. HE terriers of the North of Scotland are so similar in their bodily appearance as to admit of little doubt that they are well established varieties of the same family. We refer to the Skye terrier and what is now known as the Scottish terrier. There can be no question that the family is a very old one, probably the oldest of all the terriers. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith, who wrote the two volumes on the dogs, wolves and foxes, for the Naturalists' Library, published in 1840, draws attention to the fact that the Agasseus of Oppian is not the gazehound mentioned by early English
. HE terriers of the North of Scotland are so similar in their bodily appearance as to admit of little doubt that they are well established varieties of the same family. We refer to the Skye terrier and what is now known as the Scottish terrier. There can be no question that the family is a very old one, probably the oldest of all the terriers. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith, who wrote the two volumes on the dogs, wolves and foxes, for the Naturalists' Library, published in 1840, draws attention to the fact that the Agasseus of Oppian is not the gazehound mentioned by early English writers. Agasseus was a rendering of the old Celtic word agass, which simply meant dog, and Oppian describes them as "Crooked, slender, rugged and full ; Oppian's description has been quoted as being a reference to the beagle, but Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton Smith decides that on the whole the above description, together with what follows concerning the powers of scent, is more applicable to the native terrier. That authority also held that the agassei were what were called in old English Teasers, and says: "Although the Celtic agass denotes simply a dog, it may be observed that the modern French agacer, to tease, to provoke, is neither of Latin or Frankish origin, and therefore most likely is derived from an original Gallic root. The meaning of the verb is perfectly applica- ble to this ancient lurcher, and to the large terriers still used in the German hunting packs for the purpose of rousing or provoking the wild boar from his lair and make him break cover. Ridinger figured this ancient dog under the name of sau-finder, and our diminutive terrier, particularly the Scottish rough-haired breed, is therefore the race we look upon as the most ancient dog of Britain, though the opinion that would make it in- digenous is very questionable. These lurcher terriers, or agassei, were originally all more or less buff or sandy coloured, with rugged and coarse hair, p
Size: 2236px × 2236px
Photo credit: © The Bookworm Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdogs, bookyear1906
