THE Highland Dog or Bearded Collie is quite a different animal from the common collie, although their duties are similar. In form and colour of coat the Highland collie is not unlike the English or Welsh bob-tailed sheep dog, only that his tail is entire. That the two breeds have had one origin is, looking at their structural peculiarities, we think, undoubted. A big, rough, " tousy " looking tyke, with a coat not unlike a doormat, the texture of the hair hard and fibry, and the ears hanging close to the head, is a rough and ready description of this dog.
The Bearded Collie breed is a familiar one to us. Its origin is unknown. That the dog belongs to a mountainous country and a cold climate his dense, shaggy, and harsh coat testifies. His heavy build, powerful limbs, and thick short neck, are characteristics found in all animals which inhabit a mountainous country with a cold, damp climate, e.g., our Highland ponies and cattle. His skin also resembles these animals in being very thick. The more we consider the matter the more are we convinced that the English or Welsh bob-tailed sheep dog and the bearded or "hairy moued" collie are identical. In build, shape, coat, and general character they are the same, only that our Scottish dog is seldom seen with a " bob"-tail; but from what we see from time to time in the fanciers' paper, about manufactured bob-tails, we do not place any value or special point on this.
In the " Sportsman's Cabinet" (1804) there is an illustration of an English sheep dog, which would pass for a Highland collie. In the test we arc' 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"; so that we have evidence that the breed existed in Scotland at the beginning of the century. Whether the bearded collie originated in the Scottish or in the Welsh mountains we are not prepared to say. That the dog is a distinct breed, and not a cross with the otterhound or deerhound and the rough-coated collie, as suggested by Dalziel in his first edition of "British Dogs," there can, we think, be little doubt.
A very interesting letter on this variety appeared in the Live Stock Journal of November 15th, 1878. The writer, Gordon James Phillips, Glenlivet, describes this breed as "the rough-coated collie," having a tail which is simply a stump. This we have a found very rarely in a pure Scottish bred dog, but in other points we are in accord with Mr. Phillips, and have pleasure in giving his letter in full: -- "The origin of the rough-coated collie is more difficult to trace back to its native wilds than any other dog that we know. It forms a small minority among shepherds' dogs, and it is seldom, if ever, seen pure bred in the north of Scotland. Nature, however, has given it marks which cannot be effaced, which help to unravel the mystery which envelopes its nativity.
These are its shaggy coat, the thickness of its skin, and the formation of its limbs. The thick skin and the shaggy coat point unmistakably to its being the native of a mountainous country. Glancing for a moment at other animals that are natives of Scotland, and marking the resemblance between them and the rough-coated collie, we are inclined to think that it also is Scottish. Take, for example, highland cattle and Highland horses. They have the rough coat, the short thick limbs, and the thick skin, and in their own characters the same amount of endurance. The only plausible argument against this collie being Scottish is its scarcity in Scotland.
This may be accounted for, however, when we take into consideration the fret that the black-and-tan collie is better adapted than the rough-coated collie for the ordinary work about small farms, such as driving in and out cattle, sitting beside a few sheep, and so on. It is also more easily trained for work of this sort. This would naturally make the black-and-tan collie a greater favorite with farmers than its rough-coated neighbour. Within the last few years, however, sheep have become more valuable, and the rough-coated collie has again become fashionable, shepherds preferring it. for its endurance of cold and fatigue and its ability as a driver. Shepherds also affirm that for sheep it is, on the whole, the best dog.
"The animal itself is about the size of an ordinary collie, but a good deal deeper chested. As already mentioned, it is thicker in the skin ; it is also flatter in the forehead. Altogether the head would be somewhat repulsive looking if it were not relieved by the beautiful dark brown eyes. Its greatest peculiarity in form is in the tail, which is simply a stump, generally from six to nine inches in length. That the animal is of Scottish origin, owing to its resemblance to other Scottish animals, is apparent, if we compare it with the Scots terrier, which it resembles very much in colour a dark grey.
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