Let’s begin at the beginning… if we can find it. When did Bearded Collies become a bona fide breed? All breeds start somewhere. A few have been around for eons, defying attempts to stamp them with a start date. Some developed due to isolation. Some are offshoots of another breed, variations on a theme. Many are man-made. But bear in mind, nothing is as constant as change. Few breeds manage to come down through the centuries unchanged. Don’t believe it? Find a photo of a popular breed of 50 or 75 years ago and compare it to the breed today.
But back to the Beardies. We have only guesses or theories interspersed with written history. It’s accepted that the Celts inhabited much of Europe between the seventh and fifth centuries B.C. They were barbarians, coming from the east and moving across the continent. Like most warring groups of that time, food for the troops traveled on the hoof and sheepdogs were necessary to drive them. As the livestock became dinner, fewer dogs were needed and were left behind. Is it a coincidence that many European countries have their own version of a shaggy sheepdog? Then, in the first centuries B.C. and A.D., the Romans took up arms against the Celts and relentlessly drove them westward till they were left hanging on to a fringe of the British Isles. Were their sheepdogs destined to become Beardies?
One popular theory regarding their origin comes from a record of a grain-laden ship sailing from Gdansk to Scotland in 1514 with six Polish Lowland Sheepdogs aboard. The ship’s owner wished to trade the grain for Scottish sheep and so 60 sheep were presented to him to make his choice. >From those he chose 20 and left it to his sheepdogs (known as PONs, short for Polish Owczarek Nizinny) to cleverly cut those selected from the flock. The shepherd was impressed with the talented canines and struck a deal of a ram and a ewe for two bitches and a male. Supposedly, the trio bred with local dogs and the Beardie was the result.
Not so, according to Col. David Hancock, a British authority on herding dogs. “Goat-haired sheepdogs have long existed as a distinct type all over Europe” he wrote and added, “You can soon see how climate, function and terrain determined type.” He pointed out that differing coat lengths occur naturally and have been “perpetuated and enhanced by linebreeding down the centuries.” Herdsmen were practical folk who knew what was needed to control livestock in the conditions and climate of their locale and they bred accordingly. In other words, there was no need to bring in Polish dogs when Scotland already had shaggy sheepdogs.
Back in 1999, I began a conversation with Bill Remwick, a Scotsman living in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Bill, his father and grandfather all raised sheep and cattle in Scotland and used nothing but Beardies as their herding dogs. Bill’s own memories only go back to 1925 but he knew his grandfather herded with Beardies as early as 1890 just outside Edinburgh and would not own another breed of dog. “The Beardies,” he related,” were great dogs for the drovers. When it came time to sell the sheep, they would be driven by the thousands the length of Scotland, through Falkirk to the English market. On the road, the flocks would get mixed but the Beardies could ‘shed out’ their own sheep without fail.” Such a drive would mean being on the road for weeks, requiring incredible stamina of the dogs as well as the drovers. Beardies of those days were exceptionally hardy, brave and gutsy dogs, according to Bill who claimed the Beardies showed courage in spades when facing down obstreperous cattle or stubborn sheep. “You did difficult things with your Beardies and thought nothing of it,” Bill remembered. “It was simply expected of a good working dog.”
Others confirmed Bill’s observations. In The New Book of the Dog (R. Leighton), published in 1912, the author wrote, “he is a favorite with the butcher and drover who have sometimes a herd of troublesome cattle to handle and he is well-suited to rough and rocky ground, active in movement and as sure-footed as the wild goat. He can endure cold and wet without discomfort and can live on the Highland hills where others less sturdy would succumb.” In 1878, Gordon Phillips of Glenlivet wrote in a livestock journal that shepherds claimed they could safely trust 200 or 300 sheep “to the sagacity of this valuable dog which does not hurry or push, but drives them as coolly and as cautiously as if its master were present.” British naturalist Richard Perry wrote a book, I Went A’Shepherding, published in 1944, in which he commented, “these mountain sheep were so darned obstinate and headstrong, especially those from a hill not regularly shepherded, that only a strong rough dog would keep them on the move – and none better at this game than the shaggy Beardie of the old crofting folk…” Unlike herding dogs who took directions from the shepherd, the tough and independent Beardies often worked out of sight, made their own decisions and frequently barked to cause the sheep to bunch together as well as let the shepherd know their whereabouts. Ads listing Beardies for sale often stressed, “Plenty noise, plenty daylight.” The latter referred to the length of coat preferred to be long enough to protect the dog but short enough to not hinder his work and to show ‘daylight’ between coat and ground.
In addition to praising their herding prowess, respected observers made comments on other Beardie features. In comparing the breed to the OES, Col. Hancock noted, “the Beardie has a quicker, effortless, gliding walk.” Proponents of the breed also praised them for being able to put in a full day’s work and then switching off to become a placid pet unlike the continuous hyperactivity of some herding breeds. A cigarette card of 1938 features a gray Beardie on the front and on the back proclaims,”Here is a venerable breed of Collie that has been worked with sheep in Scotland for generations. His great claim to distinction is the brilliant manner with which he carries off the prizes in field trials and intelligence tests, having a mind as quick on the uptake as can be found in any dog.”
And what of the breed’s crowning glory? In the 1891 book, The Dogs of Scotland by Whinstone (a pen name for J.D.T. Gray), the Beardie was described as “a big, rough, tousy-looking type with a coat not unlike a doormat.” Ouch! Bill Remwick confessed his dogs were never combed and Col. Hancock related they were shorn with the sheep and “salved with a mixture of tar and oil as an insect repellent and weather proofer.” (Not a dog you’d want as a bed buddy.) Back in 1949, James Garrow, a judge and sheepdog expert, wrote to Mrs. G.O. Willison, who is credited with gaining recognition for the breed with The Kennel Club (Eng.). In his letter, Garrow wrote, “The Beardie was essentially a worker, famed for fleetness and brains, kept by butchers, farmers, etc. The coat should not be overlong and of a raw harsh texture. They should not require daily grooming and are easily kept in condition. Have you drawn up the standard for the KC yet? You want to emphasize the rule on coat.” For working Beardies, it was imperative the dog have a coarse, weatherproof outer coat that was not overly long. As a point of interest, the Scottish classic, Owd Bob, first published in 1898, was illustrated with drawings of Beardies in the 1937 and 1947 editions and depicted the accepted coat length of that time. In later years, the dog show world contributed to the change in length and texture of the Beardie coat in addition to creative trimming and sculpturing, a far cry from the appearance of a hard working herding dog.
Some years ago, Wendy Boorer, a British Beardie historian visited the U.S. and watched the Beardies in the ring at a show. She later wrote back after watching the top Beardie of the day racing around the ring with his long silken coat flowing in the wind, “and the ground rumbled beneath my feet as a thousand Scottish shepherds whirled in their graves.”
— alice bixler, alice@bedlamkennels.com, Bearded Collie Club of America
