of its occupation, was brought more or less in contact with man. In towns it was seen as the Drovers' Dog; while in the country its vocations were more pastoral. There was nothing of the fashionable beauty about the dog, whose monetary value was represented by a very modest sum-a few shillings, in fact, at which price more than one good dog changed hands. In the old days he was kept solely as a utility dog; to-day it must truthfully be admitted that he is more or less an ornament, for, as in the case of the Collie, to allow the Bobtail to pursue his calling would be to spoil him for show, and it is in the latter capacity that he is of the greater monetary value. Even thirty years ago specimens of the breed might have been picked up very cheaply from drovers at cattle-markets, fairs, and the like. Shows, so far as this breed was concerned, had not then begun to make their influence felt. Directly they did, however, the best specimens were snapped up, and the Bobtail as we know it to-day was gradually evolved.

The Old English Sheepdog is a very distinct variety from the Scotch Collie, as the two breeds now exist, although they may have had a common origin; indeed, there are strong probabilities in favour of the theory that the English Sheepdog was the stock from which the Collie sprang, through, it may be, a cross with the Rough Greyhound. Both breeds are, doubtless, composite, and it is quite impossible to say of what elements these, or, indeed, any other recognised breeds were originally composed. The Old English Sheepdog, as now recognised, is of a pronounced type, differing considerably from most other breeds; the nearest in general appearance to him among our show dogs is the Bearded Collie, illustrated elsewhere, and thought by some to be identical with the variety now under consideration.

The Old English Sheepdog, as he is seen with the shepherd on the South Downs, on the Salisbury Plains, and on the Welsh, Cumbrian, and Scotch hills and dales, is usually, but not invariably, bobtailed—either born so, or made so by docking. In vain have we consulted past writers on dogs for any minute description of this animal's size, build, general appearance, and, in show language, his "points." His moral and intellectual qualities are described with enthusiasm, and often in greatly exaggerated terms of praise, but as to what he was like, we are, by most who have written concerning him, left to guess.

In the "Sportsman's Cabinet" there is a drawing by Reinagle, and engraved by J. Scott, which the author of the work-"A Veteran Sportsman"-declares to be "an admirable representation " of the breed, "taken from the life." No written description applicable to the dog engraved appears in the text; but we are told that "the breed is propagated and preserved, with the greatest respect to purity, in the Northern parts of the kingdom, as well as in the Highlands of Scotland." From this it would appear that “A Veteran Sportsman" did not write from personal knowledge, for assuredly in the North the Collie type of Sheepdog was the prevailing one; and there are reasons numerous and ample for believing the dog to be more a Southern than a Northern breed.

Shepherds and farmers are not classes of men who rapidly change their habits, opinions, or even fashions; and in a matter of such practical importance to them as the sort of Sheepdog they shall have to guide and guard their flocks, there would have to be strong reasons for the admission and adoption of innovation. Now, nothing is more certain than that in the South and South-western parts of England, Sheepdogs of the type represented in Reinagle's drawing are most plentiful; and although the breed is not unknown in the North, it is, and had been long before the last century began -at which date Reinagle painted and "A Veteran Sportsman" wrote a very small fraction in the number of Sheepdogs, the large majority having been, as they still are, of the Collie type.

Reinagle's shepherd's dog appears to be a grey, with white on upper neck and shoulder, white on ridge of muzzle, and with a diminishing, white, uneven line up the forehead to centre of skull; measured—as a living specimen would be-with a rod from point line of chest to the line of back of thigh, and with an upright and crossbar at shoulder, his height and length are very nearly equal; he is not so deep in the chest as the Collie, and the skull is rounder and the muzzle shorter and broader-in fact, an obtuse muzzle. There is far less difference in girth between chest and loin than in the Collie; the eyes, as in the Collie, are fairly close together; the coat looks rough and harsh, free from curl, long all over the body and on back of legs, but much shorter on hind legs

from hock downwards; on the face the hair is shorter but still rough, apparently about half the length or less of that on the legs, but nothing like the short hair that gives comparative smoothness to the face of the Rough Collie; the ears drop like a Mastiff's, are almost smooth, and if drawn towards the nose would not reach more than two-thirds down the muzzle; the tail appears to have had about one-third of its natural length removed.

Youatt gives a representation of an English Sheepdog with a stump tail and a very pointed muzzle; but the dog is shown galloping down hill, and in such a position that his shape cannot be judged of as the dog of Reinagle's drawing can. Youatt gives no accurate detailed description, but merely says "he is comparatively a small dog," and that under conditions where strength is needed "he is crossed with some larger dog." "Idstone" says he considers the typical Old English Sheepdog to be "the blue grizzled, rough-haired, large-limbed, surly, small-eared and smalleyed, leggy, bobtailed dog."

It has been held that the docking of the tail generation after generation resulted in pups being born tailless. Now, although such a result might follow if the practice were continued long enough, yet to attribute the cause to constant mutilation of the parents seems controverted by the fact that the Bob-tailed Sheepdog has other clearly marked features in common, which breeding from the promiscuous herd of dogs docked to save a tax would have dissipated rather than insured.

There are some people who go so far as to say such a mutilation as a docked tail represents can never become an inherited character. The subject is admittedly a difficult one. "Carrier" (a gentleman who wrote for many years over that nom de plume in the Field and other papers) says it is impossible for any one who has read Darwin to believe that a mutilation can become inherited. On the contrary, it seems that evolution teaches that a disused member changes form, and may be eventually dispensed with. It is puzzling, to say the least, to account for Fox-terrier puppies having been whelped with stump tails. So many instances of this during the last twenty years have been recorded, that it is difficult to believe such cases purely accidental, and influenced by no law of heredity.

On the point of time required to influence such change, we must not forget we may go far beyond the usual argument that docking was a result of the tax in this country on undocked dogs, for, so far into the past as the history of dogs clearly carries us, docking was practised by shepherds, as vouched for by Columella. The true reason for the practice of docking is to be found in the general superstition, which for two thousand years has prevailed among dog-owners, that the operation was a preventive of madness. This idea pervaded the minds of shepherds and others in all

lands; and if we grant that mutilation may result in establishing reproduction of a variety minus the particular member, the history of docking shows a long period of time in which to produce the effect.

As a justification for docking, it has been argued that the shortening of the tail strengthens the back, but there is no proof of the statement ever forthcoming; and the same may be said of the equally unsupported opinion that the absence of the tail increases the speed of the dog. One thing in connection with docking should never be forgotten, if but in the interests of humanity, and that is to get the operation performed as early as possible. Since Fashion has ordained that but the merest stump shall be allowed, it is the height of folly and of cruelty to wait until a puppy is a few weeks old before removing the portion of the tail that is considered necessary.

It is always interesting and frequently instructive to be able to compare a breed as we know it to-day with what it was, say, half a century previous. Richardson wrote in praise of the Bobtailed Sheepdog rather more than fifty years ago. Comparing it with the Collie, he says that it is "larger and stronger, and has much the appearance of a cross with the great rough Water-dog. It is coarser in the muzzle and coat, and is destitute of tail." Further, he says, with reference to the latter, that it "is not the natural form of the animal, for the tail is destroyed when very young, not by cutting off, but by extracting the bones-an inhuman practice technically called 'stringing,' generally performed by pulling out that part with the teeth. After this the fleshy part of the tail contracts to a mere tubercle, and is wholly concealed among the shaggy hair of the animal. Dogs treated in this manner are said to endure much more exertion with less fatigue than those in which the tail is entire."

Old English Sheepdogs have been called Curs, and some writers on the subject derive the appellation from "curtail." The etymology of the word is, however, entirely against that. The term Cur has come to be applied to a crossbred, useless, or degenerate dog, but that is far from the original meaning. In the old Welsh laws we find distinct mention of three kinds of Cur dogs-the Mastiff, the House Cur, and the Shepherd's Cur. Now, the House Cur was, in the eye of the Welsh law, exalted to the name and dignity of Shepherd's Cur when it was proved he could perform the duties of the Sheepdog. The term Cur has no more reference to a docked dog than any other, and even curtail has nothing to do with tail, but is, says Skeat, a corruption of the older form curtal (verb, to dock); whilst Cur, Old English Curre, is from the Swedish Kurre, a dog; Old Dutch Korre, a house dog; named from growling, and derived from the Icelandic Kurra, to murmur, grumble. The