Few varieties of British dogs are so well known by the absolute novice as the Old English Sheepdog, Bobtail, or Drovers' Dog. Nor is the reason far to seek. Long ere fickle Fashion set her seal upon the breed, or clubs and shows existed, the dog was one of those that every day, by reason of its occupation, was brought more or less in contact with man. In towns it was seen as the Drovers' Dog; while in the country its vocations were more pastoral. There was nothing of the fashionable beauty about the dog, whose monetary value was represented by a very modest sum - a few shillings, in fact, at which price more than one good dog changed hands. In the old days he was kept solely as a utility dog; to-day it must truthfully be admitted that he is more or less an ornament, for, as in the case of the Collie, to allow the Bobtail to pursue his calling would be to spoil him for show, and it is in the latter capacity that he is of the greater monetary value. Even thirty years ago specimens of the breed might have been picked up very cheaply from drovers at cattle-markets, fairs, and the like. Shows, so far as this breed was concerned, had not then begun to make their influence felt. Directly they did, however, the best specimens were snapped up, and the Bobtail as we know it to-day was gradually evolved.

The Old English Sheepdog is a very distinct variety from the Scotch Collie, as the two breeds now exist, although they may have had a common origin; indeed, there are strong probabilities in favour of the theory that the English Sheepdog was the stock from which the Collie sprang, through, it may be, a cross with the Rough Greyhound. Both breeds are, doubtless, composite, and it is quite impossible to say of what elements these, or, indeed, any other recognised breeds were originally composed. The Old English Sheepdog, as now recognised, is of a pronounced type, differing considerably from most other breeds; the nearest in general appearance to him among our show dogs is the Bearded Collie, illustrated elsewhere, and thought by some to be identical with the variety now under consideration.

The Old English Sheepdog, as he is seen with the shepherd on the South Downs, on the Salisbury Plains, and on the Welsh, Cumbrian, and Scotch hills and dales, is usually, but not invariably, bobtailed - either born so, or made so by docking. In vain have we consulted past writers on dogs for any minute description of this animal's size, build, general appearance, and, in show language, his "points." His moral and intellectual qualities are described with enthusiasm, and often in greatly exaggerated terms of praise, but as to what he was like, we are, by most who have written concerning him, left to guess.

In the "Sportsman's Cabinet" there is a drawing by Reinagle, and engraved by J. Scott, which the author of the work - "A Veteran Sportsman " - declares to be "an admirable representation " of the breed, "taken from the life." No written description applicable to the dog engraved appears in the text; but we are told that "the breed is propagated and preserved, with the greatest respect to purity, in the Northern parts of the kingdom, as well as in the Highlands of Scotland." From this it would appear that "A Veteran Sportsman" did not write from personal knowledge, for assuredly in the North the Collie type of Sheepdog was the prevailing one; and there are reasons numerous and ample for believing the dog to be more a Southern than a Northern breed.

Shepherds and farmers are not classes of men who rapidly change their habits, opinions, or even fashions; and in a matter of such practical importance to them as the sort of Sheepdog they shall have to guide and guard their flocks, there would have to be strong reasons for the admission and adoption of innovation. Now, nothing is more certain than that in the South and South-western parts of England, Sheepdogs of the type represented in Reinagle's drawing are most plentiful; and although the breed is not unknown in the North, it is, and had been long before the last century began - at which date Reinagle painted and "A Veteran Sportsman " wrote - a very small fraction in the number of Sheepdogs, the large majority having been, as they still are, of the Collie type.

Reinagle's shepherd's dog appears to be a grey, with white on upper neck and shoulder, white on ridge of muzzle, and with a diminishing, white, uneven line up the forehead to centre of skull; measured - as a living specimen would be - with a rod from point line of chest to the line of back of thigh, and with an upright and crossbar at shoulder, his height and length are very nearly equal; he is not so deep in the chest as the Collie, and the skull is rounder and the muzzle shorter and broader - in fact, an obtuse muzzle. There is far less difference in girth between chest and loin than in the Collie; the eyes, as in the Collie, are fairly close together; the coat looks rough and harsh, free from curl, long all over the body and on back of legs, but much shorter on hind legs from hock downwards; on the face the hair is shorter but still rough, apparently about half the length or less of that on the legs, but nothing like the short hair that gives comparative smoothness to the face of the Rough Collie; the ears drop like a Mastiff's, are almost smooth, and if drawn towards the nose would not reach more than two-thirds down the muzzle; the tail appears to have had about one-third of its natural length removed.

Youatt gives a representation of an English Sheepdog with a stump tail and a very pointed muzzle ; but the dog is shown galloping down hill, and in such a position that his shape cannot be judged of as the dog of Reinagle's drawing can. Youatt gives no accurate detailed description, but merely says "he is comparatively a small dog," and that under conditions where strength is needed "he is crossed with some larger dog." "Idstone" says he considers the typical Old English Sheepdog to be "the blue grizzled, rough-haired, large-limbed, surly, small-eared and small-eyed, leggy, bobtailed dog."