History and Origins of Scottish Terrier

The Origins of the Breed

Scotland is the native home of many small active terriers, all with strong characters, short legs and harsh shaggy coats. Centuries ago, Scottish farmers used these spunky little dogs to help keep their farms vermin free. Eventually, through selective breeding, five different terrier breeds emerged.

One important person in the history of the Scottish terrier was King James VI of Scotland. In the 17th century, when King James VI became James I of England, he sent six terriers, thought to be forerunners of the Scottish terrier, to France as a present. His love and adoration for the breed increased their popularity throughout the world.

As with most breeds, there is some dispute over the true history of the Scottie. Some believe that the Scottie is the most ancient of any highland terrier. The other terrier breeds then developed from the Scottie. For these people, the Skye terrier mentioned in early historical accounts is not the Skye terrier we know today but is actually the forerunner of the Scottie. Though this is a good story, it is difficult to prove.

What is known is that the Scottie has been bred pure for many years. In 1860, a show in Birmingham, England had the first Scottish terrier class. Despite having the class open, true Scottish terriers were not shown. By 1882, the Scottish Terrier Club was organized.
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.

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

True to His Roots
You can tell a lot about the Scottie just by looking at the breed name, the Scottish Terrier. He was first known in the bleak and wild Scottish Highlands as a working dog-a hunter of foxes, badgers, weasels, rats and any other vermin which were unwanted around the Highland farm. In the forbidding and harsh environment of a Scottish farm of 200 years ago the Scottie had to earn his place in the world and he did it with the courage, the toughness, the determination and the resilience of the true Scot. He is also a terrier (from the Latin "terra" or earth), bred to be a fierce and feearless fighter but small, strong and energetic enough to hunt his prey through the cairns and barns of the farm and to carry the hunt underground if necessary. It takes a special brand of courage to challenge an enemy in its den and this terrier spirit was prized in the Highlands. As the decades passed to more modern times, and he need for his hunting skills gradually lessened, the Scottie's spirit and gameness continued to be recognized at places such as livestock and dog shows throughout Scotland and England and the modern breed began to emerge. The history of the development of the Scottie from his roots to the modern dog is well worth the reading.

The Modern Scottie

In the last century the breed underwent all of the usual administrative indignities, such as classification, standardization, incorporation and publication, and breeders in many countries have "modified" the appearance of the dog over the years. But, for the most part the Scottie remains true to his Highland heritage. The beard may be longer, as are the "skirts", and the head is longer and leaner, but he is essentially the tough, courageous, compact little dog with the big attitude that he has always been. Apart from his serious and dignified outlook on life, the Scottie's Highland legacy shows itself in a number of ways.

The Scottie is a healthy breed. The "survival of the fittest" doctrine which characterized the early years has left the dog with a life span of 12 to 14 years-and healthy years at that. There are few genetic disorders which affect the breed and fewer still which threaten life. The most serious of these is a bleeding disorder called von Willebrand's Disease, which prevents normal blood clotting. Fortunately, a genetic marker has been found for vWD and a test developed which can pinpoint affected dogs and carriers of the disorder. Responsible breeders are testing their dogs and working to eradicate the disorder completely. Another genetic condition, specific to the breed, is Scotty Cramp, a neuromuscular disorder which causes difficulty in walking and running. A benign condition, it is neither life threatening or painful to the dog, but it is disturbing to people watching an afflicted animal. Research is underway to find a genetic marker for Scotty Cramp. While other conditions and diseases can be present at times, a good relationship with a good vet and sensible care and feeding will keep the Scottie happy and healthy.

The Scottie's coat is another legacy from the Highlands. It is a double coat-a short, soft and dense undercoat for warmth and a longer, hard and weather shedding outer coat. The Scottie does not shed this coat, so that annual annoyance is avoided but the double coat requires care, regular care, and visits to the beauty salon three or four times a year. The coat colour was originally probably a sandy shade but as colour didn't matter to the dogs working ability we now see Scotties in a variety of shades. While most people think of Scotties as black dogs, this is probably not an original colour and today's dogs reflect the original lack of bias, ranging from black through various shades of brindle to the sandy or wheaten colour.

While not a dog aggressive to people, he is an excellent watchdog. His territorial instincts are finely honed and his voice, a sharp but low-pitched bark, is distinctive and certainly gives the impression of a larger dog. There may be times when the voice is not particularly appreciated but it is rarely used unless required. The Scottie will not "cry wolf", but when he does sound off, there is a reason.