ing in
the bosome of the earth, or else hayle and pull them perforce out
of theyr lurking angles, darke dongeons, and close caues; or at the
least through cocened feare drive them out of theire hollow harbours,
in so much that they are compelled to prepare speedie flyte, and,
being desirous of the next (albeit not the safest) refuge, are
otherwise taken and intrapped with snayres and nettes layde over
holes to the same purpose. But these be the least in that kynde
called Sagax."

The colour, size, and shape of the original terriers are not indicated
by the early writers, and art supplies but vague and uncertain
evidence. Nicholas Cox, who wrote of sporting dogs in _The Gentleman's
Recreation_ (1667), seems to suggest that the type of working terrier
was already fixed sufficiently to be divided into two kinds, the one
having shaggy coats and straight limbs, the other smooth coats and
short bent legs. Yet some years later another authority--Blome--in
the same publication was more guarded in his statements as to the
terrier type when he wrote: "Everybody that is a fox hunter is of
opinion that he hath a good breed, and some will say that the terrier
is a peculiar species of itself. I will not say anything to the
affirmative or negative of the point."

Searching for evidence on the subject, one finds that perhaps the
earliest references to the colours of terriers were made by Daniel
in his _Field Sports_ at the end of the eighteenth century, when he
described two sorts, the one rough, short-legged, and long-backed,
very strong, and "most commonly of a black or yellowish colour, mixed
with white"--evidently a hound-marked dog; and another smooth-coated
and beautifully formed, with a shorter body and more sprightly
appearance, "generally of a reddish brown colour, or black with
tanned legs."

Gilpin's portrait of Colonel Thornton's celebrated Pitch, painted
in 1790, presents a terrier having a smooth white coat with a black
patch at the set-on of the undocked tail, and black markings on the
face and ears. The dog's head is badly drawn and small in proportion;
but the body and legs and colouring would hardly disgrace the
Totteridge Kennels of to-day. Fox-terriers of a noted strain were
depicted from life by Reinagle in _The Sportsman's Cabinet_, published
over a hundred years ago; and in the text accompanying the engraving
a minute account is given of the peculiarities and working capacities
of the terrier. We are told th