Mr. Thomson Gray, in the above, drew no fancy picture of the game little dog he loved so well, and in every word that he wrote, whether praise or blame, was prompted by one idea - the maintenance of the working type of dog rather than the setting up of a fashionable beauty. The trimming to which attention is directed prevails and has prevailed for many years to an extent unknown outside the fanciers' circle. Mr. Ludlow, however, in his review of the Scottish Terrier in the Kennel Gazette for February, 1900, was most severe on the practice of trimming, which he condemned in no measured terms, and pointed out the danger to the breed that is run thereby. As Mr. Ludlow very truly says, there is nothing to prevent the painstaking exhibitor making the best of his Terrier, and if it stops at removing the "frill" and taking out all the dead coat, no great harm is done. But does it stop there? Personally, he believes that in very many cases it stops nowhere until every bit of long coat has been pulled out, the sides of the head have been trimmed down pretty well to the bare skin; and, in fact, until the animal has been thoroughly transmogrified. He then proceeds to state that if it comes to a matter of skilful barbering, the novice will have no chance, and, as in the case of Bedlingtons, and to a less degree in Dandie Dinmont Terriers, the Scottish Terrier will be left in the hands of the few who have the ability and will take the trouble to catch the judge's eye, to the possible disadvantage of a far better Terrier badly shown. Since Mr. Ludlow's words appeared in print there has been a marked improvement in the direction of coats, and doubtless with the new regulations of the Kennel Club in respect of trimming the practice will eventually cease. That it is unfair to novices goes without saying ; while that it is a most stupid and unnatural practice calculated to injure rather than improve the individual is also equally true. The remedy for long and woolly coats is a simple one, and lies in the hands of the breeder, and this is the only "improvement" that should be allowed by the powers that be. There can be no denying that the breeder has genuinely improved "Scottie" with respect to his front. Time was when his fore legs were not considered typical unless they were crooked. He has changed all that, and nowadays a crooked-fronted dog would not be tolerated in the show-ring. Why, therefore, should one be whose coat is only of the requisite length when it is made so artificially?

Fig. 98. - Dr. Flaxman's White Scottish Terrier Pittenweem King Kong.

With Scottish Terriers, as with all other breeds, nature is occasionally sportive, and we therefore come across, now and again, colours that, according to our somewhat restricted views, may be considered "foreign" to the breed. It is now very well known that white Scottish Terriers have been produced, and that these have found more or less favour. Indeed, Dr. Flaxman, of Pittenweem, Fife, has for some considerable time now familiarised frequenters of the larger exhibitions with these colour-sports. One of these dogs is illustrated at Fig. 98. The colour is usually a creamy-white. The late Captain Keene was one of the first to place these white Scottish Terriers before the public, and a few years ago a puppy out of White Heather by a dog of his known as White Victor and bred by Mrs. Keene was shown by Lady Forbes, and was "in the money." White Heather was the product of dark parents, and so also were some of the best specimens of Dr. Flaxman. These whites are, of course, judged upon the lines of their darker relatives. One difficulty with the white productions was in the nose-colour. The early specimens were flesh-coloured as to nose; but this has apparently now been got over, as the noses of those white Scottish Terriers shown by Dr. Flaxman have jet-black noses.

These white Scottish Terriers are by novices frequently confused with the Roseneath Terrier, which is a grey or a fawn, sometimes with black points, and to which Mr. Thomson Gray alludes above though not by that name; it is a very different-looking type of dog from the Scottish Terrier. It is found in all its purity at Poltalloch, Lochgilpead, Argyll, where Colonel Malcolm is very proud of this strain of Terrier, and is nothing like the Scottish Terrier as known to the show-bench, but is a modern representative of the dog that Mr. Thomson Gray refers to as the old Skye, or West Highland, Terrier. They are small dogs suited for the work that they are called on to perform - to oust the foxes from the positions that Mr. Thomson Gray so well and faithfully describes. In appearance it more closely approximates to a Skye Terrier, though not to the dog that we are accustomed to see at shows, such a dog, alike on account of its size and its length of jacket, being quite unsuited for serious work. Mr. J. C. Macdona, who a few years ago attempted to revive the Roseneath Terrier by providing classes at Cruft's Show, has kept the breed; while the late Queen also possessed a brace, one of which came from the Duke of Argyll's kennel, and the other from Donald Ferguson, the Lochgilpead fox-hunter.

So many novices are called upon to make a selection of a puppy practically from the nest that a hint on what to avoid may be useful. First as to the head : there must from the first be indicated the slightly domed skull; while the colour of the eyes and their shape are all-important. A typical "Scottie" should have an almond-shaped, dark hazel eye, a light, round, prominent eye being very objectionable, and a puppy possessing such should be avoided. Straight fore legs should be combined with promise of plenty of bone; those light in bone or crooked in leg are objectionable. Ear-carriage cannot be determined with certainty until after teething ; but ear-placement can. In a puppy over teething see that the mouth is a good one; for a typical healthy specimen should possess a beautiful set of white teeth, and any premature decay noticeable in the permanent teeth should not be lightly passed over. A bad mouth is a serious blemish, whether in a show specimen or only in a companion dog. A few white hairs on the chest in the puppy coat generally moult out; but not so a white patch in the adult. The writer is averse to the kind of fore face in the adult that gives one the idea of a square muzzle; it is a modern innovation and contrary to the description issued by the Clubs.