CRUFTS 1891 - 1917 All the Major Winners

Ch CHRISTOPHER

The first Best of Breed Winner in 1891

Researched and compiled by

John Blake

Corydon

Crufts Challenge winners since 1891. Crufts Dog Show was held before this date, but had no classes for Collies. I thought that this might be of interest to students of the breed. It is quite significant how many of these winners are extremely important in their influence on the breed from the start to the present day. The first show that had classes for Collies was in 1891. The years during the 2 World Wars there were no shows. Therefore, up to the present day 2017 there have been 115 Crufts dog shows. One dreadful thought for me is that I have attended well over half of them. From the Crufts Dog Show Catalogue of 1891, the first Crufts Dog Show to include Collies. It was actually the seventh Crufts Dog Show, but the previous six were for Terriers. D E F I N I T I O N OF CLASSES. I have included this section because we have nothing like this today. BREEDERS COMPETITION. The Prizes in these Classes will be awarded to the Breeders obtaining the largest number of points with Dogs bred by themselves, irrespective of whether the exhibits are their own property or not. The Dogs must be entered in their proper Classes, and points will be awarded as under to those winning prizes or receiving commendation in such Classes. In the event of a Dog entered in two Classes winning prizes or receiving commendations in both, only the highest award will count towards this competition. Breeders will not be required to nominate the Dogs bred by them, as this will be ascertained from the Catalogue, but it will be to their interest to induce any of their friends owning such Dogs to enter them, so that their chance of winning the prize may be increased. Prizes in Stud Dog Classes will not count. The fee is 10s, in filling the form give name and address of Competitor and Class number. F i r s t P r i z e 3O points. Fourth Prize 12 points. VHC 4 points Second Prize 2O points Fifth Prise 10 points HC 2 points Third Prize 15 points Reserve 8 points Commended 1 point Challenge Class Competitors that do not obtain a prize will each score 15 points for the Breeder CHALLENGE CLASSES For alt Dogs and Bitches that had qualified previously to January 1st, 1889, for competition in A Champion Class or Challenge Class, and for Winners of Ten Points in Open Classes at shows registered in or for the Kennel Club Stud Books. OPEN CLASSES. No Dog or Bitch will be qualified to compete in these Classes that has ever won Ten Points in Open Classes at Shows registered in or for the Kennel Club Stud Books, or that has qualified previously to January 1st, 1889, for competition in a Champion Class or Challenge Class, where Challenge Classes are provided for that breed. NR. --In estimating the number of points a Dog has won, a First Prize gained at any Show under Kennel Club Rules previous to January 1st, 1889, by any Dogs not fully qualified to compete in a Challenge Class, under the Old Rules, will score two Points. PUPPY CLASSES, Single Entries, not Litters, over Three Months old and not exceeding One Year on February 11/2/1891, and not eligible for a Challenge Class. NOVICE CLASSES, For all Dogs and Bitches that have never won a first prize, at a Show under Kennel Club Rules previous to January 1st, 1891. B, are for those that have never won 1st prize except Puppy. C, are tor those who have never won a prize of any description. TEAM CLASSES, For four Dogs or Bitches belonging to the same owner, either or both sex. Brace Classes. For two Dogs or Bitches belonging to the same owner, either or both sex- STUD DOG CLASSES.

The Merit of the Stud Dog, as an exhibit, will not be taken into consideration, but the prize will be awarded on the merit of the DOG'S progeny, which must be entered in their respective Classes, but need not be the property of the owner of the Stud Dog or of any o n e exhibitor* 'Points will be awarded as in the Breeders Competition (see above), but in the absence of the Stud Dog the prize will not be Awarded* N.B- All Dogs competing for Team or Brace Specials must be entered also in their respective Classes. And also the Team or Brace Class, otherwise they are not eligible to compete. Challenge Class Prizes. In all Challenge Classes, if there are not more than Two Entries, the Society's Silver Medal will be given for the Prize; if more than Two Entries and under Five, the First Prize will be ￡2 Description of Rough Collie by A N Radcliffe; - Head long, skull not loo wide or round; eye dark, expressive, and set obliquely; Ears small, set rather far back and high, when excited semi-erect, with points hanging down arid forward: a well knit, active, sinewy frame: chest deep but not wide; forelegs straight; hocks well bent; feet compact and strong: coat, in the rough variety, a dense undercoat with a coat of hard hair over; in the smooth variety, the dense undercoat only. Colour various. The judge for Rough & Smooth Collies was Mr J J Steward. From the catalogue, there were just three Smooth Collies entered. But none of them had any breeding information. It appears they did not turn up anyway as their prize information has been crossed out. Dog Challenge Chestnut Hills Kennels, Ch. Christopher. He was never recognised as a

Champion by The Kennel Club, but as he won six Champion Classes I think we can say that he qualified to win his title. He became probably the most influential sire the breed has known as two main sire’s lines go back to him in direct line. Due to the influence of Dazzler of Dunsinane one of those lines has died out, but as Dazzler goes back to him in direct line, this line is obviously very active with all present day Rough collies going back to him in direct line. Bitch Challenge Messrs. J. & W. Birch's Grace III.s/w. She was the litter sister of

Christopher and had her name changed to Sefton Grace when she was bought by the Birch brothers. As can be seen, she also won the Bitch CC at the 1893 show. One of the very few to win more than once at this show, and as far as I can find she is the only bitch to win more than once during these early years It is interesting that one of their ancestors was a dog called Marcus. His parentage is not known, but he evidently came from Scotland. I have seen a photograph of his head which shows him to have the head of a Border Collie rather than the head of the Rough Collies at this time. He was also black and white in his markings; therefore, I have to say he was indeed a Border Collie. He is also the first instance I can find of a Scottish influence on the breed. It is not surprising as it would seem that breed crossing was undertaken quite often during these early years.

Ch Christopher

Marcus

One entry in the Open Dog Class is of interest: -710A HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Darnley 11. Born Jan. 8th,1888. Breeder: Rev. Hans F. Hamilton. By Champion Charlemagne—Champion Peggie II. Winner at Collie Club Show. Not for sale. Queen Victoria entered several more dogs at this show, but only one Rough Collie. There were many more in this class, but I thought it might be of interest that Queen Victoria had entered a dog at this show. He was entered in two other classes. Novice Dog and Local Dog. And this is where a major difference from today comes in as he was allocated a new number for each class. So that for the Novice Dog Class he had the number 760A, and for the Local Class he was given the number 853A. All so different from today’s shows, but then life was much less hectic. The show lasted for three days with many of the dogs being collected off trains by porters employed by the show committee. They were even admitting the general public up until 10.pm. The entry cost for viewing the show was reduced as the time got later. Rough Collies had an entry of 83 dogs making an overall entry of 163. And this was a first time show. What would most breed clubs do for an entry this size? But the entry for St Bernards was even higher. They had 141 dogs making an entry of 190. In 2014 there were just 66 St Bernards entered. Many of the exhibits were for sale with the asking price under their name in the catalogue. Obviously the exhibitors were not too interested in looking after their stock. Some of the sums being asked were extraordinary. One puppy was for sale at £10,000. Although I think that this was a printing error. In the same class a dog was for sale at £26.00. Quite a difference I think. Sefton Hero entered in the puppy dog class had a price of £2,000 under his name. He evidently got this price because he went to America where his new owner had paid $2500 for him. This was the banker J P Morgan who kept him as his house pet. Yet there appears to be nothing by him either here or in his new country. He was not even very well bred as his sire was called Gladdie a grandson of Ch Charlemagne out of Lady Wonder, whose breeding, after much research is unknown. I have to ask why he was for sale at this huge price? However, as far as Rough Collies go it was the Best of Breed winner Christopher who is the most interesting, as all Rough Collies go back tail male to him. He was a prolific sire in his day before going to America where his new owners Chestnut Hill Kennels had bought him before this show and had entered him under their name. Evidently they paid £1000 for him which makes the sum paid for Sefton Hero rather ridiculous. But I suppose that some American bankers had far too much money and wanted to make a splash. Christopher was by Ch Metchley Wonder but his title was omitted from Christopher’s details in this catalogue, but his sister Grace 111 did have his title on her details. Christopher himself is often credited with the title of Champion, but he evidently never won this. Strange as he was a very big winner in his time. Maybe his owners did not apply for this accolade. He actually stayed in England for several years after his change of ownership, and it was not until he was seven years of age that he made the journey to his new country. Unfortunately, he was not a successful sire over there. The surmise was that the bitches mated to him were of rather poor quality. However, in this country Christopher was responsible for the start of the Ch Squire of Tyton line and the Ch Parbold Piccolo line. Both lines carried on for many years until the Dazzler line took over everything, except of course he goes back to Ch Squire of Tyton. Christopher was without doubt the most important sire in the breed up to his time, and I could argue that he was the most important sire of all time. Going back to Marcus in this pedigree, we find he is the sire of a bitch called Ch Madge. According to some records, she was a sable and white, but her sire was black and white and her dam was a tricolour. Obviously, she had to be a tricolour and she is so described by Mr C H Wheeler who also describes her as being a very good bitch

indeed. High praise because he could be rather critical about the Collies he was remembering. Madge was a very important bitch for the breed as not only was she the granddam of Christopher, she was also the dam of Sefton who was the paternal Grandsire of Christopher through his son Ch Charlemagne. She was also the dam of Ch Rutland when she was mated to Wolf, a son of Old Cockie and Lorna. Breeders were not afraid to do a bit of line breeding in those days. A practice that bore fruit as the breed continued to improve with each generation. Unfortunately, even though this was the most important bitch line during the latter part of the nineteenth century, none of the present day Collie bitches go back to this line. In fact, the line disappeared at about 1900. However, some were exported to America, where they were extensively bred, as the Rough Collie became the most popular breed in the States during the early part of the last century. Madge’s dam Ruby 111 was a very successful dam with many winning offspring. Including Am Ch Zulu Princess who was one of the better known exports during this period. I have put a 5 generation text pedigree of Christopher. The numbers beside the names of the dogs is their Kennel Club Stud Book Number. Trefoil 4523 CH Charlemagne 10691 | Maude Sefton | | Marcus | CH Madge 1 | Ruby III CH Metchley Wonder 23002 | | Chang | | Loafer 13637 | | | The Lily | Minnie | | Bonnie Laddie | Catrine | Bonnie Greta Christopher 25177 | Scott | Angus | | Lassie - Mr Charles | Ruthven 10717 | | | Tricolour 11 8520 | | Luna | | CH Peggy 11 12995 | | Marcus | | | | CH Madge 1 | Tricolour 11 8520 Ruby III Nellie (Everard Digby) Christopher was the start of two main lines. The present day and one that ended in 1965

I have put in these two sires line up to date with Christopher highlighted. SIRE DAM Ch Corydon The Ringleader Corydon the Persuader 2988CZ........................Corydon La Donnarita Int CH Corydon Catch Me Driftin 4169CV..........Demelewis Catch the Breeze For Corydon CH Demelewis Dark Moon Driftin Over Corydon…Corydon Fancy Me JW 0919CQ Aqualita Class Act With Corydon 3609CQ............Corydon Be A Madam At Demelewis Corydon Black Zambo AA02796103....................Aqualita Classic Gold CH Corydon Blackcat 4340CE............................Corydon Gold Demelza 1777CG Aust CH Moon Wizard At Corydon 2170CB...........CH Corydon La Stupenda 4268CD CH Lowerpark Moonlighter At Corydon 2680BX....Corydon Meg's Miss Trishka CH & Aus CH Corydon Tuck's Tiger 0627BV........CH Lowerpark Speckleberry 2760BU NZ Ch Corydon Hot Rod 2508BT......................Corydon Polly Tucka D2084702D05 CH Corydon Handsome Hotspur 2536BR............Corydon Bonnie Brenda 2335BP CH & Aus CH Little Caesar At Corydon 892BM....Corydon Polyhanna 3372BK CH Corydon Quinault 505BH...........................CH Everlovin Emily At Corydon CH Ramsey of Rokeby 1677BC........................CH Corydon Qui Vive 3186BG Dazzler of Dunsinane ....................................CH Romney of Rokeby 1557AZ CH Dorgano Demander of Dunsinane …............Leecroft Leading Lady CH Defender of Dunsinane 977AR....................Foxshot Charmer 1150AR Dunsinane Alaric of Arranbeck 356AP...............Rinth Recluse Abbot of Arranbeck .......................................Astrakhan of Arranbeck Eden Examine 985AF.....................................Titania of Arranbeck Lyncliffe Lancer 18AD.....................................Seagull US Ch Beulah's Silver Don Mario .....................Leyland Lima Beulah's Nightshadowing 931PP......................CH Beulah's Silver Merienda 1622SS CH Glenack Kingfisher ...................................Beulah's Nightshadow Eden Extreme .............................................Glenack Silver Cloud Eden Educator .............................................Eden Elvira CH Eden Emerald .........................................Eden Endive CH Poplar Perfection 279X..............................Eden Elenora CH Magnet ..................................................Pickwick Peeper Tonge Admiration ........................................Southport Seal Clarksfield Superior .....................................Clarksfield Countess CH Seedley Superior 1225M..........................Countess of Clarksfield Seedley Squire ...........................................Seedley Constance CH Squire of Tytton 148K.............................Southport Sissie CH Balgreggie Baronet ................................Helle of Boston CH Wishaw Clinker ......................................Old Hall Duchess CH Heachum Galopin ..................................Last Rose Ormskirk Galopin .......................................Wisbech Dolly CH Ormskirk Emerald 40941.........................Ormskirk Memoir Heather Ralph ............................................Aughton Bessie Stracathro Ralph ........................................Apple Blossom Christopher 25177....................................Stracathro Fancy CH Metchley Wonder 23002.........................CH Peggy 11 12995 Sefton ......................................................Minnie CH Charlemagne 10691...............................CH Madge 1 Trefoil 4523...............................................Maude Twig ........................................................Bess Old Twig ...................................................Help The downside from the names on this list is that today we have much longer names than in the early days of the breed. Note also how few of the dams had Champion titles.

This next list shows Christopher starting another line, which ended with Ch Antoc Vicar of Bray. SIRE LINE SIRE DAM CH Larkena Vanara Golden Victor 1410AW............Antoc Rose Marie CH Larkena Rabelais 471AV................................CH Starlet of Glenmist 688AT Larkena Royalist ................................................Lavish of Ladypark Ralvera's Craiglyn Commando .............................Larkena Rhonda CH Gunner of Glenturret 65AM.............................Glenlusset Gloria Gunner of Mariemeau 2085AE..............................Vanity of Glenturret Thane of Mariemeau ..........................................Patricia of Mariemeau CH Knight of Monastar 1950PP............................The Ladye of Mariemeau CH Laund Lindrum 45LL.....................................It's-A-Gift Eden Eldred .....................................................Glenack Juliet Eden Extra ......................................................Oswald Lady Eden Eric ........................................................Alloway Ideal CH Seedley Stirling ..........................................Eden Eileen Parkside Pro Patria ..........................................CH Seedley Sylvia CH Ormskirk Foxall ..........................................Parkside Paulette Parbold Paganini .............................................Ormskirk Adair Parbold Pierrot ................................................Parbold Pleasance CH Parbold Piccolo ............................... CH Wellesbourne Conquerer .............................Parbold Pinafore Wellesbourne Councillor ..................................Wellesbourne Beauty CH Southport Perfection ..................................Wellesbourne Christabelle Edgbaston Marvel ...........................................Tabley Rose Christopher 25177.........................................Sweet Marie CH Metchley Wonder 23002..............................CH Peggy 11 12995 Sefton ...........................................................Minnie CH Charlemagne 10691....................................CH Madge 1 Trefoil 4523....................................................Maude Twig .............................................................Bess Old Twig ........................................................Help These are the only male lines that come even close to the present times. But The Vicar was born in 1965, 52 years ago. Crufts 1892 The judge was the same as the previous year, Mr J J Steward. Christopher was to enhance his stud career, because he sired the Dog winner; Mr C H Wheeler’s Edgbaston Excelsior, and also the second and third in the Open Dog or Bitch Class. The bitch winner was Mr T P Brearley’s Portington Beauty who was by Ch Metchely Wonder (the sire of Christopher) out of Lady Christopher who was herself a daughter of Christopher. Close inbreeding here, which seems to have been the practice with many breeders in those days. Both the winners had their names changed as the dog had been bred by Mr T Stretch and was originally named Ormskirk Excelsior, while the bitch had her name completely altered as she had been registered originally as Barwell Pansy bred by Mr J J Powers. This year the catalogue included the class awards which had been missing the previous year. Beauty was still a puppy and she won the puppy bitch class at this show as well. Strangely, compared to the dog shows of today, the puppy classes were at the end of the classification instead of the beginning.

Mr Powers, the breeder of the winning bitch, tended to register his dogs with Scottish sounding names, probably because he wanted to attract the market in the USA where some of the citizens were paying very big money for Collies. He actually lived in Hinckley in Leicestershire. The class classification seems to be very strange. There were no exhibitors entered in the Challenge Classes. The first class was for dogs and bitches over two years of age, which was won by Edgbaston Excelsior the dog winner. This was followed by Open Dog, then Open Bitch. Portington Beauty waited until this Class before entering the ring. Novice Dog and Bitch followed. Evidently these two classes were open to Smooth Collies as well, but none were entered. Then we had Novice Dogs & Bitches B and this was followed by Novice Dogs & Bitches. Puppy Dog and Puppy bitch were next and these were followed by the Local Class for Dogs & Bitches. Brace and Team classes were then followed by a very strange class. This was a Special Local Class for any variety of Sheepdog or Collie. But on this occasion only Rough Collies were entered. As an afterthought, it was nice to see in the catalogue that both the main winners were entered as Not for sale. As I can find no further comments on these two I have to wonder if they might have been sold at a later date. Obviously with a big win their value would have been enhanced quite dramatically. The asking prices for some of the dogs beggar description. 2nd placed dog in the Open Dog Class was for sale at £50 but the third placed dog in this class was for sale at £500. I have to say that the £30 we paid for Corydon Regality of Rokeby seems to be very cheap by comparison, especially considering the affect she had on the Corydon kennel. Although at the time we thought it was a lot of money. Crufts 1893 Had a different judge as this time it was Mr H Ralph who did the honours. Once again Christopher was to make his presence felt as the Best dog went to Ch. Stracathro Ralph born 1st September 1888 who was by Christopher out of Stracathro Fancy. The best bitch award went to Christopher’s litter sister who won this award two years previously but has now won her title, this was Ch Sefton Grace winning under her new name. Previously she was entered as Grace 111 when she was for sale at £1,000. Obviously the owners wanted too much for her. They were both in the Challenge Classes. The only other Exhibit in these classes was the Christopher daughter who was the dam of the previous year’s winner Ch Lady Christopher. This dog was really dominating the awards at this show, proving once again what a great sire he was. I am now beginning to revise my thoughts and grant him my accolade as the greatest sire of all time in the breed. It was not easy to dominate this show to the extent that he did, as the entries kept increasing and by this time, the third show for Rough Collies, the number of exhibits had reached well over a hundred. Certainly, no stud dog has dominated this show to such an extent as Christopher did. From his pictures, he was the first Rough Collie to look as if he would not look out of place in the modern ring. Ch Stracathro Ralph was the dog that carried on the sire line to the present day as he was the sire of Heather Ralph the sire of the great show dog Ch Squire of Tyton.

CRUFTS 1894 Mr J S Diggle was the judge for this year. He had 93 exhibits making an entry of 170. His dog winner was the famous dog Ch Southport Perfection, born 19th February 1892 by Edgbaston Marvel out of Tabley Rose and bred by Mr H Ainscough, who had registered him as Parbold Perfection. His new owner Mr W Mason had changed the name to his own

Ch Southport Perfection

prefix. The best bitch award went to Barwell Gem born 4th February 1893 by Oswald Ralph out of Clygrove Beauty. She again had her name changed as she was originally registered as Clyegrove Gem. She was bought by Mr J Powers who changed her name to add his prefix. Ch Southport Perfection was a grandson of Christopher (yes he appears here as well as he was the sire of Edgbaston Marvel) and he carried on the line to Ch Parbold Piccolo and all the winners from that line. I have no further information on Barwell Gem. She does not seem to have bred on. I cannot find any information about Mr Powers’ Barwell stock. They certainly did not breed on despite him being the favoured judge for this show. Ch Southport Perfection is described by Wheeler as being shown by the Southport kennels in wonderful coat and condition, but evidently, he was slow to coat up as a young dog. He was well made in body, legs and feet and he possessed a good shaped head and good ears. But according to Wheeler his eyes were not oblique enough. However, he did a huge amount of winning and was considered to be the best of the collies so far. I have a slight feeling that Mr Wheeler was a little jealous of the dog’s wins. According to his book this dog was eventually sold to Mr Megson for £1000 when he was three years old. Others have his sale price as up to £5000. Crufts 1895 Mr J J Powers was the judge and this was the first of his eight appointments as judge for Rough & Smooth Collies at this show over the years. He had a huge entry of 211 exhibits. Some of the classes were very big indeed. His dog winner was named simply Ringleader. He was owned by the previous year’s judge Mr J S Diggle. He was born on the 15th December 1892 sired by Edgebaston Marvel out of Grove Peggy who herself was by Ch Metchley Wonder out of Grove Daisy. The only problem I have from the result at this show, was that Mr Powers was a committee member of the show and so was Mr Diggle. How things have changed over the years! Evidently Mr Wheeler quite liked this dog as he describes him thus “In Colour black, tan and white. Not a ponderous one, but neat throughout. His was a graceful figure, well coated, and he was possessed of well-carried ears, and a class of head that could not fairly be pronounced faulty, still a better filled foreface would have completed an otherwise typical property” But Mr Wheeler although he is quite flattering about this dog, still has to find a fault. Once again, how things have changed over the years.

The Bitch Champion was Mr Baldwin‘s Templeogue Pride. She was bred by the exhibitor and was born on the 2nd May 1894. Her sire was Great Gun and out of Sweet Girlie. I cannot find any further information on any of these Collies. Despite the huge entry at this show, none of the exhibits entered, appear in any of today’s pedigrees. On a study of the above pedigree we find that it is actually quite good line breeding as Ch Charlemagne appears four times. Twice on both sides and he is almost in-bred to Ch Metchley

Wonder, who is his grandsire on his sire’s side and great grand sire on his dam’s side. With this breeding I would have thought that Ringleader would have been a more successful sire than he was.

Ch Metchley Wonder

This is a typical advertisement that appeared in the Catalogue during this time. Most dogs went to the show by train and were met at the station by porters employed by Crufts

I cannot believe the prices on this catalogue. These kennels would be in the £1000’s today.

Crufts 1896 Mr J J Powers was again the judge for this year’s show and once again he awarded the dog challenge to Ringleader, who headed an even bigger entry that totalled 275 exhibits. It was going to be a very long time before this entry was matched. His bitch

winner was called Kilmeny Belle who was born on the 10th April 1893 sired by Rochdale Chris out of Lady Kilmeny. She was bred and owned by Mr M G Wilson who lived in Harwick so making him the first Scottish winner at this show. But once again I can find no further information on either her nor her parents. Placed second in the Open Dog class was Mr. W. H. Charles' Wellesbourne Conqueror. Born April16th

1895. Bred by Exhibitor. By Wellesbourne Councillor out of Wellesbourne Beauty. Surprised to find him entered in this class as he was still a

puppy. He was to become a very famous Champion and an even more famous sire as he became the sire of Ch Parbold Piccolo. His sire was by Ch Southport Perfection the dog winner in 1892. Mr Wheeler obviously did not particularly like him as he describes him as having a “bitchy appearance”. At the Crufts show of 1896 he was exhibited by Mr Charles, but was subsequently bought by Mr R Higson. He had a price of £750 in this show’s catalogue. So maybe Mr Higson paid this sum to Mr Charles. Crufts 1897 Mr Powers was once again the judge. But this time he really did find the best for his Best

of Breed. This was Ch Ormskirk Emerald who is described by Mr Wheeler as the best Collie he has ever seen. Which is quite a commendation as his book was written in 1924, some thirty years after Emerald was born. A lot has been written about this dog so I will turn to the winner of the best bitch award. This was Ch Barwell Beatrice owned by Mrs Panmure Gordon. She was born on the 11th August 1894 and sired by a wonderful dog called Portington Bar Non. He had a sad life because he was maliciously damaged at a show and could not be used at stud again for some

considerable time. A great pity as he was obviously very prepotent and sired several very good ones. Her dam was called Marieville Maud of which I have no further details. Mrs Gordon lived at Loudwater House in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. I did a google search and found that this is a massive palace. The breed did attract the upper classes in those days. Probably because Queen Victoria had them in her kennels and had shown them at this show. The exhibitors list is littered with titles such as Countess or Lord.

Ch Ormskirk Emerald

Ch Wellsebourne Conqueror

Portington Bar None

The Kennel Club had issued new rules and they were printed in the catalogue of 1897. In the catalogue they were just two pages and really covered every eventuality for dog shows. Now the rules are enclosed in a huge volume. Why? I have reprinted them here. Kennel Club Rules REVISED MARCH 2nd, 1897; in force from 1st MAY, 1897. In the following Rules the word “Dog” shall be interpreted to include both sexes. 1.— Every dog exhibited at a show under the Kennel Club Rules must (except such as are exhibited exclusively in Local classes, or exhibited in classes exclusively for litters of puppies), previous to the time of entry for such show, have been entered in a registry kept by the Kennel Club at their office. A charge of 1s, for each dog shall be made for registration. ln such registry shall be Inserted the name and breed of the dog, and its breeder's name, the date of birth, names of sire and dam, and of grand-sires and grand-dams, and if the dam was served by two or more dogs, their several names must be stated. If the age, pedigree, or breeder's name be not known the dog must be registered as breeder, age or pedigree “unknown” or all as the case may be. If the name of a dog be changed, or an old name be re-assumed, each dog must be again registered and identified before exhibition in its altered name for which a fee of half-a-crown will he charged. On change of ownership the transfer of a dog must be registered, and no dog shall be eligible for exhibition at any show held under Kennel Club Rules until such registration shall have been made, for which a fee of one shilling shall be charged. 2.—Neither numerals in words nor Roman figures nor alphabetical letters will be accepted as a distinguishing prefix or affix, and the Committee shall have the right to refuse any name they may see fit. A name which has been duly registered in accordance with Rule 1 cannot again be accepted for registration of a dog of the same breed without the addition of a distinguishing prefix or affix, for a period of ten years, calculated from the first day of the year next after the one in which the name was last registered the name of a dog after publication in the Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book, or which has become eligible for entry therein, cannot again be assumed. 3.—Any dog exhibited at a show under the Kennel Club Rules mast be the bona /fida property of the exhibitor in whose name It is entered, and must have so been fourteen clear days before the first day of the show. Each dog must on the entry form he clearly identified in accordance with and as required in Rules 1 and 2—save that the names of the grandparents need not be stated. And on such entry form must be a declaration, signed by the exhibitor, that the dog is entered subject to the Rules of the Kennel Club. 4.-The bona/fida owner of the dam at the time she whelps shall be considered to be the breeder of the litter, in cases however when the bitch is lent (or breeding purposes), the person to whom the bitch is lent shall be considered the breeder of all puppies born during the period of such Loan, provided he or she, before the litter be born, send to the Secretary of The Kennel Club the facts signed by himself or herself and the owner of the bitch, for which a fee of 5s. will he charged. 5—If the name of a dog which has won a prize in a class at any show held under the Kennel Club Rules has been changed, on entering the said dog for a show the exhibitor must on the entry form give the former name or names as well as the new name until the change or changes bare been duly published in the Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book. The name of any dog that has become eligible for entry in the Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book in any year, shall not be changed alter the 31st of December of that year. 6- If a dog be entered, except as before directed by rules 1, 2, 3, ,4 and 5, each dog shall forfeit any prize that they have been awarded, and if the error be detected in time, such dog shall not be allowed to compete, and shall in either case forfeit all entrance fees and subscriptions, -save that the Committee of the Kennel Club may, on appeal to them for good cause shown, remit all or any part of the forfeit here in mentioned 6A.—No animal other than the exhibits shall be allowed within the precincts of a Dog Show during its continuance.

7.—The term "foreign dog” (for exhibition purposes) shall not include any breed for which a separate class is made in the Kennel Club index of names. 8—The Committee of any show may reserve to themselves the right of refusing any entries they may think fit to exclude. 9—A dog which is totally blind or totally deal, a castrated dog or spayed hitch, or one which has in any way been improperly tampered with, shall be disqualified from competition or from receiving a prize if awarded, 10.—At any show held under Kennel Club Rules a duly qualified veterinary surgeon must be appointed by the Committee of such show a veterinary inspector, whose duty it shall be to examine each dog before it is benched, and no dog shall be qualified to compete, which on arrival at, or during the show exhibits any form of contagions or infectious disease; neither shall such dog be entitled to receive any prize, if awarded, unless the Committee of the Kennel Club shall consider that the owner has been free from all blame in the matter. The veterinary Inspector shall give his decision in writing, duly signed, to the Secretary of the show before it’s close, and such opinion shall be final as regards the condition of t h e dog. 11- If any dog he formally objected to during the show for being Improperly tampered with or for blindness or deafness, or for exhibiting any form of contagious or infectious disease, the veterinary inspector shall examine the dog and give his opinion to The Secretary of the Show in writing before the close of the show. 12.—Any person who Is proved to the satisfaction of the Committee of the Kennel Club to have been guilty of fraudulent or discreditable conduct in regard to Dog Showing or Field Trials, shall, in addition to any pecuniary penalty to which he may be liable, be suspended from, judging, competing, winning a prize, or taking any part at a show or field trials held under the Kennel Club Rules for such period as the Committee of the Kennel Club may determine. Furthermore, the committee of that show or field trial meeting, shall not, during that period, employ such person in any capacity, for such Act may disqualify the show or field trial meeting from the future use of the Kennel Club Rules; and should such person work a dog at a field trial meeting, or lead one in the judging ring at any show, the dog so worked or led shall be liable to be disqualified from receiving a prize, if awarded. 13, —In estimating the number of prizes a dog has won, such shall be calculated up to midnight previous to the original day of closing entries for the show, as advertised in the schedule. 14, —A dog that has been exhibited or has won a prize In a class exclusively for puppies under twelve months old on the first day of the show, or a prize winner in a competition not open to all exhibitors, is not thereby excluded from being exhibited in a class where previous prize winners are not allowed to compete. 15—The Committee of a show may make any classification they think desirable; prizes won in such classes as the Committee of the Kennel Club may determine will be recorded in the Kennel Club Calendar and Stud Book. 16.— Any class may be divided or limited by variety, weight, colour height or sex. 17.—The Committee of t h e Kennel Club shall select and publish in the Kennel Gazette a list of shows, which shall be called Championship Shows. The Committee of the selected shows shall provide in such breed, or varieties of a breed as the Committee of the Kennel Club may determine Championship prizes, which prizes shall be awarded, without any extra entry fee, to the best dog of its breed or variety in the show, in addition to any other prize or prizes the dog may have won at the show when competing in its right class. A dog having won three of the above-mentioned championship prizes shall have the title of “Champion”. 18—At Championship Shows the classification mast be such as to allow any dog of those breeds or variety of a breed in which championship prizes are to be awarded, to compete in at least one class. But no championship prize or certificate shall be awarded to any dog unless such dog has won a 1st or 2nd prize in the class competition.

19.— An objection to a dog may be made by any person, but it must be made to the Secretary of the show within twenty-one days from the last day of the show. The objection must be in writing, and the objector must, except in cases when the objection is laid by the Committee of the Kennel Club, or by the regularly constituted Committee of the show (in which case a deposit shall not be necessary), But the same time lodge a sum of ￡1 in the hands of the Secretary, which deposit shall, if the objection be proved frivolous to the satisfaction of the Committee of the Kennel Club, be forfeited. Such objection must be brought by the Secretary before the Committee, if possible within fourteen days of the objection being lodged; and all persons concerned shall have due notice of such meeting, together with a copy of the objection to the registered owner, by the Secretary of the show, so that they may have an opportunity of making any statement relevant to the case. The said Committee shall decide the case, but under any circumstances an appeal shall be to the Committee of the Kennel Club, if lodged within fourteen days from date of the decision. 19A*—Infringements of the Kennel Club Rules in connection with registration and Identification shall be dealt with by a Sub Committee of the Kennel Club nominated for that purpose, who, after having given the requisite notice to the owner, shall have power to disqualify any dog without reference to a Show Committee and subject only to an appeal to the General Committee of the Kennel Club. 20—If any prize winner is disqualified the dog or dogs next in consecutive order of merit if so placed by the Judge shall take the higher placing in prize list provided it or they have been awarded not less than “Very Highly Commended," and the win or wins shall count in every respect as if they had been the original awards. An equal first prize shall be counted as a win to both dogs. 21.—Any dog entered for competition, and actually in the show, may not be withdrawn from competition without the consent of the Committee or the Secretary; but in the event of a judge advertised in the schedule not officiating, it shall be optional to the exhibitor, before commencement of judging the breed, to withdraw; his dog or dogs from competition, 22—No dog born after 31st March 1896, nor Irish Terrier born after the 31st December l889 can, if cropped, win a prize at any snow held under Kennel Club Rules. 23 — The Committee of the Kennel Club may register under such regulations as they may consider desirable assumed names to be used by exhibitors for purposes of exhibition. 24.—The word “Committee” in these rules shall be construed to mean the majority of the members of a Committee attending a duly-called meeting of such Committee and voting on the question in dispute, and in the event of the votes of such members so voting being equally divided, then the word “Committee” shall be construed as meaning the Chairman of such Committee meeting, who shall have the ousting vote. 25.—The Committee of the Kennel Club shall be the final Court of Appeal or Umpire in all questions or disputes of any kind what so ever, arising from the competing of any dog at any shows or field trials, held under the Kennel Club Rules, and whether such dispute be between two or more exhibitors, or between exhibitor and exhibitors and the Committee or Secretary, Veterinary Inspector or Judge or Judges of such show, or between any one or more of such parties and another or partners of them and any person or persons acting in any of the capacities above mentioned at any show held under the Kennel Club Rules, shall be deemed thereby to agree to refer any dispute which may arise between them or any of them to the Committee of the Kennel Club, and reach reference shall in all cases be deemed a reference under the Arbitration Act, 1889 - or any statutory modification thereof. 26 — A certificate in writing recording the decision of the Committee, signed by the Secretary of the Kennel Club for the time being, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of such committee meeting having been duly called, and that the decision therein mentioned was the due and proper finding and award of such Committee, and the production of the last published number of the Kennel Gazette, in which the name of the Secretary is mentioned as Secretary is deemed conclusive evidence that the person therein named is duly appointed Secretary of the Kennel Club for the time being. Some of the wording is a bit old fashioned for today and some of the rules no longer apply, but it is quite clear and really and truly covers everything that we want out of the Kennel Club.

Crufts 1898 Strangely in those days there were separate classes for white Collies. And in this year they had quite a good entry. Mr W H Charles was the judge of all the Collies. He was a well-known successful breeder. His prefix was Wellesbourne and many Collies had this prefix on their name. The famous Mr R Tait won the dog CC with a dog called Barwell Masterpiece. He was born on the 7th February 1897 by Rightaway out of Carmarthen Lass. It was a good show for Mr Tait as he bred the bitch winner Wishaw Queen owned by Mr R Findley born on the 17th April 1897. She was by Seafield Orlando out of Prestwick Victoria. Unfortunately, none of the winners have made any impression on the future breeding lines. It is interesting to see that both winners were puppies on the day and this seems to have been repeated many times at this show over the years. The previous year’s top winner Ch Wellsbourne Conquerer was again a winner as he was placed second to the CC winner. This despite the fact that he was bred by the judge. However as mentioned before he does have his place in breed history. I have put his pedigree here as it is quite interesting. They carried out quite good line-breeding in those days. We see that Christopher appears four times, twice in each half. Christopher 25177 Edgbaston Marvel | Sweet Marie CH Southport Perfection | | CH Metchley Wonder 23002 | Tabley Rose | Pepita Wellesbourne Councillor | | CH Metchley Wonder 23002 | | Christopher 25177 | | | CH Peggy 11 12995 | Wellesbourne Christabelle | | | Barford Lady |

CH Wellesbourne Conquerer | CH Metchley Wonder 23002 | Christopher 25177 | | CH Peggy 11 12995 | Edgbaston Marvel | | | Smuggler | | Sweet Marie | | Sweet Fairy Wellesbourne Beauty | Cremorne | CH Caractacus | | Barby Rose Ryland Jennie | Christopher 25177 Olton Pride Sweet Lassie Back to the show. The classification was completely opposite to what we have now. The first class was for veteran dogs. As we have now, but this class was for dogs over two years of age, rather than the seven years today. It would seem that the winner of the CC almost always won this class. But the winner was often entered in the following classes as well. Although in 1898 the CC winner was entered in the Open Class only. This was Barwell Masterpiece, who was originally registered as Young Rightaway and bred by Mr R Tait of the Wishaw Collies. He was by Rightaway out of Carmarthan Lass. The next class was Open Dog, followed by Limit dog which was followed by Novice Dog. Then we had the puppy dog class. The same for the bitches. Once the bitch puppy class had been decided they then went on to a selling class. I think from this all the dogs entered were for sale. They each had a sale price attached to their name. Most at this 1898 show had a price of 15 Guineas or in today’s money £15.75p. Some were as low as £5.25p. Some of the earlier entered dogs had a price attached but none were as high as in

previous years. Obviously, the breed was losing some popularity and with the Boer War going on people were tightening their belts a bit. Mr Tait had better success in the bitches as his Wishaw Queen won the Bitch CC. She was bred by Mr Findlay by Seafield Orlando out of Prestwick Victoria. There was no veteran class for the bitches. I assume there were no entries for this class. Nearly all of the Rough Collies entered were under two years of age, with only four entered in the veteran dog class. As in previous years there were classes for white Collies. Quite a few were entered. There were also Classes for Smooth Collies, but again only about four were entered. None of the winners made a lasting contribution to the breed as I can find no ancestors for either of the CC winners. Crufts 1899 Mr J J Powers was once again the judge for Collies at this show. He had an entry of 131 exhibits making an overall entry of 238. He started with the white and merle classes. 11 were entered for these and all were for sale. The prices went from £15.15 to £150. Collies were obviously not pets in those days. The Challenge winners came from the normal Rough Coated classes. The dog winner was called Ch Rightaway. He was born on the 27th November 1895. He was bred and owned by Mr R Tait who had him for sale at £1000. He was by Finsbury Pilot, who was a popular sire at this time, out of Miss Purdon of which I know no more. The bitch winner was Wellesbourne Fame owned by Mr Charles and bred by the Countess of Warwick. Her sire was the famous Ch Barwell Masterpiece out of Wellesbourne Eunice. Her price was just £200. In fact, there were just 27 exhibits who had a Not for Sale sign on their entries. One of the classes was a selling class for both sexes. The limit for entry into this class was a selling price of no more than £15. There were 35 entered in this class of which 24 were new entries into it. Heacham Galopin who is the sire of Ch Wishaw Clinker and therefor in direct male line for all Rough Collies had a price of £2000 in the catalogue. He was placed third in the Open Dog class. He was born on the 5th July 1897, out of a bitch called Wisbech Dolly. His sire being Ormskirk Galopin a son of Ch Ormskirk Emerald. Second in the open Class was Woodmansterne Tarton who was by Ch Rightaway, the winner of this class. Crufts 1900 Judge Mr,W.H.Charles.

Dog Ch. Mr J. Powers Ch.Barwell Masterpiece. Winning again, but as he was owned by Mr Powers the judge of the previous year who awarded a daughter of this dog the bitch challenge. This dog is captured for all time, as he is in the very famous painting of Four by Honours by Maud Earle. For those who have seen this painting or the many reproductions,

Four by Honours

Masterpeice is on the right and in front of the others. The dogs in the painting, from left to right, are Ch Old Hall Shamrock, Ch Old Hall Beatrice, Lilly Rightaway, and Ch Barwell Masterpiece, the painting is in a private collection in the USA. It was painted by Maud Earle as a commission by their owner HH The Princess de Montglyon, who was from a very aristocratic family in Europe, but as things became rather hard for her she emigrated to America taking these dogs with her, having bought them from the breeders. According to some breeders at that time the painting does not show the dogs as they were. I think the artist decided to flatter them. I have seen a photo of the owner with some of these dogs that do not resemble those in the painting at all. Those in the painting resemble Borzois, but there is no evidence of them being from that breed. Mr Wheeler in his comments about Masterpiece says that he was well made and carried a big coat, but his expression was wrong and this he passed on to his offspring. None of today’s dogs go back to him, probably because of this fault. There is a suspicion that Lily Rightaway was a white Collie, and certainly they were quite popular in those days. Ch Old Hall Beatrice featured in this painting was born 24th March 1899. By Edgbaston Royal out of Old Hall Ina. She was bred in Scotland by Mr J Agnew and

was again bought by Mr J Powers. She was a tricolour and much admired by Mr Wheeler who called her a very handsome Collie. He must have liked her because he had a puppy from her (cannot tell if he bred this one) called Billesley Bessie who was behind the Mountshannon Collies in Ireland after about 8 generations. So, she was important for the future of the breed. Beatrice is even more interesting in that her dam, Old Hall Ina, who was unregistered, was the granddam of Old Hall Duchess who was the dam of Ch Balgreggie Baronet and he was the sire of the unbeaten, on both sides of the Atlantic, Ch Squire of Tytton with every Collie born today going back to that line by direct tail male.

Bitch Challenge winner was Mr H.H.Jones' Ch Morton Hebe by Ch. Barwell Masterpiece out of Moreton Lady. Masterpiece obviously had a very good day, and maybe his poor expression was slightly magnified by Mr Wheeler. Maybe he beat his own dogs too often!

The Reserve Bitch Challenge was won by the aforementioned Old Hall Beatrice. She was shown here by HH The Princess de Montglyon who now seemed to be living in this country at this time. Quite a scoop for the painting to have two of this shows top winners depicted. Winner of the Reserve Challenge in dogs was Mr. H. H. Jones’. S.C.S. Ch. Moreton Coroner Born April 7, 1897. Breeder: Mr. W. H. Charles. The judge at this show. By Ch Wellesbourne Conqueror out of Long Eaton Magic, Price:￡1,500, so Mr H H Jones wanted rid, or maybe he needed the money. But Mr Jones had a very good day. His bitch winner though was priced at just £300. So maybe he did not rate her. Crufts 1901 A Mr A J Webster was the judge for this year’s Crufts Dog Show. As far as I can ascertain he was not involved in the breed at all. The Princess de Montglyon though had a wonderful day as her dog Ch Barwell Masterpiece had yet another win at this show and her Ch Old Hall Beatrice won the bitch challenge. The number of Rough Collies

Painting of Ch Old Hall Beatrice

being exhibited at this show were going down quite dramatically, from the 211 of a couple of years before to just 102 for the 1901 show and they continued to decline even more in most of the years leading up to the World War. Crufts 1902 saw a Mr A Dunmore going over the breed, but what he had to do with

the breed I do not know. He did find a dog that was to have a big influence on the breed and is indeed behind every Rough Collie born today. This was Balgreggie Baronet who was to sire the great Ch Squire of Tyton and won the Challenge at this show. The Princess de Montglyon exhibited again at this show but did not enter any of her big winners and therefore was not as successful as she was the previous year. But the entry had again seen a big drop in numbers with just 57 exhibits entered. I have to wonder why the breed was losing popularity so quickly. Was it because of the fashion prevailing at the time for extra long heads and the temperament of some being very suspect? They started to get a name for being rather sly and nasty. Back to the 1902 show. Balgreggie Baronet who

won the Dog Challenge and Best of Breed was still a puppy as he was born on the 30th March 1901. He was as I have stated by Ch Wishaw Clinker out of Old Hall Duchess. Strangely the bitch Challenge winner Leah of Morton was born on the same day as Baronet and by the same dog Ch Wishaw Clinker, but out of a different dam, Francesca of Morton. She was owned by a Miss P M Deveson Jones and bred by Mr W Wilson. Once again, the top honours at this show went to puppies. Were they more mature in those days. I have to ask because our dogs have won more than 170 CCs yet none have been won by a puppy. We have had several puppies who have won Reserve CCs including the six months old Ch Corydon The Ringleader. At one time, we considered a puppy winning a Reserve CC would not turn out to be very good as we had one or two winning this award who did not go on to win their title. Miss Jones the owner of the winning bitch was the daughter of Mr Henry Jones who lived at Moreton Hall, Wellesbourne near Warwick. Some of the exhibitors in our breed had money in those days. The building still exists as it is now the Warwickshire College of Agriculture. Home from home for me really as I spent a year at the Hertfordshire College of Agriculture 60 years ago. One input that is rather amusing is that the dog winner Baronet was for sale at a price of £5000 while the bitch winner Leah was also for sale but at a more reasonable price of £15. The dog was not sold, but I bet the bitch was very quickly snapped up as she was also in the selling class, so had to be sold if an offer was made.

Crufts 1903 was judged by Mr C H Wheeler who in conjunction with Dr O P Bennett wrote the book The Collie. I have a copy which is one of my most prized possessions. He had an entry of 54 Rough Collies. His Best of Breed was the well-known Ch Wishaw Clinker who is behind, tail male, of all Rough Collies today. He was born on the 6th December 1898 by Heacham Golopin out of Last Rose. He was bred and owned by Mr R Tait whose Wishaw kennel was very successful in those early years of the twentieth century. Indeed, Ch Wishaw Clinker

Painting of Ch Balgreggie Baronet

he also bred and owned the bitch Challenge winner as well. This was Wishaw Grace born 15th September 1901 by Ch Wishaw Clinker out of Lady Carluke. So, Clinker had a very good day. Reserve Challenge in dogs went to another very well-known breeder Mr T Stretch of the Ormskirk kennel. This was Ormskirk Olympian born on the 31st July 1901 by Ch Parbold Piccolo out of Ch Ormskirk Ideal. The Reserve bitch challenge went to an exhibit owned by Mr J J Powers who was to judge this show eight times. But he was on the committee. Oh! times do change don’t they. Anyway, he bred and owned Barwell Doris who was by Challenger of Argentcan out of Barwell Fancy who made quite a name for herself by having several lines coming down from her. In his book, Mr Wheeler describes a dog Ch Ormskirk Emerald as the best Rough Collie he had ever seen, and he wrote the book in the 1920s, he obviously thought very highly of this dog, but when he came to judge him at this show he only awarded him a VHC. Mind, he was nearly 9 years old at the time and he had a different owner to when he was doing all his winning. He was the grand sire of Ch Wishaw Clinker. So again, all Rough Collie go back to this famous dog Ch Ormskirk Emerald. Of more interest to Collie fanciers one of the many vice presidents of the show was the Rev Hans Hamilton whose Woodmansterne prefix was up there with the best at this time, indeed he started many years before as he started showing in 1878. Crufts 1904 was judged by Mr R Tait who owned the famous Wishaw kennel. His dog challenge winner was once again Ch Balgreggie Baronet but this time he was owned by just one person, Mr J Wilkie, and his price had dropped to £2000. The bitch Challenge and Best of Breed was won by Ch Sapho of Boston, owned by Mr W T Horry, who lived in Boston, Lincolnshire. Proving once again that all the best Rough Collies live in Lincolnshire. Her date of birth was 25th November 1901. She was, according to the catalogue, by a dog called Old Hall Marceller out of Wellesbourne Fame. The catalogue had her price as £200, which in today’s money would equate to several thousand pounds, but seems to have been a normal price for a good Rough Collie in those days. Reserve challenge in dogs went to Mr A H Megson’s Harwood Piccolo born on the 22nd August 1901 by Parbold Piccolo out of Parbold Patent. The Reserve Challenge in bitches went to Mr H E Packwood’s Billesley Beautiful by Edgbaston Renown out of Billesley Bessie. She was born on the 1st May 1903 which meant she was still quite a young puppy on the date of the show. Her price was probably a more unrealistic £1000. One interesting dog was the Reserve in Open Dog which was Anfield Model owned by Mr B E Davies, his price was £1000 and he obviously had a keen buyer as he passed into the hands of Mr W E Mason who obviously knew a good thing as this dog became extremely famous and sired many very high class winners. Unfortunately, he was alleged to be very nervous, a fault that he passed on. By some good luck his sires line died out with Ch Ashtead Applause who was born in 1924. I think that we can put the nervous dogs I knew in the fifties and sixties down to his influence as he did leave a lot of offspring. I can remember Ch Ramsey of Rokeby shivering with fright in the ring and seeing Dazzler of Dunsinane cowering as far away as he could get in a barn. Not to forget a handler being handed the Challenge Certificate while the winner was hiding under the judges table. Fortunately, we do seem to have got rid of this problem today.

Ch Anfield Model

Crufts 1905 attracted an entry of 72 Rough Collies for Mr Hugo Ainscough to go over. His Dog Challenge and Best of breed was won by probably the greatest Rough Collie of all time. This was Ch Squire of Tyton who was born on the 13th April 1904. He was entered in all the dog Classes including Puppy Dog. He remained unbeaten in the breed until he was exported to the States where again he was to remain unbeaten in the breed. No Rough Collie has repeated this feat and I cannot think that it will ever be repeated. Fortunately for us who are breeders, he is there in the tail male line. He was by Ch Balgreggie Baronet and out of Helle of Boston. His breeder had a long trip in those days as his sire

resided in Scotland while Mr Horry his breeder lived in Boston Lincolnshire. They must have been very dedicated breeders in those days. Although we are now getting bitches to mate to our dogs from many parts of Europe and Scandinavia. Reserve to him was another very good dog Mr Tait’s Ch Wishaw Leader who was to go one better the following year. He was born April 19th 1903 by Ormskirk Olympian out of Hartwood Lady. The bitch Challenge winner was simply called Edna, she was owned by the well-known judge Mr J Powers, born 6th May 1901 by Ormskirk Gaylord out of Fallwood Madge. Reserve to her was a bitch owned by Mr W Mason; Southport Style, born July 7th 1903 by Southport Caledonian out of Well Road Daisy. Mr Mason was the owner and publisher of the Collie Review during the years up to the first World War. But in 1912 it was taken over by Mr W E Stansfield of the very famous Laund kennel. This kennel was going strong right up to the 1990’s for his daughter Ada Bishop. It does seem rather strange that we can trace the male line right back to before Trefoil who was born in 1872 but we cannot trace the female line as there are so many different bitch lines. I know from experience just how difficult it is to keep a bitch line going as obviously, bitches do not have so many offspring as the more famous dogs. The best we have done so far is 12 generations of our own breeding. Looking at the catalogue for that year there is a bitch entered in the name of Eden Ideal owned by a Mr F Rubmann. He did not breed the bitch even though it was registered by him with his soon to become very famous prefix. Mr Rubmann was born in Germany and therefore at the outbreak of World War 1 he changed his name by dead poll to Robson, and of course this is the name we are all familiar with. So many top Collies had the Eden prefix although he did not breed so many. As was the trend in those days the exhibitor bought a show dog and then changed its name to their own Prefix. Makes finding pedigrees somewhat difficult.

Mr J Delgleish was the breed judge in 1906 where the two top breeders of the time were the main winners. Mr R Tait won the Dog Challenge with his Ch Wishaw Leader born 19th April 1903. He was by Ormskirk Olympian out of Hartwood Lady and he had a sale price of £1000. His great rival Mr T Stretch had the Reserve challenge winner with Ormskirk Artist born 4th October 1904. He was by the very famous Ch Anfield Model out of Ormskirk Sweet One. Mr H Coppin was

Ch Edna

Ch Wishaw Leader

Ch Squire of Tytton

the owner of the bitch winner, this was Glenny Belinda born 5th August 1905, so she was very young. She was by Ch Parbold Peacock out of Kitty Wildfire and bred by Mr D Watson. Reserve to her was the first Eden to win top honours at this show. She was called Eden Exquisite born on the 31st March 1905 so yet another puppy winner. She was by Ch Parbold Peacock, so he had a good day, and her dam was Bellfield Fanny. She was owned by Mr W E Mason and bred by Mr H Galt, so where her EDEN prefix came from I do not know. I suppose Mr Rubbman (soon to be Robson) bought and sold her on. This was normal practice in those days with the first buyer usually changing the registered name of the Collie and putting their own prefix on it. Just 54 exhibits were entered in 1906. Crufts 1907 The judge was Mr J Pollock who I have to assume was an all-rounder judge because I can find no instance of him owning or showing Collies. The entry was very poor as only 40 Rough Collies were entered. His Best of Breed was Mr R Tait’s Ch Wishaw Leader who won the Reserve Championship the previous year. The bitch Challenge went to Annandale Radiance born 21May 1906 so yet another puppy winning the top award. She was by Parbold Professor out of Annandale Jean. Crufts Show of 1908 was judged by Mr R H Lord of the famous Seedley Kennel. The entry was somewhat improved to 66 exhibits. The classification was strange and

different from today. The first class was Open Dog. It was won by a puppy born 14th February 1907, called Ormskirk Foxall owned and bred by Mr T Stretch by Parbold Paganine out of Ormskirk Adair. Reserve to him was another puppy owned and bred by Mr Horry called Earl of Tytton by Ch Southport Student out of Florence of Tytton. The bitch Challenge was won by Walker Olive born 3rd March 1906 by Clinkers Echo out of Walker Flower and was bred and owned by Mr S Gall. Reserve to her was Parbold Peony born 18th July 1906 by Parbold Professor out of Bating Girl. As I have mentioned the first class was Open Dog, followed by Limit Dog, then Novice Dog and finally in the main section Puppy Dog. There were eleven dogs entered in the Open Dog Class of which eight

were puppies. They were also entered in Limit, Novice and Puppy Classes. There were no new winners from the other classes which meant that the top four dogs were all puppies. It was the same for the bitches except that the Challenge winner was out of puppy. But all the other top places went to puppy bitches. I think that by this time the Show had ceased to attract the top winners in the breed, as no Champions were entered. Mr Wheeler in his book describes Ch Southport Student the sire of Earl of Tytton the Reserve Challenge winner, as an enormous dog who was built on racy lines. In other words, he was well built but too big. I have a photo of him in a group after he was taken to America when Mr Mason emigrated there in 1909. In the photo he is BIG. Was he the main reason that the Collie Standard in the USA is 5 cm taller than our Kennel Club Standard? The emigration of Mr Mason must have been devastating for the breed in this

Ch Ormskirk Foxall

Ormskirk Olympian

country as he took with him some of the greatest Collies of the time. Ch Squire of Tytton, Ch Southport Sample, Ch Beauty of Tytton and Ch Anfield Model amongst others. This photograph of some of the dogs he took to the States shows Ch Southport Student as a very tall rangy type of dog. From my observation of this photo he must have been some 4 inches taller than the other dogs. I would guess his height as 28 inches at the shoulder. Having said all of that he did not necessarily sire over sized stock. I remember Ch Corydon Handsome Hero who was 26 inches at the shoulder and Corydon King Hector who was a very big dog and weighed 38 kilos as an adult, but they did not produce very large Collies. In fact, Hector sired the rather small Ch Corydon Hippolyta and Ch Everlovin’ Emily at Corydon Ch Ormskirk Foxall was to triumph again in 1909 under the judge of the day Mr E B

Withers and Mr Horry was to do well again as his bitch Phoebe of Tytton got the nod for the bitch Challenge. She was born on the 19th March 1908 so yet another puppy winning the top honour. She was by Ch Seedley Superior out of Lydia of Tytton. Reserve dog was won by Mr Tait’s Wishaw Crack, yet another puppy as he was born 6th May 1908 by Wishaw Dazzler out of Swift Home. And the Reserve Bitch went to another young puppy this was the Pollock Brothers Doon Snowdrop who was slightly older but still a very young puppy born on the 3rd July 1908. She was by the dog winner Ch Ormskirk Foxall out of Boswell Maid. The entries at this show became very poor with this

year’s entry of 49 exhibits being the best for many years to come. It was not until after the second World War that entries became larger than that. By 1955 the number of exhibits had risen to well over a hundred. But it would be some more years yet before they equalled the entry for the 1997 show. Ch Seedley Superior evidently attracted Mr Wheeler because of his fine head. He was a sable and white with rather a poor length of coat. Ch Ormskirk Foxal was exported to the States and it was hoped that his sound temperament would help to cure the nervousness that Ch Anfield Model was producing. Unfortunately, his offspring tended to be rather aggressive in temperament, which meant he was not used at stud as much as was hoped.

Then to the Crufts of 1910 where the entry was truly pitiful as only 24 Rough Collies were entered under judge Mr W Birch. Mr Mason of Southport fame won the dog challenge with his Southport Stamp, yet another puppy winner as he was born 6th April 1909 by Ch Southport Sample out of Southport Patricia. Mr Mason emigrated to the USA shortly after this show. He took this dog and several others with him. Stamp became a Champion in his new country. The bitch winner was Mr Ainscough’s Moss Hill Vanessa who was actually nearly two years old as Southport Stamp

Ch Southport Student is on the left. The others are Ch Beauty of Tytton and Ch Squire of Tytton.

Ch Seedley Superior

she was born 16th March 1908. She was by Parbold Prior out of Moss Hill Clare. The Moss Hill kennel was to have quite a few winners over the years, but it seems that none come direct to this day. The classes at this show were actually quite big as almost all of the exhibits were entered in every class of which there were thirteen separate classes. Five of them were so called Special Classes including the Selling Class which was obviously a useful way of getting rid of the stock that were not going to make their mark as all in this class were new entries. Ch Southport Sample was taken to America when Mr Mason emigrated to that country. He was only shown the once in the States when he won everything at the show. This lead to some jealousy on the part of some of the local exhibitors, so Mr Mason retired him from the showring. Crufts of 1911 had a better, but still poor entry of 42 Exhibits to be judged by Mr J

H Jaques. He found his winner in Mr J Landers’ Ch Kettleby Marquis who was actually quite old as he was born 13th August 1908. He was by Ch Southport Sample out of Kettleby Pearl. Mr Wheeler goes to some length to describe this dog. “In colour sable and white. Quite a quality one of no light claims to distinction, extra good in body formation, sound in legs and feet, well furnished with coat, head if not over long, flat and nicely finished, whilst well carried ears enhanced the characteristic outlook, still the eye was just one shade light in colour” Even if he liked a dog he still had to find something wrong with him. Was ever thus in this dog showing World. Now the bitch winner belonged to the very well-known Rev Han Hamilton who was to win at last at this show. Strange it took him so long as he was a Vice President of Crufts. Anyway, his bitch which he bred was Woodmansterne Adela born 17th August 1909, so again not a puppy. She was by Ch Ormskirk Foxall who was the winner here before, out of Woodmansterne Lena.

Mr R Tait of Wishaw fame was the judge in 1912. Even he did not attract a good entry as just 44 Rough Collies were entered. He awarded the Dog Challenge to Mr Harrison’s Calder-Bank Special who was born 14th April 1910 by South-Shore Signal out of Bispham Duchess. Reserve to him was a better known dog Mr W Grimshaw’s Parkside Pro Patria who was born 13th March 1910 by Ch Ormskirk Foxall out of Parkside Pallette. Rev Hans Hamilton was again successful with another bitch to win the Challenge, this time with Woodmansterne Violet born on the 23 January 1911. She was by Ch Bayard of Tytton out of his Woodmansterne Constance. Reserve to her was Eastwood Esteem who was a puppy as she was born 27th April 1911 and once again Ch Bayard of Tytton was the sire her dam being Parbold Presentment. In his book, Mr Wheeler describes Ch Bayard of Tytton as a very stylish well made dog who could carry a heavier coat. But he did like him. He proved to be a very good sire with many winners to his name. Then to Crufts 1913 which saw a Mr F B Withers judging the Collies. His entry was the same as the previous year with just 44 exhibits entered. Mr Tait continued his good run at this show as his Wishaw Raeburn won the dog Challenge. He was born 17th August 1910. He was by a dog called Swaffham Montezuma and out of Mr Tait’s Wishaw Sonia, so he was homebred and still had his original name. I make a note of this as so many had their names changed as soon as a new owner took charge of them. Reserve to this dog was the first of the Seedley’s to make their mark. This was Seedley

Ch Kettleby Marquis

Ch Bayard of Tytton

Sparkle born 26th September 1911 by Seedley Special out of a well known bitch of the time Penzance Barbara. I had to smile when I looked at this catalogue as in the Maiden Dog or Bitch Class were two dogs both named Bruce with no date of birth, breeding nor indeed anything to say that they were Rough Collies. I know that until quite recently, or at least into the 1950’s someone could ask the Kennel Club to register their dog as a Rough Collie even though there were no papers to ascertain its pedigree. Miss M Osborne would be dispatched to see the animal and if she thought it was a true Rough Collie then the owner could indeed register it as a Rough Collie at The Kennel Club. In my mind, I think that they were probably more a true Rough Collie than some of those we seen in the showring today. After all where did those deep stops come from? Mr J Jaques was once again the judge at the 1914 Crufts dog show. For some reason the quality of the entry seemed to have improved and the exhibit entry was slightly up to 48 entered. His dog Challenge winner was to become a famous dog in his own right.

This was Mr W W Stansfileld’s Laund Limit, he was born 22nd March 1912 by Parbold Picador out of Laund Lily and was homebred. The bitch challenge was won by a bitch called Farnworth Fossil born 23rd January 1913 by Farnworth Fog Signal out of Farnworth Floss. Interestingly the judge awarded two first prizes in the Open Dog Class. This was the only instance of this happening ever at this show. Limit was Best dog and Best of Breed, the other first prize went to a dog owned by Mr Tait called Ormskirk Olympic. He was for sale at £250 which was probably the price that Barbara’s grandfather paid, as he joined his kennel soon after the show. He was Mr Tait’s main stud dog at the time, but Mr Anderson, his new owner, does not seem to have shown nor bred

from him. It was her grandfather that got Barbara into Collies but as far as I can find out she was the first member of her family to actually show a Collie. I have all his records, but there are no show records at all for the dogs when he owned them. Some, including Ormskirk Olympic do have show records, but they were shown before he owned them. He died before I met Barbara so I could not find out why he kept so many Collies in his kennel. And I think that his death came before Barbara could find out for herself. He started out with the Prefix Kennington which he registered in about 1913 and carried on with this after the second World War, but then he had to change it to Addington as the Kennel Club withdrew the original prefix from him. I suspect he forgot to pay the annual fee.

The Ch Squire of Tytton breeder was the

Crufts judge in 1915 , where understandably with the war on the entry was rather poor at just 28 exhibits entered, but he did find two really good ones for his top prizes. The dog Championship went to Laund Luminous another owned and bred by Mr Stansfield,

Ch Laund Limit

Ch Laund Luminous

he was born 30th June 1914 so was very much still a puppy. He was by last year’s winner Ch Laund Limit out of Laund Lena and was homebred. And his bitch winner was St. Helens Sensation who did live up to her name. She was born 24th November 1912 by St. Helens Stormer out of Crosby Countess. Both Luminous and Limit were to be exported to the States, but not before they had sired some good winners here.

1916 saw quite a jump in entries to 45 exhibits, where Mr Tait was once again the judge. Ch Laund Luminous was once again the top winner in dogs with an even more famous dog in Reserve. This was Ch Magnet and all Collies go back to him in direct male line. He was born 29th December 1912 by Songe Admiration out of Southport Seal. He was bred by a Mr J R Morley and owned by Mr T Laidlaw. I have gone into some detail about this dog as he was a very influential sire before he once again went to the States, but not until he was nine years of age. He was used at stud a lot as his temperament was superb and he threw it as well. So important for the breed after the disaster that was Ch Anfield Model.

The bitch Challenge was won by Sonnenburgh Sumptious born 29th April 1915, so yet another puppy winning the top prize. She was by Sonnenburgh Squire out of Sonnenburgh Symphony. Surprisingly the entry had risen to 45 exhibits for this show.

Then to the last show for some time where Mr H Ainscough of Poplar fame was the 1917 judge. The show must have seemed quite small as the catalogue ran to just 109 pages from the normal 400 or so. However, Collies did quite well with 32 exhibits. They were led by one of the all time greats of the breed Poplar Perfection who once again is in direct male line as he was by Ch Magnet and sired the great Ch Eden Emerald. He was out of Pickwick Paper and was born 1st February 1916. What could he have won if shows had not been discontinued? He was much favoured by Mr Wheeler who considered that this dog did a whole lot of good for the breed. Fortunately, he was one of the very few to stay in this country after the outbreak of the First World War. The bitch

Challenge was won by Seedley Sophie who was again by Ch Magnet out of Seedley Smile, she was born 20th May 1913. So ends this rather long article on the Crufts show and winners from 1891 to 1917.

Ch Poplar Perfection

Ch Magnet

CH POPLAR PERFECTION The last Best of Breed Winner in 1917

The information for this article has been gathered from the Kennel Club’s website.

You can find all of this by going to The Kennel Club Website, find resources, then the Library and links to the Crufts catalogues are displayed.

The photographs are mainly from my own collection, which is vast.