at there were two breeds: the one
wire-haired, larger, more powerful, and harder bitten; the other
smooth-haired and smaller, with more style. The wire-hairs were white
with spots, the smooths were black and tan, the tan apparently
predominating over the black. The same writer states that it was
customary to take out a brace of terriers with a pack of hounds, a
larger and a smaller one, the smaller dog being used in emergency
when the earth proved to be too narrow to admit his bigger companion.
It is well known that many of the old fox hunters have kept their
special breeds of terrier, and the Belvoir, the Grove, and Lord
Middleton's are among the packs to which particular terrier strains
have been attached.

That even a hundred years ago terriers were bred with care, and that
certain strains were held in especial value, is shown by the recorded
fact that a litter of seven puppies was sold for twenty-one guineas--a
good price even in these days--and that on one occasion so high a
sum as twenty guineas was paid for a full-grown dog. At that time
there was no definite and well-established breed recognised throughout
the islands by a specific name; the embracing title of "Terrier"
included all the varieties which have since been carefully
differentiated. But very many of the breeds existed in their
respective localities awaiting national recognition. Here and there
some squire or huntsman nurtured a particular strain and developed
a type which he kept pure, and at many a manor-house and farmstead
in Devonshire and Cumberland, on many a Highland estate and Irish
riverside where there were foxes to be hunted or otters to be killed,
terriers of definite strain were religiously cherished. Several of
these still survive, and are as respectable in descent and quite as
important historically as some of the favoured and fashionable
champions of our time. They do not perhaps possess the outward beauty
and distinction of type which would justify their being brought into
general notice, but as workers they retain all the fire and verve
that are required in dogs that are expected to encounter such vicious
vermin as the badger and the fox.

Some of the breeds of terriers seen nowadays in every dog show were
equally obscure and unknown a few years back. Thirty-seven years ago
the now popular Irish Terrier was practically unknown in England,
and the Scottish Terrier was only beginning to be recognised as a
distinct breed. The Welsh Te