2008 Announcement

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 beardies 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 working cattle is just as valued as any beardie 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, and/or large transport trucks (called lorries). 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 in the "History" section.

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 Beardie-like Shepherd's Dog in Britain

Where does one turn to trace the history of the shepherd's dog? Cynologists (cynology being defined as the "study of dogs") and/or authors such as James Watson, Robert Leighton, Edward Ash, Clifford Hubbard and Col. David Hancock devoted years of research to formulate writings about the history of canines to include the shepherds' dogs. 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."

The Boke of St. Albans was published in 1486. Why this book is mentioned is because it was the first printed book in the English language in which dogs were prominent within the writings. Many authorities have stated that this book was attributed to Juliana Berners, a prioress at the Sopwell Nunnery (around 1481). Ash expressed doubts about Berners being the author 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. The Boke of St. Albans book was mainly copied from "The Master of Game" written between 1406 and 1413 by Edward, Second Duke of York. Note: According to scholars, Edward translated, with interpolations, Gaston de Foix's "Livre de Chasse" though Ash wrote that Edward did write five original chapters.

Hubbard in his book, The Literature of British Dogs (1949), wrote 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 book 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.

Throughout the centuries writers often included in their own writings what was previously published by other individuals. Col. Hancock cautioned that readers of authors' writings should keep this in mind.

Ash indicated Conrad Gesner's writings were the first serious attempt to deal with dogs (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 to be included in his work on natural history. Dr. Caius (1533-1603), the physician-in-chief to Queen Elizabeth I, responded to Gesner's request by writing a letter in Latin in 1565 describing different types of dogs in Britain, but that letter went unpublished. In 1570, Dr. Caius wrote, in Latin, a second letter to Gesner.

The first volume of Gesner's work on natural history was published in 1551. In the 1603 edition, Gesner talked about a water dog with naturally shaggy hair all over its body which he called a "Waterspagnelle." Gesner stated: "I, however, have shown it in the picture shaven from the shoulders to the hind quarters and all except the tip of its tail, as our custom is, by which, being shorn of its hair it is quicker, and less retarded in swimming."

Was there a connection between the beardie-like dog and the water dog? Perhaps!

Caius' drawings sent to Gesner were reproduced in Ash's books Dogs: Their History and Development (1927), and The Practical Dog Book (1931). What is puzzling is that Ash, in his 1927 book, stated all the drawings appearing on Plate 31 were "probably sketches by Dr. Caius" except #3 (same as #7 below). For No. 3, he used the explanation of: 'Hispanorum acquatice canes commendantur apud Caium.' 'Water Spainel' in England. (Cirino, 1653)." Ash was referring to Andreas Cirino, who published a derivative of De Natura et Solertia Canum, in 1653.

In the 1931 book, Ash identified figures (#4 and #7) from Plate 1. In that description, Ash wrote: "The Water dog or Water Spagnelle. The dog before being clipped (7), and the dog clipped (4). Two of Dr. Caius' illustrations of British dogs. The hair is left on the chest to protect the lungs."

Perhaps Ash learned after the publication of his 1927 book that this image was also sketched by Caius, not by Cirino, and made a correction. However, it is the use of the word "probably" before the words "sketches by Dr. Caius" that can be troubling to one looking for definitive explanations. Also, in the 1927 book, Ash wrote his opinon on Cirino's work stating "It is merely a repetition of previous authors, and though some of the woodcuts are copies from earlier works, some of them are new and original...."

Was it one of the "new and original" woodcuts from Cirino's book? One must assume that the words below this image referred to the owner of the woodcut, but how that individual concluded it was a collie dog is a mystery.  Ash entitled it "De Cane Aquatico et aucupe—Spaniel?" in his 1927 book.

Dr. Caius' assistant, Abraham Fleming, translated Caius writings, in Latin, to English; this translation was published in 1576 under the name Of English Dogs. (Note: a shortened title was used here for brevity.) This is the first book ever printed in the English language devoted entirely to the subject of dogs. Caius categorized the dogs into five classifications, the fourth being the "shepherd's dogge."

Edward Topsell, wrote a book on Zoology (published in 1607), but it was mainly copied from Dr. Gesner's writings. Topsell partly included the writings of Abraham Fleming and Dr. Caius in his book. (Note: Ash believed Caius' sketches accompanied the 1565 letter to Gesner.) It is interesting to read about  the conclusion drawn by Ash regarding Topsell's writings.

"...it would seem from Topsell's account and from the further evidence of illustrations that there were two very diverse varieties of dogs some known as spaniels, and the others as 'Water-dogs, or Spagnells,' probably a poodle of the bearded collie cross. They are probably related to the shepherd's dog of Taplin, the old English sheep-dog and the otter-hound."

(Note: The shepherd's dog of Taplin to which Ash was referring was John Scott's engraving of Reinagle's painting which engraving is housed today in the British Museum. This painting is further discussed in the "Timeline" section.)

Ash also commented on Topsell's writings about "smelling dogs," particularly the one called a Tuscan dog. Ash wrote:

"This Tuscan dog because of its scenting powers was brought to England, and because of its heavy coat might be taken north, where a heavy coat,...was considered desirable as protecting an animal from cold and wet. This might account for the bearded collie of Scotland and its relative the bob-tail; or was the Tuscan dog a poodle?"

The below image is from a portion of a page published in a book on quadrupeds by Jan Jonston (1603-1675) (also known as Joannes Jonstonus). The same image 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 this image or Jonston in this book, and why it appears on this page is unknown.

Jonston was a Polish scholar and a physician who descended from Scottish nobility. 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 appear under several names starting with either "canis" or "canes." One of the pages had a caption "canis hunde." A shaggy type of dog obviously existed in Europe. Jonston had studied botany and medicine at the University of Cambridge. Cover the body; is there a similarity to a Beardie-like head? Where did he see this example? Could it have been while he was in England or perhaps mainland mainland Europe (today the German-Polish border)?

Was it a water dog? Or does it also relate to the beardie-like shepherd's dog?

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. One could speculate that there is some similarity to the beardie-like sheepdog. In 1553, Jacques of Fouilloux mentioned the barbet spaniel in his treaty. "Barbet" stems 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. Line drawings of these 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 them 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 drawing above.

Taplin (c.1750-c.1830), a veterinary surgeon, wrote a book Sportsman's Cabinet (London, 1803), which was published under Taplin's pseudonym name of "A veteran sportsman." The first volume included a chapter entitled "Shepherd's Dog" starting on page 125. Included in this book was an engraving of Reinagle's painting of a shaggy dog (arguably beardie-like), but no one can say for certain that it was a particular breed. Ash wrote: "Taplin (1803), however, in his work shows a very much smarter creature, closely related in appearance at least to the bearded collie, old English sheep-dog, and the otter-hound." The Reinagle painting is discussed in the "History" section. 

In Edward Jesse's book entitled Anecdotes of Dogs (1846), an engraving of a Beardie-like dog was presented (in the first edition only). It was called a "Scotch Colly." The Scotch Collie and the Bearded Collie are confusing terms.  This is discussed below.

Vero Shaw wrote The Illustrated Book of the Dog (Assisted by the Leading Breeders of the Day). This book was published by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. The body of work making up this book was originally published in parts from the years 1879 to 1881. It has been stated this book "...is only the fourth general work on dogs with color illustrations to be published in the English language."

(Note:  Shaw's book is sometimes referred to as Cassell's Book of the Dog. This title by Shaw can be confusing due to another book being later published entitled, Cassell's New Book of the Dog, edited by Leighton, published in 1907.)

What is important about Shaw's book regarding the beardie is that he put forth an illustration based upon what Gordon James Phillips described in his letter of November 15, 1878 to the "Live Stock Journal" and, also, later published in Gray's book Dogs of Scotland (1891). The wood engraving was entitled "A Scotch Bob-tailed Sheepdog."

The Dog (1906) was authored by James Watson; his book included reproductions of paintings and important early prints to include Bewick's etchings mentioned above. Regarding the collie, Watson wrote: "We can say that the collie was practically unknown in London as late as 1860." Watson scoffed at the suggestion that the Gainsborough portrait of the Duke of Buccleuch, 1771, was holding a bob-tail. "Nothing of the kind; it is a large, rough Scotch terrier with all the look of a Dandie." Regarding the Reinagle picture of the "Shepherd's Dog," he also stated: "There is one thing about the Reinagle picture which does not appear to have attracted attention, and that is the Scottish scenery. The man sitting in the middle distance may not have kilts, but he has a Scotch bonnet and a crook. Of course it may have been a mere fancy of the artist to put an English sheep dog in a Scotch or Highland scene, but it might have been one of the strain from which we have the bearded collie in Scotland."

Leighton's book The New Book of the Dog (1907), according to Hubbard, was described as "...an important work for all times." This book not only described British dogs, but included varieties of dogs from the continental mainland of Europe and Asia. Many illustrations, to include some colored plates, were included. Since this book was unavailable to the preparers of the website, another writer's work is relied upon (i.e., Iris Combe).

The working Bearded Collie and the Border Collie breeds have much in common in their ancestral lineage. Which breed precedes the other is unknown and unimportant in spite of the Bearded Collie receiving its official breed name prior to the working collie becoming the Border Collie. Col. Hancock, in his article for this site, wrote:

Col. David Hancock indicated it was likely that the shaggier sheepdogs were called Beards (or Hirsels) in Scotland, Haggards in Ireland, Grays in Wales and Shags in southern England, where the bigger ones were used as drovers' dogs and dubbed Bobtails. For a better understanding on how the harsh-coated sheepdog breeds developed over many centuries, you are invited to read Col. Hancock's writings for this website which will appear in the "History" section.

Some photos from the late 1800s and early 1900s demonstrated shaggy sheepdogs not far removed from some of the late 20th Century and early 21st Century working Beardies. Among the differences between the current working Beardies vs. show Beardies are not only the long coats, but also there are still merles, tri-merles, and sables among the shepherds' dogs.

Even back in the time of the first Bearded Collie Club being established in Scotland (1912), various individuals from the dog fancier's world were concerned about keeping the length of coat true to the breed. Also, merles do not appear among the Kennel Club registered dogs; one cannot help but wonder why even though Mrs. Willison (first to register Beardies with the Kennel Club after WWII) had two among her dogs.

Before and after WWI and WWII, working beardies could be found throughout the U.K. tending large flocks of sheep, but they were seldom seen by the public as they resided in remote areas. The hardships of war likely made them scarce, but certainly not as scarce as some people thought.

Learning the language of the shepherds can often be confusing. Dogs that worked on the lands where England and Scotland connect are sometimes referred to as "borders." The use of the term "a borders' collie" can mean something different than the breed name Border Collie. Also, there can be a Border Beardie as opposed to a Highland Beardie. To add to the confusion, articles do exist that refer to a "Border Beardie" meaning a first cross between a Border Collie and a Bearded Collie.

It is documented that working beardies were imported to other continents as far back as the early 1900s. One such dog was written about in an AKC publication dated January 1908 by Winslow Clark. He described a dog named Bruce as a "Beardie." Mr. Clark's description of the trial held in State of Vermont, USA, made it sound as though the trial course was modeled after an ISDS trial course. This would make perfect sense since the official records of the ISDS registry, as mentioned above, demonstrate that Beardeds were registered in the early years of this organization. But where did Bruce come from? Was he imported to the U.S.? Was he imported to Canada, and visited the U.S. to participate in this trial? Lots of questions; often the answers are unknown.

After the ISDS stopped registering beardies, Blue (owned, and handled, by Paul Turnbull), was registered with the ISDS "on merit" in 1984. This "on merit" term means Blue earned his way into the ISDS registry based upon trial performance. Four litters by Blue, out of Kennel Club registered Beardie Collie bitches, were granted registration by the Kennel Club.

Working Bearded Collie Registries

Only in the late 20th Century were there attempts to register the working Bearded Collies of the U.K. (meaning dogs not registered with the Kennel Club or any other kennel club entity) with a working registry. Many owners, however, are unwilling to register their dogs, whatever the entity, for various reasons. This website will include many shepherds' working Beardies, whether registered with some entity or not. The current shepherds' Beardies vary in appearance which seemingly matches what occurred in the breed's history from as far back as old pictures and writings exist.

Copyright Statement

Finally

Remember the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words."  Some of the pictures provided by various individuals for this site fit that description. Working dogs may not work in the same manner as a trial dog. This does not mean a worker cannot succeed as a working dog on the farm and a dog competing in trials. Certainly, Turnbull's Blue was a good example of a dog able to do both well.

Fortunately, after this website goes "live," it will eventually be placed under the umbrella of a Registered Charity entitled the Working Sheepdog Archive. This will ensure that the information presented on this site will be maintained in Trust for future generations. To learn more, please visit their website of: