The Bull-Terrier
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The Bull-Terrier - T. W. Hogarth
THE BULL-TERRIER
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE BULL-TERRIER.
SIR WALTER SCOTT, of Abbotsford, author of the Waverley Novels, who died in 1832, wrote to his friend Captain Brown: The wisest dog I ever had was what is called the Bull and Terrier,
so Jesse notes in his Anecdotes of the Dog,
in 1846.
Pierce Egan, one of the most successful writers on sport of the period, contributed the following in a picturesque descriptive passage: This new breed is, beyond question, admirably suited for the purpose of companion and follower to the Swell, whether the mounted jockey or the one walking. . . . He is a more sprightly and showy animal than either of the individuals from which he was bred, and equally apt for, and much more active in, any kind of mischief. . . . The true Bulldog is but a dull companion, and the Terrier does not flash much size, nor is sufficiently smart or cocking. The modern mixed dog includes all these qualities and is of a pleasant airy temper, without losing any of the fierceness, when needed, of his ancestors. His colours, too, are gay and sightly. . . .
The original Bull-terriers were all colours usually found in the present-day Bulldog, and it is commonly accepted that the breed was the result of crossing ’twixt the then Bulldogs and the then Terriers. But to my mind the illustrations of the Bulldogs of the time and the Terriers of the time suggest that there was more Bull than Terrier in the first Bull-terriers. Look, for example, at the illustration of the old-time Bulldog I have used as a frontispiece, and which I took from Jesse’s Anecdotes
; look at the reproduction of old Bulldog prints which have appeared from time to time in Our Dogs, illustrating notes by, I think, Mr. A. Armstrong, up to as recently as the Christmas Number of 1935; look at the picture of ante-dog show Bulldogs which is included, by the kindness of Miss K. E. Alexander, in Travels of a Dog Judge Round the World
; and look at subsequent pictures in this present volume—then, I venture to say, you will almost surely come to the conclusion that the Bulldog of to-day resembles his original ancestors less than the Bull-terrier resembles the old Bulldogs. And I wish to suggest that the original Bull-terriers were more Bulldogs in reality, bred by a school of the sportsmen of the time who favoured a leggier, more active Bulldog than their contemporaries, who began at that time to breed the Bulldog lower to ground and with the exaggerated layback, wide front and lighter quarters. In lending weight to my argument I ask the reader to refer to the pictures of Terriers to be found in old works treating of dogs of the end of the eighteenth century, and it will then be seen that Terriers were almost all shapes, sizes and coats that could be found in a dog true to the name, i.e., able to go to ground; and the illustrations of early Bull-terriers no more resemble these than they do the Mastiff. Further, if the Bulldog of our day be allowed to degenerate, as regards type, for a few generations, it almost invariably reverts back to the original type that by all appearances is Bull-terrier more than Bulldog, while the Bull-terrier similarly dealt with reverts to a coarser headed, shorter-faced original type that is between Bulldog and Bull-terrier, and which, in my opinion, is the original type of both modern Bulldog and Bull-terrier, and, also, Boston Terrier, which reverts to a longer-faced, bigger-bodied type, very much resembling the Staffordshires of yesteryear.
Consequently, I make bold to claim that the early Bull-terriers were practically the old original Bulldogs, bred on more terrier-like lines, and that the crossings with Terriers have been overstated.
But, however that may be, we know the origin of the all-white variety. Theo: Marples in Show Dogs attributes the evolution of the all-whites to George and Hinks, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that several had more or less of a hand in the foundation, though it seems to be correct that Mr. James Hinks, of Birmingham, did more than any other individual.
The name Hinks is so interwoven in the history of the breed that it is interesting to cast the mind over the histories of other dog breeds in search of an analogy. Davidson, the founder of the Dandie Dinmont Terrier, is a name still known in connection with the hardy little Borderers, with whom in boyhood days I spent many a happy hour by Tweed and Teviot, when the late Archibald Steele, of Kelso, had some of the best, as had then, and since, Mr. John Maxwell, of Kelso, Mr. James C. Dalgliesh, of Galashiels, the late Major Hope, of Allerly, Melrose, and others; but it will be agreed, perhaps, that though the fourth generation of Davidsons still have Dandies, the original Davidson, by virtue of his fame as a character in Scott’s Guy Mannering,
has greatly overshadowed his descendants. Not so Mr. James Hinks, however, for had he not been remarkable as the founder of such a distinctive race of dogs, the name might still have been indelibly inscribed on the annals of the breed because of the successful activities of his sons James and Fred, and by reason of his grandson, Mr. Carleton Hinks, known widely to-day as one of the most successful breeders, exhibitors, judges, and exporters.
With a view to forming a link with the past, I applied to Mr. Carleton for an account of his grandfather’s work. He kindly forwarded to me two copies of the American monthly canine magazine, Dogdom, which carried an article his father, Mr. James Hinks, had just written at the invitation of Dr. George S. Lewin, of Santa Monica Canyon, California. Mr. James Hinks II. died on December 24, 1935, but the following are extracts from his narrative as published in Dogdom.
"The all-white Bull-terrier was founded by my father, James Hinks, of Birmingham; so readers will see I was cradled in the breed. My father died in 1878 and after his death I carried on until some few years ago I handed over the reins to my son, Carleton. . . . The forbears of my father’s dogs presented a comical appearance, with their short thick heads, blunt muzzles, showing a certain amount of Bulldog layback, bow legs, thick-set bodies and overhanging lips, whilst in colour they varied between black and tan, brindle, red, fallow, etc. They were known as Bull and Terriers, owing to their being a cross between the Bulldog and a Terrier, the latter being chiefly the large Black and Tan Terrier, and any Terrier which showed gameness and a nose for rats was used in the crossing. They were queer-looking dogs, being neither Bulldog nor Terrier; however, they served the purpose they were bred for, i.e., fighting, ratting, badger and bull baiting. . . . The cross was ideal, as the strength of the Bulldog was united with the quickness and intelligence of the Terrier. . . .
"Around the end of the fifties a great change came about: my father, who had previously owned some of the gamest of the old stock with which he had been experimenting and crossing with the White English Terrier and Dalmatian, bred a strain of all-white dogs, which he called Bull-terriers, by which name they became duly recognized.
"These dogs were refined and their Bulldog appearance being still further bred out, they were longer and cleaner in head, stronger in foreface, free from lippiness and throatiness and necks were longer; they became more active; in short they became the old fighting dog civilized, with all his rough edges smoothed down without being softened; alert, active, plucky, muscular and a real gentleman. Naturally, this change brought the Bull-terrier many admirers, and the milk-white dog became the fashion.
"I have seen every usage or ill-usage to which the Bull-terrier has been put, such as fighting, badger baiting, life saving, etc., and the dogs have also earned great fame amongst persons in pursuit of big game, for their courage, intelligence and gameness. The more famous of my father’s earlier dogs were Old Puss, Old Madman, Dutch, Old Prince, Turk, Nettle and Wasp, and it is from these terriers, whose courage was never doubted with impunity, that the Bull-terrier is descended.
"Do not run away with the impression that the Bull-terrier is a bad-tempered fighting-dog—far from it, he is a sweet-tempered, big-hearted dog; can quickly discriminate between friend and foe, will die in defence of the home, and a better nursemaid for the children in the canine world one could not find, as his devotion in this respect is remarkable. He avoids fights in the canine world, but if they are forced upon him, he readily accepts, and woe betide his opponent.
BULL BAITING 130 YEARS AGO.
(From an old colour print.)
BEAR BAITING.
Reproduced from A Century of Work for Animals,
by permission of the R.S.P.C.A.
(From an old colour print.)
CH. TARQUIN.
CH. STREATHAM MONARCH II.
"Old Puss was a wonder. No money would tempt my dad to part with her, and when she died he kept her skull as a memento of a wonderful bitch with a tremendous bite. When fighting she was a real terror; she would hug her adversary to her like a bear, and bite through him. Old Madman and Puss (not Old Puss) were sold to an officer in the British Army, and it is on record that these two held a wild boar by the nose for twenty minutes.
"Ch. Marquis was about the best dog of some fifty years ago; he was undefeated and sired champion after champion. He lived to be thirteen and sired a litter of eleven puppies in his last year. Mark, as I called him, ended his days with me. He was like a miniature cart horse and weighed just under fifty pounds; in hard condition, was beautifully balanced, combining strength with activity. Measured with calipers, his head was nine inches from occiput to end of nose. He was dead game, but I have had him loose amongst several litters with which he romped and played as though he were their dam.
The Bull-terrier, although classified as a Terrier, should not be judged on Terrier lines, but by the Bull-terrier standard correctly interpreted. In comparing dogs of the past with those of the present, the latter have a more uniform type of head, but there is a tendency to get the dog too leggy, and they do not stand so firm on the ground as did the oldsters. The eyes are not so dark as we used to get them. The Bull-terrier is a big-headed dog for his size, and is inclined to go thick, but if he possesses the power of foreface that is positively essential to him, he can easily carry that bit of thickening without its being very detrimental. He should weigh from forty to fifty-five pounds. . . . In concluding, when judging don’t be misled by any flashy and showy dog, which couldn’t bite through a hard biscuit. Remember you are judging a breed that is termed the gladiator of the canine race and you will win through.
Mr. Hinks supplies the probable reason for the not infrequently occurring spotted coats when he tells of the use of the Dalmatian, but he makes no mention of the alleged Pointer crosses to which some breeders attribute the sometimes observable trait of pointing at game, rabbits, and the like, that crops up in individual dogs and bitches.
In view of the opinion of Sir Walter Scott, given at the beginning, perhaps it is not entirely out of place to close this chapter with a quotation from The Outline of Science,
written fully a hundred years later, and wherein Professor Sir J. Arthur Thomson says: A Bull-terrier called Jasper, studied by Professor J. B. Watson, showed great power of associating certain words with certain actions. From a position invisible to the dog the owner would give certain commands, such as, ‘Go into the next room and bring me a paper lying on the floor.’ Jasper did this at once, and a score of similar things.
From these, and a hundred other examples of intelligence I could give, it can be deduced that the Bull-terrier was well endowed with grey matter at his genesis.
CHAPTER II.
SOME CHAMPIONS OF THE BREED.
THE title of this chapter may cause the reader to think that we are going to consider dogs only, but as he reads on he will learn something of the men and women who have distinguished themselves in some way or other in connection with the white Bull-terrier, thereby proving themselves champions of its cause.
Puss, in killing one of the old-fashioned type against which she was backed by her owner, Hinks, at a London show in 1862, and then being fit to go on to the bench little the worse, did more than anything to bring the Hinks’ dogs into favour. Prior to that few shows had had separate classes for the variety, though I believe that in 1861 Leeds and Manchester had, but from then on until 1895, in which year the Prince of Wales’ (later King Edward VII.) influence led to the abolition of cropping in Britain, the breed seems to have enjoyed popularity amongst all classes of society.
Notable pioneer dogs included Madman, shown by Hinks in 1864, and one of the main roots from which the all-white breed is sprung; Ch. Tarquin, Ch. Faultless, Old Dutch, Mistress of the Robes, Magnet, Violet and Gully the Great. As can be observed from Mr. Strachan’s chapter later on, Gully the Great, who was bred in 1887, and owned by Mr. F. Hinks, did much for the breed, as a sire, in North America; but before leaving England, up to the end of 1890, he had sired White Wonder, Greenhill Maggie, Diamond King, Streatham Flyer, Topsparkle, Gully II, The Shrew, Ladywood Prince, Northfield Pride, and was grandsire of Streatham Monarch and Grand Prior. He weighed 50 lbs., and his pedigree (I) reads as follows, so far as I know it:—
Mr. R. G. Hartley, who did much for the breed in the North, owned Magnet and Violet, amongst others, and the breed would appear to have been divided more or less into groups termed large
and small
types, but as early as 1894 the smaller specimens appear to have begun to fail in type. The small specimens were under 16 lbs., while the larger ones, which included some of the best stud and show dogs, ranged around 40 lbs. and 50 lbs.
In the ’sixties and ’seventies marked heads were more disfavoured than they have been since, though, of course, in Australia, India, and perhaps America, marks have always been disfavoured right up to quite recently.
Vero Shaw, who did not pass away until after the Great War, was a Bull-terrier man, but even if he had not been, one of his books, The Illustrated Book of the Dog,
would have made him dear to us, for in it are some valuable illustrations of about the time of the great divide between white and coloured dogs, as well as other matter of interest to the student. Few men in the world of dogs can be ranked with Vero Shaw, in the opinions of many people who look upon him as one of the architects of the foundations from which the whole sport has grown. But while considering him it is convenient to mention the name of Rawdon B. Lee, who also left some volumes of interest to Bull-terrier people alike from their illustrations and text; Modern Dogs
is one, but we hardly say the name before we think of Major Harding Cox, the author of Dogs and I,
Chasing and Racing,
and other books, for he also owned Bull-terriers, some notes upon them appearing in Mrs. D. H. Robbs’ The Bull-terrier Handbook.
Ladies, particularly in England, make up the greater part of the fancy, or industry,
as it is sometimes called there now, but it was not always so, for when we search for early lady Bull-terrier people we have to give the place aux dames to Mrs. Olive Millner, who first exhibited at Doncaster in 1895, and judged at the Wirral and Birkenhead Agricultural Show in 1901, being the first lady to judge Bull-terriers. A consistent advertiser and writer in Our Dogs up to the present day, Mrs. Millner’s career could be studied therefrom, but I will quote her remarks after the L.K.A. Show in 1907, just to give an idea of how able she was, especially as some of the remarks touch upon dogs of moment to us yet, as follows:—
Bull-terriers—Quite a nice lot. Thornville Ambition, head good, eye dark, nice body; Sam Lavender, close up, not so clean in shoulders, but good in muzzle, body, and bone; Sydenham Koh-i-noor was far too low; bar his patched eye, a beautiful all-round dog; Houghton Defiance, a very neat good quality dog, with great bone and substance; in bitches, St. Anne’s Venus, nice bitch, dark eye, good foreface; not so good in head as Crawford Lily, who is a bit long cast, but a nice-headed, good-skulled bitch of merit; Hampstead Hoyden, nice head, good eye, quality, and shape, etc.
Other early lady breeders were Lady Evelyn Ewart, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Langton Dennis, and Mrs. H. E. Monk, who has continued to interest herself in the breed in the United States. Mrs. Monk was the wife of Mr. H. E. Monk, who