A respectable farmer, residing in a village near Gosport, had a
terrier dog who was his constant companion. His business frequently
led him across the water to Portsmouth, to which place the dog
regularly attended him. The farmer had a son-in-law, a bookseller at
Portsmouth, to whose house he frequently went, taking the dog with
him. One day, the animal having lost his master in Portsmouth, after
searching for him at his usual haunts, went to the bookseller, and by
various gesticulations gave him to understand that he had lost his
master; his supplications were not in vain, for the bookseller, who
understood his language, immediately called his boy, gave him a penny,
and ordered him to go directly to the beach, and give the ferryman the
money for his passage to the opposite shore. The dog, who seemed to
understand the whole proceeding, was much pleased, and jumped directly
into the boat, and when landed at Gosport, immediately ran home. He
always afterwards went to the bookseller, if he had lost his master at
Portsmouth, feeling sure that his boat-hire would be paid, and which
was always done.
The same dog, when he was wet or dirty, would go into the barn till he
was clean and dry, and then scratch at the parlour-door for
admittance.
The Rev. Leonard Jenyns, in his "Observations in Natural History,"
records the following.--
"A lady,[Q] living in the neighbourhood of my own village, had some
years back a favourite Scotch terrier, which always accompanied her in
her rides, and was also in the habit of following the carriage to
church every Sunday morning. One summer day the lady and her family
were from home several weeks, the dog being left behind. The latter,
however, continued to come to church by itself for several Sundays in
succession, galloping off from the house at the accustomed hour, so as
to arrive at the time of service commencing. After waiting in the
churchyard a short time, it was seen to return home quiet and
dispirited. The distance from the house to the church is three miles,
and beyond that at which the ringing of the bells could be ordinarily
heard. This was probably an instance of the force of habit, assisted
by some association of recollections connected with the movements of
the household on that particular day of the week."
An old house being under repair, the bells on the ground-floor were
taken down. The mistress of the house had an old favourite terrier,
and when she wanted her servants, sent the dog to ring the bell in her
dressing-room, having previously attached a bit of wood to the
bell-rope. When the dog pulled at the rope, he listened, and if the
bell did not ring, he pulled till he heard it, and then returned to
the room he had left. If a piece of paper were put into his mouth,
with a message written on it, he would carry it to the person he was
told to go to, and waited to bring back the answer.
Mr. Laing, who was steward to General Sharp, of Houston, near Uphall,
had a terrier dog which gave many proofs of his sagacity. Upon one
occasion his wife lent a white petticoat to a neighbour in which to
attend a christening; the dog observed his mistress make the loan,
followed the woman home who borrowed the article, never quitted her,
but accompanied her to the christening, and leaped several times on
her knee: nor did he lose sight of her till the piece of dress was at
last fairly restored to Mrs. Laing. During the time this person was at
the christening she was much afraid the dog would attempt to tear the
petticoat off her, as she well knew the object of his attendance.
One of the most extraordinary terriers I ever met with belonged to a
man named T----y, well known for many years in the neighbourhood of
Hampton Court. The father of this man had been in a respectable way of
life, but his son wanted steadiness of character, and, indeed, good
conduct, and had it not been for the kindness of his late Majesty,
King William the Fourth, he would have been reduced to poverty long
before he was. T----y, through the interest of the king, then Duke of
Clarence, was tried in several situations, but failed in them all. At
last he was made a postman, but was found drunk one evening with all
his letters scattered about him, and, of course, lost his situation.
He then took up the employment of rat-catcher, for which, perhaps, he
was better qualified than any other. His stock-in-trade consisted of
some ferrets and an old terrier dog, and a more extraordinary dog was
seldom seen. He was rough, rather strongly made, and of a sort of
cinnamon colour, having only one eye; his appearance being in direct
contrast to what Bewick designates the _genteel_ terrier. The other
eye had a fluid constantly exuding from it, which made a sort of
furrow down the side of his cheek. He always kept close to the heels
of his master, hanging down his head, and appearing the
personification of misery and wretchedness. He was, however, a
wonderful vermin-killer, and wherever his master placed him, there he
remained, waiting with the utmost patience and resignation till an
unfortunate rat bolted from the hole, which he instantly killed in a
most philosophical manner. The poor dog had to undergo the
vicissitudes of hard fare, amounting almost to starvation, of cold,
rain, and other evils, but still he was always to be seen at his
master's feet, and his fidelity to him was unshaken. No notice, no
kind word, seemed to have any effect upon him if offered by a
stranger, but he obeyed and understood the slightest signal from his
owner. This man was an habitual drunkard, at least whenever he could
procure the means of becoming one. It was a cold, frosty night in
November, when T----y was returning from a favourite alehouse, along
one of the Thames Ditton lanes, some of which, owing to the flatness
of the country, have deep ditches by their sides. Into one of these
the unfortunate man staggered in a fit of brutal intoxication, and was
drowned. When the body was discovered the next morning, the dog was
seen using his best endeavours to drag it out of the ditch. He had
probably been employed all night in this attempt, and in his efforts
had torn the coat from the shoulders of his master. It should be
mentioned that this faithful animal had saved his master's life on two
former occasions, when he was in nearly similar circumstances.
It may interest some of the readers of this little story to be
informed, that a few years before the event which has been related
took place, the unhappy man's wife died, leaving four very young
children. She was a most industrious woman, of excellent character,
and her great misery on her death-bed was the reflection that these
children--two boys and two girls--would be left to the care of her
drunken husband. She was comforted, however, in her dying moments, by
one whose heart and hand have always been ready to relieve the
distressed, with the assurance that her children should be taken care
of. So when the excellent Queen Adelaide heard of the circumstance,
she immediately sent for the four children, placed them under the
charge of a proper person, educated and maintained them, placed them
in respectable situations in life, and continued to be their friend
till her death. This is one of numerous instances which could be
related by the author of her Majesty's silent, but unbounded
benevolence.
It is time, however, to resume my anecdotes of terriers.
A gentleman of my acquaintance had a favourite dog of this
description, which generally slept in his bed-room. My friend was in
the habit of reading in bed. On calling upon him one morning, he took
me into his bed-room, and showed me his bed-curtains much burnt, and
one of his sheets. The night before he had been reading the newspaper
in bed, with a candle near him, and had gone to sleep. The newspaper
had fallen on the candle, and thus set fire to the curtain. He was
awoke by his dog scratching him violently with his fore-feet, and was
thus in time to call for assistance, and save the house from being
burnt down, and also probably to save his own life.
Another of my acquaintances has a very small pet terrier, a capital
rat-killer, who always evinces great antipathy to those animals. She
lately produced three puppies, two of which were drowned. After
hunting for them in every direction, she returned to her litter, where
she was found the next morning not only suckling her own whelp, but a
young rat; and thus she continued to do till it reached maturity. The
morning on which her puppies were drowned there had been a battue of
rats, some of which were wounded and escaped. One of these latter was
the young rat in question. This, no doubt, was taken possession of for
the purpose of relieving her of her superabundant milk.
A gentleman who had befriended an ill-used terrier acquired such an
influence over the grateful dog, that he was obedient to the least
look or sign of his master, and attached himself to him and his
children in a most extraordinary manner. One of the children having
behaved ill, his father attempted to put the boy out of the room, who
made some resistance. The dog seeing the bustle, supposed his master
was going to beat the boy, and therefore tried to pull him away by the
skirts of his coat, thus showing his affection and sagacity at the
same time.