iers generally, and new
types were sought for. They were alert, agile little dogs, excellent
for work in the country; but the extravagant Corinthians of the
time--the young gamesters who patronised the prize-ring and the
cock-pit--desired to have a dog who should do something more than kill
rats, or unearth the fox, or bolt the otter: which accomplishments
afforded no amusement to the Town. They wanted a dog combining all
the dash and gameness of the terrier with the heart and courage and
fighting instinct of the Bulldog. Wherefore the terrier and the
Bulldog were crossed. A large type of terrier was chosen, and this
would be the smooth-coated Black and Tan, or the early English White
Terrier; but probably both were used indifferently, and for a
considerable period. The result gave the young bucks what they
required: a dog that was at once a determined vermin killer and an
intrepid fighter, upon whose skill in the pit wagers might with
confidence be laid.

The animal, however, was neither a true terrier nor a true Bulldog,
but an uncompromising mongrel; albeit he served his immediate purpose,
and was highly valued for his pertinacity, if not for his appearance.
In 1806 Lord Camelford possessed one for which he had paid the very
high price of eighty-four guineas, and which he presented to Belcher,
the pugilist. This dog was figured in _The Sporting Magazine_ of the
time. He was a short-legged, thick-set, fawn-coloured specimen, with
closely amputated ears, a broad blunt muzzle, and a considerable
lay-back; and this was the kind of dog which continued for many years
to be known as the Bull-and-terrier. He was essentially a man's dog,
and was vastly in favour among the undergraduates of Oxford and
Cambridge.

Gradually the Bulldog element, at first pronounced, was reduced to
something like a fourth degree, and, with the terrier character
predominating, the head was sharpened, the limbs were lengthened and
straightened until little remained of the Bulldog strain but the
dauntless heart and the fearless fighting spirit, together with the
frequent reversion to brindle colouring, which was the last outward
and visible characteristic to disappear.

Within the remembrance of men not yet old the Bull-terrier was as
much marked with fawn, brindle, or even black, as are the Fox-terriers
of our own period. But fifty years or so ago white was becoming
frequent, and was much admired. A strain of pure white was bred by
James Hinks