Mr. John Flinn says: " Early writers on natural history have not left sufficient material to enable us to arrive at the origin of the different breeds of terriers native to this country, consequently, we are left to conjecture what it may have been, and this is all the more unsatisfactory when we consider, as Darwin says, that 'a breed, like a dialect of a language, can hardly be said to have a definite origin.' Some theorists assert that the Skye terrier and the Dandie Dinmont are both descended from the original Scotch terrier; but as the first-named appears to have existed as a distinct breed as early as there is any mention of the Scotch terrier, it would be difficult to prove this assertion. The first mention made of the Scotch terrier is by the Bishop of Ross, who wrote in the latter half of the sixteenth century, but his description is too meagre to furnish data on which to base any argument as to its affinity to the other breeds. He says, ' There is also another kind of scenting dog of low height, indeed, but of bulkier body, which, creeping into subterraneous burrows, routs out foxes, badgers, martens, and wild-cats from their lurking-places and dens.

Then if he at any time finds the passage too narrow, opens himself a way with his feet, and that with so great labour that he frequently perishes through his own exertions.'

* Of Englishe Dogges: The diuersities, the names, the natures, and the properties. A Short Treatise written in latine by Iohannes Caius of late memorie. Doctor of Phisicke in the Uniuersitie of Cambridge. And newly drawne into Englishe by Abraham Fleming, Student. Natura etiam in brutis vim ostendit suam. Seene and allowed. Imprinted at London by Rychard Johnes, and are to be solde ouer against S. Sepulchres Church without Newgate. 1576. Reprinted verbatim, 1880. London: "The Bazaar" Office, 170, Strand.

"No subsequent writer, until comparatively recent times, describes the Scotch terrier with any minuteness; but Caius, who wrote his work on 'Englishe Dogges' a few years before the Bishop of Ross, mentions Iseland 'dogges,' which, there can be little doubt, were of the same breed as afterwards came to be known by the name of Skye terriers. They were fashionable in his time as lap dogs, and were ' brought out of barbarous borders from the uttermost countryes northwards,' etc.; and 'they,' he says, 'by reason of the length of their heare, make show neither of face nor body, and yet these curres, forsooth, because they are so straunge, are greatly set by, esteemed, taken up, and made of, in room of the spaniell gentle, or comforter.' It would be vain to conjecture whence this ' straunge' animal came, or when it first found a home in the Western Islands, but it seems certain that it was there three centuries ago. Once there, everything was favourable for its preservation as, or development into, a distinct breed.

The sea forms a natural barrier, which would prevent contamination, and the only influences likely to effect any change in the characteristics of the dog would be food, climate, and selection, unless other dogs were brought to the island.

"An incident did happen in 1588, as we are told, on the authority of the Rev. J. Cumming Macdona, in Webb's Book on the Dog, by which a foreign blood was introduced amongst them. He informs us that the late Lady Macdonald, of Armadale Castle, was possessed of an extraordinary handsome strain of Skye terrier, which was descended from a cross of some Spanish white dogs that were wrecked on the island at the time when the Spanish Armada lost so many ships on the western coast. So far as this particular strain is concerned, great care appears to have been taken to keep it pure and distinct from the breed common in the island; however, other dogs may have found their way to Skye in a similar manner, although there is no record of the fact. At the time when Professor Low wrote, the distinctive features of the Skye terrier were well marked. He says ' the terriers of the Western Islands of Scotland have long lank hair, almost trailing to the ground.' There could not be a, happier description than this. There is no ambiguity about the length of the coat, and the word 'lank' conveys the idea that it lay straight and free, and, therefore, could not be soft or silky in texture.

The coat Professor Low described so many years ago as a feature of the terriers of the Western Islands - he does not call them Skyes, as probably they were not generally known by that name then - has always been and is still considered the proper coat of the true Skye terrier. He also mentions a terrier peculiar to the Central Highlands, and describes it as rough, shaggy, and not unlike the older deerhounds in general form. Richardson likewise mentions this dog, and says it is commonly called the Highland terrier. A gentleman of high standing in the medical profession in Edinburgh, and whose name is well-known in literature, informs me that he remembers seeing terriers in the island of Skye resembling ' miniature deerhounds.'

"The fact that terriers, similar to those of the Central Highlands, but probably with a slight admixture of Skye blood in them, were also bred in the island of Mull, seems to have caused confusion in the minds of a few people as to what really is a Skye terrier. The name of Skye terrier is of comparatively recent application, and it was applied to the terriers of the Western Islands of Scotland, which were covered with long lank hair almost trailing to the ground. Richardson describes the Skye as long in the body, low on the leg, and covered with very long hair; and he says the name was given ' from its being found in greatest perfection in the Western Isles of Scotland, and the island of Skye in particular.' Any other name might have been given to this breed of terrier, and had it been known by a different one it would be absurd to think of changing it now. The dog for which the name has lately been claimed, if not the Highland terrier itself, appears to be closely related to it, and its being bred in Skye can change it into a Skye terrier in no other sense than it would change a Dandie Dinmont into a Skye terrier if it were bred there.