Mrs Thorpe's School Dog

This is a first for the Antique Dog Photograph Gallery - a school group photo. Look carefully to spot the dog in the middle of the front row. Click on the image to enlarge for a better view.

The photograph was taken by L. Wandy of 108 Renfield St, Glasgow, Scotland. Wandy is somewhat of a mystery, as there is no trace of him to be found in trade directories of the time, or in any variation of a search on ancestry.com that I have been able to think of.

However I have found other examples of school photos by Wandy, so they must have been something of a specialty of his.

The style of the mount dates the image to the mid-1880s. The address in Renfield Street was occupied by J. Douglas and Son photographers until 1883, and subsequently David Duiguid & Son photographers from 1885 till 1886. So perhaps Wandy worked for one of these firms as a guest, and this would go some way to explaining the title of "Artist" rather than photographer on the photo mount.

On the reverse of the photo "Mrs Thorpe's School" is written faintly in pencil. I wonder if the woman on the far right of the back row is Mrs Thorpe? This woman, who ever she is is holding something hair under her arm, which must be a dog, who was perhaps unable to keep still when the photograph was taken.

 

The main attraction of this photo is the little dog in the centre of the front row of children - a Clydesdale or Paisley Terrier.

Victorian author Rawdon Lee wrote of these dogs in 1894:

It has been said that this terrier was originally a cross between the ordinary Skye Terrier and the Yorkshire terrier, but, although it is of quite modern origin, no proof has been produced when such crosses took place or who made them. Much more likely origin is that the variety was made by the Glasgow and other Scottish dog fanciers crossing the softer-coated, lighter-coloured prick-eared Skye terriers with each other until they bred fairly truly and produced the Skye terriers in an altered form.

Victorian drawing of Clydesdale & Paisley Terriers

In the earliest days of dog showing when many individual breeds were much less defined than they are today, Clydesdale or Paisley terriers were shown together in the same classes as Skye Terriers, much to the annoyance of the Skye fanciers. Thomson Gray writes about this in his book Dogs of Scotland:

At the shows which used to be held at Glasgow... these silky-coated terriers were seen in all their beauty, and the fact of their appearing there as Skyes was what first brought them into prominence. The fanciers of the hard-coated Skyes rose in arms against them, holding that they were not Skyes, as they had a silky coat, and were only pretty 'mongrels' bred from Skye terrier 'rejections,' and ought to be known as Glasgow or Paisley Skyes. On the other hand, the breeders of the silky-coated dogs held, as a matter of course, that the texture of coat their dogs possessed was the correct one. This was untenable, as until the introduction of this breed no Scottish dog had a silky or soft coat.

After the decision against the eligibility of the silky-coated dog to compete in the Skye terrier classes, the breed rapidly declined. A few, however, held to the breed out of pure love and admiration for it, but they were few.


Sources:

• L. Wandy on Glasgow's Victorian Photographers
• The Terriers. A History And Description Of The Modern Dogs Of Great Britain And Ireland, Rawdon Briggs Lee, 1894
• Dogs of Scotland, Thomson Gray, 1891

Moffat Companions

Recently I visited Scotland for the first time, one of the prettiest places I visited was the historic coaching town of Moffat. I haven't got a huge amount of Scottish dog photographs in my collection, but on my return from my trip sorting through my collection I found this photograph, taken where else but Moffat.

Here we have a man photographed by J. Weir with his Retriever companion. I can but speculate that the sitter enjoyed walking or rambling, wearing his tweed coat and deer stalker hat, carrying a stick. He also wears shoes deeply ridged tread, which I've never come across before.

His Retriever is old in years, greying around his face. Dog breeds in the 19th century were not nearly as refined as they are today. Hugh Dalziel and Pathfinder wrote in 1889:

I should be inclined to say that any specimen of the canine race which at first sight was not decidedly a pointer, setter, bloodhound, mastiff, sheep dog or terrier, so long as it had a suspicion of curl in its coat, a tendency to fetch and carry, and no decided aversion to water on a summer day, must be a retriever proper.

The reverse of the photograph

Sources:

• Breaking and Training Dogs, 1889 by Pathfinder & Hugh Dalziel

The Spaniel from Annan

Here were have a finely dressed old gentleman together with his small Spaniel sitting on a chair beside him. The dark wood chair contrasts nicely with the lighter coat of the dog.

With limited information there are several things which can help us to estimate the date this photograph was taken. The simple props & backdrop as well as the thin cardstock the photograph is mounted on both point to the photograph having been taken in the early 1870s.

The photographer is William Elliot Irving. He opperated his studio in Poplar Place, The High Street, Annan in Dumfries, Scotland between 1874 and 1889.

 Turn of the century view of the High Street, Annan

A Short Family History of William Elliot Irving

William was born in Annan in 1837, the second son of John the Shoemaker (born 1804) and Margaret (born abt 1799). William had an elder brother called Archibold who emigrated to Canada to become a farmer. Archibold and his wife Jennett went on to have a large family (nine children by 1881!) In comparison it would seem William never married and while working as a Photographer was still living with his parents aged 44, in 1881 along with his sister Jemina Sarah Irving who was working as the family housekeeper.

The reverse of the photograph mount, the Latin on the coat of arms "Nunquam non paratus" translated from Latin means: Never unprepared

Sources:

• Archibold Irving in the 1881 Canadian census
• William Elliot Irving in the 1881 Scotland census
• Details on William Elliot Irving in the Photographers of Great Britain and Ireland 1840-1940
• Postcard of Annan High Street
• Clan Johnstone/ Nunquam non paratus on Wikipedia

The Italian Greyhound of Aberdeen

The owner of this Italian Greyhound holds gently onto one of the dogs ears, presumably to steady it for the exposure time of the photograph.

The Italian greyhound is an ancient breed, believed to be at least 2000 years old. There are many authorities on the breed's history believe the breed was dwarfed for pet purposes from a Gazehound (hounds who hunted by "sight") of the distant past.

The Italian Greyhound was very popular with royalty, some notable Italian Greyhound owners were Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria. The exact date that the breed was introduced in England is not known, but by the Late-Victorian period the popularity of the breed reached a peak.

In 1872 Reverend Pearce wrote in his book "The Dog", "This toy dog, the most elegant, but alas! The most delicate of the small breeds, has existed from time immemorial and has always been in fashion. There is no doubt that it is simply a small specimen of the larger dog, refined and dwarfed by inbreeding and selection, and first introduced from Italy and the South of France, where they are more abundant, but not light, graceful or refined as those which are occasionally exhibited in England."

The photographer who took this image was James Wood. He was resident as a photographer at 25 Market Street, Aberdeen from 1862 to 1868, so we can date this photograph within these dates.

If you'd like to find out more about this breed I recommend Karen Thayne's excellent website: Italian-greyhound.net