A young saucy Dog, having been found not to like any employment at
home, was taken by a sea captain on board his ship, where, being well
fed, he soon became both stout and fierce, and shewed himself off as
such in every foreign port. He no sooner got ashore, than he held up
his leg against every post and corner, and scraped the ground with his
feet, quite regardless what dog he might bespatter; and if any of them
happened to look sulkily at him, he thought nothing of seizing upon
and rolling them in the kennel. If he happened to fall into company,
he always began to give himself airs, to talk big, and to express his
contempt for the dogs of the place. He would boast that he was from
a better country, and belonged to a better family than any dog among
them. In short, said he, “I come from Cheviot, the highest mountain in
the world, and the very heart of all England, where my forefathers,
thousands of years ago, assembled to hunt the Wild Bull, the Wolf, and
the Boar.” He was once going on at this rate, when he was interrupted
by a sedate, experienced Bitch, who assured him that there were good
dogs and bad dogs in every country, and that the only difference arose
from their education; that many of the forefathers he boasted of, had
long since worried each other, and the remainder of them had become so
troublesome, that part had been transported across the sea to another
place; and she knew, from good authority, that both his father and his
mother were hanged.