History of the Scottish Terrier
This short article cannot hope to cover the complete history
of the Scottish Terrier but the breed is fortunate to have included,
in its pioneers, a number who wrote extensively about the dogs and their
development. The formalization of the dog show process, the founding
of breed clubs and the growth of national registries have all
contributed to our knowledge of the Scotties who were the
forerunners of our modern breed. If the information which follows
does not satisfy your curiosity, dig into the books which I have used as
reference material and hear the details from some of the people who were
there.
Origins of the Breed
Sadly, but as should be expected, little verifiable information is known
about the distant origins of the Scottie. We do know that there
were rough coated, short legged dogs, used to hunt fox and vermin in the
farms of the Western Highlands and the Islands of the Hebrides, probably
for hundreds of years. There may even have been distinctive types of
dogs in specific areas as the rough and wild nature of the
land and the lack of roads of hundreds of years ago necessitated a
degree of isolation which would lead to those specific types being
developed. However, as the people of the area were more given to
survival than to art and literature, little formal information,
describing the Scottish Terrier as a breed, has survived.
By contrast, there is no doubt that dogs similar
in type, temperament and hunting ability to the Scottie were
valuable working dogs in the Highlands for those hundreds of years. John
Lesley, Bishop of Ross, in his “History of Scotland from 1436 to 1561”
wrote of“a dog of low height, which creeping into subterraneous burrows,
routs out foxes, badgers, martens, and wildcats from their lurking
places in dens”. Two hundred years later, Sir Joshua
Reynolds painted a portrait of a young girl caressing a dog remarkably
similar to a Scottie. In 1822 there is reference
to “rough, short legged, long-backed and very strong dogs” by Samuel
Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds and there exists an
1835 lithograph, entitled “Scottish Terriers at Work on a Cairn in the
West Highlands”, (seen aovee) showing terrier type dogs very similar
to those described in the first Scottish Terrier Standard. Other writers
in the 1830’s described the distinctive shape and the paintings of
Reynolds and Sir Edwin Landseer both depict the early terrier in their
paintings.
So, from this "type" of short legged, rough coated dogs probably
came the terrier breeds we associate now with Scotland– the Cairn, the
West Highland White, the Skye, the Dandie Dinmont and the Scottie. The
Westie, the Skye and the Dandie are probably the easiest in which
to trace breed development as the MacDonalds of Skye had been breeding
long haired, long backed dogs for over two hundred years and the
Malcolms of Poltalloch preferred a smaller, shorter headed dog
with a family preference for cream or white colours. Dandie Dinmont,
from Sir Walter Scott’s novel,“Guy Mannering”, had two terriers, Mustard
and Pepper and his name has remained with this distinctive breed
ever since.
There are two names which have attached themselves to the dog we now
know as the Scottie. In the 1860’s, in the very early days
of dog shows and preceeding the development of breed standards, the name
“Aberdeen Terrier” was used to describe the Scottie “type” and it may be
that the breed came out of the Highlands through the town of Aberdeen. The
other name associated with the Scottie is the “Diehard”. George, the
fourth Earl of Dumbarton, had a famous pack of Scottish Terriers, so brave
that they were named “Diehards”. They were supposed to have inspired the
name of his Regiment, The Royal Scots, Dumbarton’s Diehard.
Development of the Breed
Recorded history, and the initial development of the breed started
in the late 1870’s wih tthe grwth of dog shows. The exhibiting of
dogs required that they be compared to a standard for the breed and the
appearance and temperament of the Scottie was written down for the first
time. In those early days of dog shows, the names of the Scotties
which became the foundation of the breed began to appear. Roger Rough,
owned by Mr JA Adamson of Aberdeen, Tartan, owned by Mr Paynton Piggott,
Bon Accord, shown above, owned by Messrs Ludlow and Bromfield and Splinter II,
owned by Mr Ludlow were early winners and are the four dogs from whence all Scottish
Terrier pedigrees ultimately begin.
Their progeny, such as Bon Accord son Rambler and grandson
Alister, (at left) were show winners and much sought after as stud dogs.
Mr John Napier Reynard owned Champion (Ch) Revival and Capt WW Mackie,
considered the “Father of the Scottish Terrier in
Scotland”, owned another Bon Accord grandson (Ch) Dundee.Mr Robert
Chapman’s Heather Prince and Mr Andrew Kinnear’s Seafield were
alsoimportant dogs in the period 1880-1910.
The description of the Scottie was first written by Mr James B
Morrison and Mr Thompson Grey in 1880 and the breed is clearly
recognizable from this document. With the formation
of the Scottish Terrier Club of Scotland in 1888, a more formal
standard was developed, based heavily on the work done by Morrison, and
remained in use until revised by theScottish Terrier Club (England) in
1933. The early clubs, the English club formed in 1882 and the Scottish
club were full of the men who were active inthe development of the breed
and many of their kennel names began to beprefixed to the dogs. Mr
WL McCandlish bred Scotties under the “Ems” prefix
and wrote extensively about the breed. Robert Chapman's "Heather"
prefix was important as his sons continued his interest in the breed into
the 20’s an d30's. Mrs Hannay of Heworth Castle used the "Heworth" prefix
for her dogs and Mr HRB Tweed (Laindon) and Mr AG Cowley (Albourne)
were other important pioneers in the breed.
With the resumption of dog shows following the First World
War, the Scottish Terrier was slowly but steadily recognized and
appreciated for the great little dog that he is. Further development
of the "modern" Scottie took place in the 1920's and 30's with the
appearance of four prepotent dogs which Fayette C Ewing, in his "The
Book of the Scottish Terrier"(1936) called "the Four Horsemen". The dogs
were Robert and James Chapman's Heather Necessity, Albourne Barty, bred
by AG Cowley, Albourne Annie Laurie, bred by Miss Wijk and Miss Wijk's
Marksman of Docken, litter brother of Annie Laurie. These four dogs,
through their progeny, modified the look of the dogs, particularly
in the length of the head, closeness to the ground and the squareness of
body, and the success of their get in the show ring made them so much in
demand that they revolutionized the breed.
The Scottie came to North America, to the United States,
in the early 1880's but had little popular support in those early
years. A club was formed in 1900 and a standard written in
1925 and the breed gradually gained in popularity as more good dogs were
imported, shown and bred in the US. Fayette Ewing was one of the early
pioneers and his Nosegay Kennels include the bloodlines of many of the
early English dogs. Ewing was a Co-Founder of the Scottish Terrier Club
of America, wrote extensively about the breed and visited his
counterparts in England. He is considered the "Father of the Scottie" in
North America.
The ever growing popularity of the Scottie, his migration to a
surprisingly large number of countries and his record in dog shows
around the world make his "history" an ongoing story. On occasion,
outstanding dogs appear which history will indicate are "turning points"
and the evolution, and therefore the history of the breed,
continues. Kennelgarth Viking, bred by Betty
Penn-Bull, had a significant influence on the breed in England
in the 1960’s and also in the 60's the English bred
dog, Bardene Bingo won all there was to win
in the US. Three Bardene dogs, Bingo, Blue Boy and Bingo's
son, Bobby Dazzler, had a tremendous influence on the breed in the US.
History will tell us who the other influential dogs are, in due course.
And so it continues...
References.
The Scottish Terrier, WL McCandlish, "Our Dogs" Publishing
The Book of the Scottish Terrier, Fayette C Ewing, Orange Judd Publishing, 1936
The Scottish Terrier, Dorothy Caspersz, Third Edition, Popular Dogs, 1976
The Kennelgarth Scottish Terrier Book, Betty Penn-Bull, Scottish Terrier Emergency Care Scheme, Second Edition, 1995
The New Scottish Terrier, Cindy Cooke, Howell Book House, 1996
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