Mr. J. C. Macdona, M.P., was the first to give publicity to the following - if authentic - unquestionably important document, which he met with in researches he made, some thirty years ago, into the early history of the breed. It is described as being in the handwriting of James Davidson, with his initials attached, written on old, hand-made letter-paper, yellow with years, and bearing all the evidences of being genuine. The memorandum was originally sent by Mr. Davidson to the Hon. George H. Bailie, of Mellerstain, and is as follows: -

1800. Tuggin, from A. Armstrong, reddish and wiry. Tarr, reddish and wiry-haired; a bitch. Pepper, shaggy and light, Dr. Brown, of Bonjedward. The race of Dandies are bred from the two last.

J. D.

Mr. Cook had an opportunity of critically examining the original document above quoted, and points out discrepancies. One of these is that the date is not 1800, as given by Mr. Macdona, but 1890. As we have here two readings, and as that suggests want of clearness in the written figure, both may be wrong, and 1820 be the date really meant to be expressed. That 1800 must be wrong is evident, for the term "Dandie Dinmont" had not then been coined; and 1890 must be a clerical error. Mr. Cook further compared the handwriting, in legal documents, of Mr. Davidson with the writing in the pedigree paper referred to, and pronounces them to be widely dissimilar, the writing on the latter being "bold, businesslike, and free," whereas Davidson wrote even his own name in such a cramped manner as might naturally be expected from a sheep-farmer of that period.

Mr. Davidson died in the early part of the year 1820, six years after the publication of "Guy Mannering," and his love for dogs and for the chase was strong even in his last moments, for, sore stricken as he was, at the sound of the voices of Mr. Baillie's Foxhounds, did he not get out of bed and with difficulty reach the window, and take, as it were, a fond, last look of the scenes he loved so well ? Might not the document be written by someone interested in the breed, and the initials "J. D." obtained, as Mr. Davidson's signature and verification of it, during his last illness?

Mr. Cook says that "between the dates [1814 and 1820] his [Davidson's] race of Terriers were generically called 'Peppers' and 'Mustards,' and not Dandies." Mr. Cook advances no proof in support of this, and the probabilities are against it. Sir Walter Scott has himself quoted Mr. Davidson to the effect that Sir Walter had not written about him more than about his neighbours, but about his dogs. The fact is clear enough: the name Dandie Dinmont was given to Davidson as soon as "Guy Mannering" became popular, and it is practically certain that the name would, at the same time, be given to his Terriers. This is, in fact, proved by a gentleman writing from personal knowledge. Mr. James Scott, of Newstead, who contributed much useful information respecting the breed in the correspondence on the subject in the Field some years back, speaking from a personal acquaintance of "Dandie Dinmont" and his dogs, says he had two varieties of Terriers, one large and leggy, the other short on the fore leg and small, and that it was only the latter that Davidson would allow to be called Dandie Dinmont Terriers. It has since been assumed that these smaller Terriers were the produce of the two dogs, Pepper and Tarr, given to him by Dr. Brown, of Bonjedward. When Sir Walter Scott made Davidson's Pepper and Mustard Terriers famous, there was at once, it may fairly be assumed, a pretty general desire to possess the breed, and it is hardly likely the demand would or could be supplied from this single pair. As Pepper and Tarr must have had relations more or less close in consanguinity, these would probably be used to swell the family circle of the Dandie Dinmont Terrier. In support of the supposition that we have living specimens directly descended from Pepper and Tarr without admixture of blood more or less foreign, we must be quite sure that Dandie Dinmont himself stuck rigidly to the Pepper and Tarr blood. But what proof have we that the dogs distributed by him throughout the country were by their several owners bred to others of the same blood ? Is it not reasonable to suppose that the produce of a Terrier bitch of another strain, sent to a dog known to be from Hindlee, would be called Dandie Dinmont Terriers, or of Dandie Dinmont's strain, just as, before the advent of dog shows, and the care which has of late years been bestowed on pedigrees, a sportsman who had bred from a Pointer dog of Earl Sefton's would describe the produce as of the Sefton strain?

Much more has been done to secure to us the correct article today by those breeders who, some of them having personal knowledge of Davidson's own dogs, stuck as close as they could breed to the type, and selected on occasion, even without a knowledge of its pedigree, a dog that bore the family character, than by others who lay too much stress on pedigrees which cannot be proved with any degree of certainty. Take, for instance, the well-known Shamrock. His pedigree in the Kennel Club Stud Book gives his dam as Vic, bred by Mr. W. Johnstone, by a dog of good blood belonging to an officer at the Purshill Barracks. Here we have, in one of the best-known and best dogs of his day, a break in the pedigree before we go back two generations. No doubt Mr. Johnstone felt satisfied he was using a dog of good blood because he possessed the characteristics of a good Dandie Dinmont Terrier, but there is no proof that he was of pure breed; and so we find breaks in the chain between every existing dog and those two given to Dandie Dinmont by Dr. Brown of Bonjedward.

It would be useless to recapitulate the names of all of the earlier breeders who followed the originator of this strain. The Hon. G. H. Baillie, of Mellerstain; the Home, of Carolside; the Duke of Buccleuch; the Kyles, of Braidlee; John Stoddart, of Selkirk; D. McDougal, of Cessford; F. Somner, of Kelso; Hugh Purves, of Leaderfoot; Dr. Grant, of Hawick; Lord Polwarth; Ned Dunn, of Whitelee; Nicol Milne, of Faldonside (owner of Old Jock and Jenny); James Scott, of Newstead; and many others, contemporaries of, or following close after, Davidson, had all a share in making the dog what he now is. Above all, there was the late Mr. E. Bradshaw Smith, of Blackwoodhouse, Ecclefechan. Lovers of the Dandie Dinmont Terrier are also greatly indebted to Miss Mathers, Dr. William Brown, James Paterson (of Old Miss fame), James Hamilton, and J. B. Richardson, of Dumfries, a gentleman unexcelled as a judge and breeder of this variety, and to whose enthusiasm and industry admirers of the breed are indebted for much interesting information on the subject.