Much that has been quoted and written on the Smooth-haired Fox-terrier equally applies to the Wire-haired variety. It seems to be pretty clear that when the Fox or Kennel Terrier came to be bred with more respect to complement externe the taste and fashion that dictated such a course also gave preference to, and exalted above his fellows, the smooth-coated, straight-legged and white-pied dog. Mr. Allison instinctively sees and seizes the main point when, referring to the authorities he had quoted, he says, in his contribution to the First Edition of "British Dogs": "We may see that Smooth and Wire-haired Fox-terriers existed contemporaneously in those days, and that the word Terrier is not applied to any dog except those fitted for hunting and going to ground." He then proceeds: -

"The modern Manchester Terrier and White English Terrier could not possibly be classed in such a category; while, as to the black-and-tan colour of the last century and beginning of this, it was quite different from that of the so-called Manchester Terrier: that is to say, the tan was lighter and more abundant - such things as pencilled toes, thumb marks, etc., being altogether absent - while the shape and character of the dog were those of the modern Fox-terrier, as may be evidenced by old pictures, and by the breed which the Duke of Beaufort, Treadwell, and others preserved until quite recently. Now, having premised that Wire-haired Terriers have, or ought to have, as good antecedents as their smooth brethren, it behoves us to look at them as they are, and we shall find that, while the smooth sort have for many years excited the greatest interest, the rough one has languished in comparative obscurity. Nay, at some shows he has even been relegated to the ranks of the 'Non-sporting Dogs'; while the Kennel Club actually made a retrograde movement, at their show in 1879, by removing the Wire-haired division from the arbitrament of the Fox-terrier judges.

All this is a base libel on the breed. A good Wire-haired Terrier is one of the most sporting of all dogs - ready for anything; and though the writer of this has given more attention to the smooth kind, he would be the last to deny that, unless the smooth dog is of good and pure strain, with plenty of coat, the rough one is the better sportsman of the two.

It is, no doubt, a fact that any breed of dogs that is vastly in fashion runs a great danger: so many specimens become valuable merely for their show qualifications that would otherwise have been knocked on the head as rank curs - or, at least, never have been bred from. But, as it is, the unreasoning public breed indiscriminately from prize winners; and, besides that, certain sharp customers are for ever at work manufacturing what they consider better sorts than the real article. Is it said a Terrier's head should be long? - they go for assistance to the Greyhound; he should have lots of bone? - they obtain it from the Beagle; and so on.

Thus it is that a great number of our Smooth Fox-terriers are irritating brutes, without any idea of their work, or of hunting, which is a great point; for a Terrier who is not a keen hunter, and does not lash an ever-busy stern, either along a hedgerow or in cover, is not the right sort at all; while if he will give tongue on a scent, so much the better.

Avoiding, however, the mongrelised smooth dog, and sticking to good old strains, we should say there is not twopence to choose between the Smooth and the Wire-haired for work. It is submitted that a close, dense, smooth coat will always turn wet better than one that is broken. On this point 'Stonehenge' says: 'The Fox-terrier Club description does not sufficiently, I think, insist on the thick and soft undercoat, which should always be regarded as of great importance in resisting wet and cold. An open long coat is even worse than a thick short one for this purpose, as it admits the wet to the skin and keeps it there, whereas the short coat speedily dries.' There is no doubt this undercoat is of great importance, but even when it exists in perfection, the divisions among the longer hair must allow a more ready access for rain and wet in the interstices than would be the case with a smooth dog, whose thick, dense coat lies flat and close together.

The Wire-haired Terrier, from the absence of those causes that have so damaged the Smooth race, has preserved in obscurity all the true working capacity of the tribe, for a very simple reason - that, as a rule, he has been bred solely for work. There can be no doubt that in point of quality he is considerably behind the Smooth-haired; indeed, what would have happened to the race had not Kendal's Old Tip come to the rescue and got some really good-looking ones - such as Mr. Carrick's Venture, Mr. Shirley's Tip, Mr. Hayward Field's Tussle, and others - it is impossible to say.

The north countrymen have paid much greater attention to the breed than the south, and it was there that Kendal's Tip did good service with the Sinnington for some years. Mr. Carrick, of Carlisle, has always a few good ones, which he uses with the Otterhounds, and several of them, such as Vixen and Venture, have been very successful at shows. The late Charles Kirby, of Malton, owned some excellent Terriers, chiefly from strains possessed by the Rev. C. Legard. Among these was Sam (who afterwards belonged to the writer), as game a dog as ever walked, but short of coat. He won a prize or two, and was worried in the kennels. His blood proved very valuable, and may be met with in such dogs as Mr. L. Hogg's Topper, and several others, such as Sting (K.C.S.B. 5,629). Among others of Kirby's was Vic (K.C.S.B. 6,712), a beautiful bitch, by Captain Skipworth's Tartar out of Venom, by Lord Milton's Sam out of Rev. C. Legard's Miss; and there was also Tip, now called Tussle, a rare little dog, one of the few Wirehaired Terrier dogs of the present day that is just the right size - for be it remembered that the Wire-haired Terrier has for a long time been the companion of rabbit- and rat-catchers, so that his size has been permitted to increase in a way to unfit him for his legitimate purpose. Mr. Colling, of Marske-by-the-Sea, is never without a good dog or bitch of the sort, and from his Patch, who hailed from the Hurworth Kennels, he bred Motley, a smooth dog, by Old Jester, who won several prizes in a good company. Mr. A. H. Easten has been very successful with several of his, of whom Tip, by Old Venture, did great things in his day; and we have the north country further strengthened now by Mr. Petler, of York, having purchased Gorse, who is without doubt the best show dog of the day - albeit, by no means perfect.