but a brief period, these seven decades have been sufficiently long to obliterate the evidences as to the dogs used by the gallant Captain for his hybridising purposes. The inference is, from the shape and the occasional silkiness of the hair on the top of the head, that the Dandie Dinmont played a leading part; from the pluck and colour, as well as the stamp of the terriers of thirty years ago, that Bull Terrier blood is also prevalent. Authorities, however, are by no means agreed as to the Dandie Dinmont, Mr. Fred W. Lewis, for instance, writing: "This is all a matter of speculation, and I am disposed to think that the Welsh cur or cattle dog—-a very sturdily built, short, crooked legged dog, used by cattle drovers—-was the means adopted to shorten the legs of the Sealyham terriers. The cur in most cases possessed plenty of pluck, and an inherent taste for hunting. That the majority of Sealyham terriers were very crooked in front is a well known fact, which can be verified by those of us who are old enough to remember Captain Edwardes and his dogs."
In his pursuit of gameness Captain Edwardes had inevitably to meet with disappointments here and there, not all the puppies he bred conforming to the exacting standard which he had set up in his own mind. Like the sensible man he was he decided that if his object were to be achieved, no pusillanimous dog must be allowed to live and aid in perpetuating the race. So it came about that a certain number had to be put under from time to time, with
