As far back as 1826 Coquetdale was, and had long been, one of the homes of the old rough Terriers from which have sprung the two closely related varieties now famous as the Bedlington and the Dandie Dinmont. This is so well established that the Bedlington might appropriately have been named the Coquetdale Terrier. The sportsmen of what we may for brevity and comprehensiveness call the Border dales appear to have stuck tenaciously to the blood of their ancient race of Terriers, the deviations from the original form being pretty clearly accounted for.

The Dandie Dinmont would seem to be nearer to the original in shape and size, the higher and lighter build of the Bedlington probably arising, as suggested farther on, by a cross with the Bull-terrier. The famous engraver Bewick, whose first work was published at Newcastle-on-Tyne - originally the great home of the Bedlington - knew nothing of a Terrier of that name. Bewick's woodcut of a Terrier shows a heavy, coarse, unshapely dog, with rather short and thick legs, the fore ones heavily feathered; a rough, bearded muzzle, prick ears, and coarse tail, curved over back; but his description of the Terriers is identical with that of Daniel and other writers.

From the strong, short-legged, rough Terrier it is probable that we got the Dandies and Bedlingtons, the outcome as we now see it being due to different grafts on to the original, and to modifications natural to selections in breeding since the two varieties became finally recognised as distinct.

It is the opinion of some of the oldest breeders of Bedlingtons that these Terriers were at one time very much shorter in the leg and stouter in body than they are now; and this is very probable, for we must remember that even the name Bedlington, like that of Dandie Dinmont, as applied to a race of Terriers, is quite modern, the latter dating, from the time of Sir Walter Scott. Again in the old days the Bedlington was not used for racing purposes as it is now, and therefore the need for a speedy dog did not exist.

The Bedlington Terrier had a hard struggle to obtain from dog show committees that recognition to which he is so well entitled. He has, however, now gained his true position among modern Terriers, and many schedules provide classes for the breed.

As will be seen from the statements of the writers quoted, the Bedlington Terrier has long been considered a distinct breed, the stock from which the modern specimens have sprung having been peculiar to the district for at least thirty years before the name Bedlington was applied to them, the first dog so called being Mr. Ainsley's Young Piper, whelped about the year 1825. Such original stock may be regarded as a branch of the Rough Terrier family, recognised by all of our old sporting writers as common to England; although it is probable that the result of the comparative isolation secured to the dog by his domicile in the Border dales was to create well-recognised family characters, of a general nature common to all in the district, and pretty clearly separating them from other coexisting strains of Terriers bred in other and widely removed parts of the country.

As showing the character of what may well be termed one of the ancestors of the Bedlington Terriers of the present day, the following extract from a letter written by Mr. Joseph Ainsley, which appeared in a sporting paper in 1870, may be of interest: -

"With regard to the doings of Piper, it would take a volume to contain them; but I may mention that he was set on a badger at eight months old, and from that time until he was fourteen years old was 'constantly at work, more or less, with badgers, foxes, foulmarts, otters, and other vermin. He drew a badger after he was fourteen years old, when he was toothless and nearly blind, after several other Terriers failed."

The following, which appeared in the Newcastle Chronicle, July 24th, 1872, gives a fair statement of facts respecting this breed, and is valuable as embodying the opinions of the late Mr. Thomas John Pickett, well known to exhibitors generally under his sobriquet of the Duke of Bedlington - a title earned by his great success as a breeder and an exhibitor of these Terriers. The writer in the Chronicle says: -

"Of the breed of dogs for which this locality is noted, none has caused so much controversy as the Bedlington Terrier, which is, I believe, the last new-comer amongst recognised breeds exhibited at the shows. Indeed, a furious controversy has been raging as to whether the strain is deserving of recognition as a fixed and well-defined breed at all, and some of our South-country friends have made fun of the question 'What is a Bedlington Terrier?' To this query the best answer that can be given is that furnished by perhaps the most successful exhibitor of the present day, Thomas John Pickett, of Grey Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who says: 'The Bedlington is a light-made, wiry dog, with a bright, alert bearing, and whose cut and demeanour are indicative of fire and resolution. The head should be high and rather narrow, and when looked at from behind should be almost wedge-shaped; it should be surmounted with a fine silky tuft, usually nearly white in colour, and the ears and tail should, in the blue sort, be of a much darker shade of colour than the body. The eyes should be small and a little sunken, dark in colour in the blue variety, but lighter in the liver-coloured specimens, and the jaw long, quickly tapering, and muscular. The ears should be long, should hang close to the cheek, and should be slightly feathered at the tip, whilst the neck should be long and muscular, and should rise well away from widely set shoulder blades. The legs should be rather high, and should be straight, hard, and sinewy. The body should be compact and well formed. The tail should be small, from 8in. to 12 in. long, and slightly feathered. The coat should be rather wiry, and the colour blue-black, sandy, or liver. The dark blue dogs should have black noses; the liver or sandy are most approved of with flesh or cherry-coloured noses, but I would not object to a sandy dog with a black nose if from the blue strain.'