Lassie Come Home

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278 – November/December 2019

By Lee Connor
Driving home the other evening, our car headlights illuminated a man walking a most glamourous looking dog. Marc slowed down and I gazed out of the window. It was a Rough Collie but, for Britain, one of a most unusual color.
The dog was pure white with tricolor markings on its head. It was quite stunning.
Sadly, this isn’t a color recognized in the UK and I would have loved to have engaged with the gentleman walking it to find out its breeding and exactly where it had come from. However, a keen wind that threatened rain was blowing in off the sea and the man (and his dog) both looked in a hurry to return to the shelter of home.
Like a lot of Britain’s native breeds, the Rough Collie seems to have suffered a dip in popularity lately and seeing one (even of the more ‘normal’ colors) is always a head-turning event.
They are truly a magnificent looking dog.
And, to match their fine looks, they have a long and illustrious history. Their story is replete with incident and romance; one that conjures up images of north country farmers, patient sheep and smock-wearing, bearded shepherds.
It’s also impossible to think of the Rough Collie without also thinking of the names of its early breeders; men that championed its cause in those far-off early days of the Fancy. Names like Mr. A. H. Megson, Mr. J. Bissel, Mr. Tom Stretch, Rev. Hamilton and several others who bought and sold Rough Collies for hundreds and, occasionally, thousands of pounds in the years of the great ‘collie boom’. These names are well-known to Collie lovers and they laid the foundations of the breed we all know and love today.
The story of the breed (one worthy of a Disney retelling) sees a rough but handsome working sheepdog taken from the wet and wild hillsides of Scotland and gradually transformed into a remarkably beautiful show dog that is then loved and adored by ordinary families in ordinary homes all over the country; and this love & appreciation is then replicated right across the globe.
The history of the Rough Collie is almost as old as the history of dogs shows. The first-ever dog show was held in Newcastle in June, 1859, but this show was only for Pointers and Setters. The next show, held in Birmingham in November of the same year, was again only for ‘Sporting Dogs’. However, in 1860, at Birmingham, there was a show for Sporting and Non-Sporting dogs. And, for the first time ever, there was a class for ‘Sheepdogs’.
The entry was very small, but it is from this date that the history of the show collie begins. In 1863 there were six entries in one class provided at this show but, after that date, there was notable progress, both in breeding and exhibiting. In 1871, seventeen collies were entered in the one class provided. Two of those exhibits at that year’s show became famous and appear in the pedigrees of all present-day Rough Collies. The first prize winner was ‘Old Mec’ and the second winner was ‘Old Cockie’.
Old Cockie was undoubtedly the better dog of the two, despite being placed second in the awards at his first show–so it would appear very little has changed in the world of show dogs! He quickly made up for this injustice by becoming ‘Best Collie’ at the Birmingham Show for three years running. He was a ‘Sable and White’ and was the first recorded Collie of this color. He has earned the remarkable accolade of being the ‘fountain head’ from which the staggeringly popular sable and white color first sprang.
Breeding now developed rapidly. Perfecting the Rough Collie commanded the attention of a great number of breeders.
It was around 1882 when Mr. Megson, famed for years as the owner of the greatest Collies of his day, first became interested in the breed. He was in the fortunate position of being able to pay record prices for the dogs he wanted and almost every first-class Collie was owned by him at some point in their career. Rarely, however, did he ever breed any of his own winners. A few of his numerous purchases are ‘Metchley Wonder’ – £530, ‘Caractacus’ – £350, ‘Southport Perfection’ – £1000, ‘Edgbaston Marvel’ – £500; culminating in the purchase of ‘Ch. Ormskirk Emerald’ for the then unheard-of price of £1,500.
Indeed, it was often joked that ‘Collie farming’ was far more profitable than agriculture, and when one looks at the prices paid for some of these dogs, that statement is quite believable!
Three years af-ter Mr. Megson had entered the ranks, Mr. Tom Stretch led his first Collie into the ring, and in a very brief space of time the ‘Ormskirk’ prefix was known to admirers of the breed the world over.
Mr. Hugo Ainscough joined the illustrious band of Collie breeders in 1886. It wasn’t long before the ‘Parbolds’ were holding the top spots in the prize lists. Once again, many of this gentleman’s dogs’ names can be found in the background of today’s winners, the greatest being ‘Ch. Parbold Picollo,’ (another sable and white with a wealth of coat) whose influence on the breed was to be especially strong.
By the 1900s the question was being asked, ‘have Collies had their day?’ Registrations had fallen to just 795 in 1913.

Click here to read the complete article
278 – November/December 2019

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Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 30 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.