History Part I

One could certainly argue that once a standard has been associated with a particular type of dog, it takes on the connotation of being known as a "breed. The first known standard for the Highland or Bearded Collie was written by D. J. Thomson Gray which appeared in his book Dogs of Scotland (1891).

But shepherds did not, nor do they now, concern themselves with "standards." Many people have likely heard the phrase "form follows function." When dogs where used strictly for utilitarian purposes, form followed function. But once dog shows began, form became the function. It only stands to reason that shepherds did engage in some sort of breeding goals to produce offspring that could be used to assist them in carrying out the desired work that was needed to be done. Certainly the working Beardie-like dog (in spite of the various regional names used to describe this worker) did exist, no matter the breed name used, prior to Gray's standard being written. Regarding the Beardie-like canine, shepherds point out two things commonly associated with this worker: (1) its style of work; and (2) the presence of a beard under its chin. Colour, length of tail, body shape, overall size, thickness of coat, etc. varied.

Dedication

This site is dedicated to those individuals who put forth their written recollections and recordings, and to the individuals from Britain who are using, or once used, working Beardie-like dogs to assist in their management of flocks of sheep or in the driving of cattle. Some of these individuals, from both the 20th and 21st centuries, appear in the "Shepherds" section.

Though this site has the word "shepherds" in its domain name, the name was not selected to exclude sheep farmers, stockmen, herdsmen or drovers. A Beardie-like dog working cattle is just as valued as any Beardie-like dog tending its flock. In fact, in its history, the Beardie-like shepherd's dog was highly regarded by individuals working as drovers and butchers. Dogs being used as drovers no longer exist due to the implementation of railroad cars, large transport trucks (called lorries), or ferries. The term "drover" is often used interchangeably for a person, or a dog, engaged in the driving of cattle, or other livestock, to market. A wonderfully illustrated map of the drove roads will be included within the full website.

A shepherd, as presented on this site, is usually employed by a landowner or farmer (referred to as a "governor," "boss," or in Scotland, a "laird," or other names depending upon geographical area). Some shepherds are self-employed and contract their services out to farmers who do not employ a full time shepherd. Under those circumstances, the individual is called a contract shepherd. There are also individuals appearing on this site who would be referred to as sheep farmers for whom sheep are the main or sole enterprise on their farms. A sheep farmer could be an individual who is tending their own flocks, employs a shepherd, or contracts some, or all, of the work out to a contract shepherd. Shepherds work long hours in all kinds of weather. The individuals presented on this site appear only by a first name and the region where they reside (unless permission was granted for a surname to be used). It may be that some individuals wish to respect their employer's privacy, and therefore, did not want last names used. A stockman is someone usually engaged in the business of raising cattle to be sold for meat. A herdsman, on the other hand, usually works with dairy cattle, though some people refer to a herdsman as someone working both kinds of cattle.

Pre-History and Development of the Dog in Britain

Archaeologists have discovered remains of dogs in Britain dating back to the Old Stone Age. Such archaeological discoveries support the suggestion by many individuals in the field of archaeology that the dog was the first of all animals to be domesticated by humans.

The raising of livestock in Britain traces back to the Bronze Age according to several scholarly writings. During this era (~2,000 BC), Britain's population became an agricultural civilization. Raising livestock became an important part of that agricultural environment. Would not dogs have become important to farmers needing protection for their sheep and cattle from the wolves? Perhaps this era marks the beginning of some form of selective breeding in order to enhance the guarding and working abilities of dogs. It stands to reason that farmers likely began breeding dogs for certain characteristics due to their need for livestock management.

Cynologists (cynology being defined as the "study of dogs") and/or authors such as James Watson, Robert Leighton, Edward C. Ash, Clifford Hubbard and Col. David Hancock devoted many years in researching canine subject matter to formulate their historical writings throughout the 1900s until the present. Unfortunately, there were some writers that borrowed the words of some author(s) without doing thorough research. For that reason, caution and skepticism might be a good thing to keep in mind.

The Boke of St. Albans was published in 1486. It was the first book on hunting to be issued from England. Many authorities have stated that this book was attributed to Juliana Berners, a prioress at the Sopwell Nunnery (around 1481). Ash, however, expressed doubts about Berners being the author of the writings because it was established that no such prioress resided at this Nunnery during that period of time nor was such a lady confirmed to be Lord Berners' sister. Ash stated the Boke of St. Albans was mainly copied from The Master of Game written between 1406 and 1413 by Edward, Second Duke of York. Note: According to scholars, the Duke translated, with interpolations, Gaston de Foix's Livre de Chasse (though Ash wrote that the Duke did write five original chapters). Hubbard's view about Berners differs from Ash. In his book The Literature of British Dogs (1949), Hubbard stated his belief that the section on hunting is likely Berners' own original compilation based upon her signature at the end of the chapter. Hubbard mentioned that certain types of dogs listed in the Boke of St. Albans remain unknown; however, some were known, and of those, they were not purely native breeds. Rather they had been in the British Isles for a very long time.

Hubbard paid a high compliment to Ash when he wrote "...undoubtedly the greatest work on the dog ever printed in English is Dogs: Their History and Development (1927) by Edward C. Ash." That was quite a compliment considering that "Doggy" Hubbard owned the largest private collection of dog literature prior to the time of his death. Ash's 1927 book indicated that Conrad Gesner's writings were the first serious attempt to deal with dogs. Gesner was also known as Konrad von Gesner. Dr. Gesner (1516-1565), a Swiss physician and naturalist , wrote to Dr. Johannes Caius (pronounced like "keys to a lock"), an English physician, asking for a description of British dogs. Dr. Gesner wanted to include this information in an updated version of his earlier natural history writings. Dr. Caius (1533-1603), the physician-in-chief to Queen Elizabeth I, responded to Gesner's request by writing a letter in Latin describing different types of dogs in Britain, but that letter went unpublished.

Five years after Caius sent his first letter to Dr. Gesner, he sent a second letter which was more descriptive. Gesner used this information. This second letter was published in Britain as a small book with the title De Canibus Britannicis (shortened title) in 1570 (five years after Gesner's death). The book's significance was that it was the first book devoted entirely to the subject of dogs. Caius categorized the dogs into classifications. One classification was the "shepherd's dogge." Caius' writings were translated by his assistant, Abraham Fleming, to English, and that translation was published in 1576 under the name Of English Dogs (shortened titled).

Regarding Edward Ash's own conclusions, he wrote "It is difficult to say if the bearded collie was in the distant past indigenous to Scotland, or whether at some early age these heavily-built matted-haired dogs evolved in some northern area of Europe and spread to Scotland.

The below images are from a portion of a page published in a book on quadrupeds by Jan Jonston (1603-1675) (also known as Joannes Jonstonus). The image below on the right appeared at the end of Edward Ash's The Practical Dog Book, Page 330, with the words: "From a German Natural History of 1650." Ash did not discuss the image or Jonston in his book, and why it appeared on that page is unknown. Ash used at least one other engraving of a dog from Jonston's illustrations within his book.

Jonston was a Polish scholar and a physician who descended from Scottish nobility. Jonston had studied botany and medicine at the University of Cambridge. His work in Latin entitled Historiae Naturalis De Quadrupetibus (c. 1650) included a section entitled "De Quadrupedibus Domesticis." His work was translated into English in 1657. Sixteen drawings of canines appeared under several names starting with either "canis" or "canes."

An engraving entitled "Canes" set forth several dogs. This engraving, shown (in part) below, demonstrated a shaggy and long-coated type of canine similar to some of the early images of the Beardie-like dogs. Notice that the tail has hair hanging in a downward direction, and a beard is presented beneath the chin. To assist the viewer, the other dogs were lightened so that this particular dog would stand out in the foreground.

Another engraving had a caption "canis hunde." That image, below right, showed a head that could be described as being similar to the shape of some "Beardie-like" dogs from the 21st Century.

What is known about dogs that possessed beards?

The famous French naturalist, Georges Buffon (1707-1788) published his Histoire naturelle (shortened title) in 15 Volumes from 1749 through 1767. It was later translated to English in 1781. Buffon concluded that all varieties of domestic species descended from the shepherds' dogs; other authorities rejected this notion. Buffon included an image of Le Grand Barbet. In 1553, Jacques of Fouilloux mentioned the barbet spaniel in his treaty. "Barbet" stemed from the word "barbe" (French designation for beard).

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), the famous English engraver, included illustrations on what he called "The Shepherd's Dog" and "The Cur Dog" in his History of Quadrupeds published in 1790. The engravings were included in James Watson's book, The Dog, published in 1905-1906. Line drawings of those two engravings appeared in Ash's The Practical Dog Book, page 108. Ash identified "The Shepherd's Dog" by Bewick under the name of "The Collie."

"The Cur Dog" by Bewick was called "The Bob-tailed Dog or Cur Dog" by Ash. Why Ash renamed the Cur Dog as a "Bob-tailed Dog" on page 107 of his book is unknown. Bewick engraved an image referred to as "The Large Rough Water Dog."  It is shown below and is remarkably similar to that of Buffon's Le Grand Barbet above.

Taplin (c.1750-c.1830), a veterinary surgeon, published his book entitled Sportsman's Cabinet (1803). It was actually published under Taplin's pseudonym name of "A Veteran Sportsman." Included in the book was an engraving of a Reinagle painting. That picture has been included in numerous Beardie publications. Whether it was a Beardie-like canine could be debated. In one book, the painting was called "The Shepherd's Dog." In another, it was referred to as the "Shepherd's Dog." In another, it was called "The Sheepdog." In another, it was identified as "Old English Sheep Dog."

Click here to continue to History - Part II.