This family is one of the very few that is still going strong today. It starts with this bitch that presumably was the third to be named Hamish and owned by a fancier who was quite dominant in the 1880 to 1900 period. This was Mr Panmure-Gordon who lived in a rather nice property in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Hamish was born in 1880 but again there is no record of her real date of birth.
In 1882 Hamish (what a strange name for a bitch) was mated to a dog called Bruce Boy and produced a bitch puppy by the name of Lady Bruce. We do not know any details about the breeding of Hamish 111, but we do know quite a lot about Bruce Boy the sire of Lady Bruse. I attach her pedigree here. As you can see it goes back to Trefoil, Old Cockie and Perthshire Bob This bitch line is still very dominant today with many kennels owning bitches that go all the way back to Hamish111.
Bruce Boy was line bred to Old Cockie as this dog appears on both sides of his pedigree. Also there is a bitch in the fifth generation called Lassie (Robert’s) that started a very long line up to the present day. She is at the head of my family F. Another reason I find researching so interesting and satisfying.
Lady Bruce was mated to a dog called Rockwood 11 of which I can find no details at all. But this mating produced an outstanding bitch called Molly Swan and it is she who started a prolific line of bitches that carries on today. In fact, it seems that most of the blue merles go back onto this female line. Molly Swan was the dam of Molly Swan 11 when she was mated to a dog called Paramount who again was line bred to Old Cockie as his sire was Ch Eclipse and his dam Ch Lorna Doone who must have been one of the very earliest Champion bitches although at that time the Champion Status was not recognised by The Kennel Club. Molly Swan 11 was mated to Ch Christopher that produce a wonderful bitch called Annie Swan and it is she who was the foundation bitch for the Old Hall Kennel which was the dominant kennel in Scotland at that time.
Annie Swan was the dam of Old Hall Vera who was the dam of Old Hall Grace who was bought by the Parbold Breeder who changed her name to Parbold Princess and from there we see the famous Parbold Collies come to the fore. Five generations on we come to a bitch by the name of Ch Parbold Pagoda. Her dams line ends after just two generations, but her daughter Parbold Pleasance was the dam of Parbold Paganini who was a grandson of Ch Parbold Piccolo so that even though this bitch line ended the sire line went on until a Ch Antoc Vicar of Bray great grandson son.
REVERSE PEDIGREE of: Annie Swan She was sired by Ch Cristopher
Sex: F
Date of Birth: 01/01/1888
Colour & Markings:
Owner:
+--Annie Swan
| +--CH Old Hall Venus
| | +--Old Hall Vera
| | | +--Finsbury Pilot
| | | | +--CH Rightaway
| | | | +--Old Hall Ina
| | | | +--Parkhill Pilot
| | | | +--Annandale Belle
| | | | +--Irthlingboro Afton
| | | | +--Chesterton Princess
| | | | +--Sowerby Squire
| | | | +--Birkie Punch
| | | +--Old Hall Blucher
| | | | +--CH Balgreggie Hope
| | | | +--Balgreggie Don
| | | | +--Old Hall Wenga
| | +--Parbold Princess (Old Hall Grace)
| | | +--Old Hall Ella
| | | | +--Old Hall Ina
| | | | +--Old Hall Moon
| | | | +--Ellwyn Queen
| | | +--Parbold Pink
| | | | +--Parbold Patent
| | | +--Old Hall Queen
| | | +--Old Hall Quality
Parbold Princess was also the dam of Old Hall Ella and it was she who had a big influence on the breed and was instrumental in starting another well known kennel the Ellwyn’s. Old Hall Ella was the dam of three very important early bitches. She was the dam of Old Hall Irna the dam of the famous Ch Old Hall Beatrice who is one of the Collies depicted in the famous painting by Maud Earle called Four By Honours. Beatrice only produced one bitch puppy of importance, but the line extends from her to the present day.
Pedigree of Parbold Princess (Old Hall Grace). She was the main bitch for the Old Hall kennel and the start of the famous Parbold Collies.
Now we come to Mountshannon Mona and as to why I think she should be in this very important female line. Peggy O’Mountshannon is a bitch that I suspect was in the first litter bred in this country by The Rev Salter a Methodist minister, who came from Ireland during the first World War and lived in Bridgewater, Somerset. The Kennel Club refused to register any dogs born from September 27th, 1917 until January 4th 1919. Peggy was born in 1918 so could not have been registered until she was about two years of age. I have to believe that Mountshannon Mona was a litter sister to Peggy but because of the period when she was born she was not registered and was probably sold as a puppy to the owner of the Osborne prefix as her daughter was called Osborne Beatrice which again leads me to suspect that The Rev Salter who bred Mona actually sold her as a puppy to the breeder of this bitch. I like to think that this is true because this was a blue merle line before Peggy and Mona and doing my research, I find that the vast majority of Blue Merle Rough Collies today go back in this female line to Mountshannon Mona. All this though has changed though as I have just received an article written by researcher Dareen Bridge. She came to the idea that Mountshannon Mona was actually a bitch that was registered with the Kennel Club but put on the not for competition list. She came to this idea because there were two litters born on the same day in 1918 by the same sire. Now in 1918 the Kennel Club were not registering puppies and breeding dogs was rather discouraged. The likelihood of two litters being born on the same day is highly unlikely if not impossible. She came to the conclusion that Mountshannon Mona that had not been registered was in fact the same bitch as Mountshannon Marion that was registered. Fortunately we do know some of the breeding of Marion which has enabled me to prove that this line goes back rather a long way to Hamish 111 that was born before 1880.
Rev Salter had much success in the 1920s with his blue merles and one dog Ch Mountshannon Blue Splendour won the dog CC at Crufts three times. But once this dog had retired there seems to be very little news about his owner. Some confusion has been caused because a Rough Collie Kennel in the Republic of Ireland had the prefix Mountshannon, but this was not until the 1970’s some fifty years after The Rev Salter.
Many bitches at this time were not registered yet produced registered puppies. This makes my research rather more difficult than it might have been. I have had to make an educated guess on several occasions.
DAM LINE of: Thistlewing Rising Star
Sex: F
Date of Birth: 07/02/2022
Colour & Markings: S/W
Owner:Welsh
Dam
Sire
Thistlewing Harp String ……………………………..Culbrae Red Again
Yenroc Scottish Harmany at Thistlewing ………..Karafaye Scotch Blend at Thistlewing
Samhaven Scottish Melody At Yenroc …………….Beldones Black Illusion
Samhaven Music ………………………………………Samhaven Detox
Samhaven Perfect Harmony ………………………..CH Samhaven Toast Marster
Samhaven Serina at Carriswillow …………………Samhaven Forester for Carriswillow
Treglenza Elegant Charm at Samhaven ………….CH Samhaven Addiction
Treglenza Mystique …………………………………..Brilyn Solid Gold at Aaronwell
Lanteague Magical Bliss at Treglenza …………….CH Lanteague Harvest Moon at Silvermoor
Lanteague Abracadabra at Treglenza …………….Glenvalley Lad at Treglenza
Lanteague Bewitched at Aaronwell …………..…..Lanteague Golden Harvest at Aaronwell
Brilyn Bewildered …………………………………….CH Pelido Double Fantasy
Jasida’s Love Story at Aaronwell …………………..CH Brilyn Supertramp
Jasida’s Jonquil ………………………………………..Arranbrook Hit Man
Gay Lady of Jasida ……………………………………CH Brettonpark Whatzizname
Kwintex Annastasia ………………………………….Brettonpark Bobbee Dazzler
Amoret of Aberthorne ………………………..
Allison of Aberthorne ……………………….
Arlene of Aberthorne ………………………………Drumbeat of Dunsinane
Desire of Dunsinane ………………………………..Defiant of Dunsinane
Daffodill of Dunsinane ……………………………..Dasher of Dunsinane
Ladyfox Starlight …………………………………….CH Defender of Dunsinane
Foxshot Pompey ……………………………………..Foxshot Daz-Sun
Biddy of Mellinwood …………………………….…Pearison Prefect
Lavender of Ladypark ……………………………..Crossfox Contender
Lilac of Ladypark …………………………………..Lyncliffe Lancer
Beulah’s Night Flare ……………………………….Maroel Blue Mandarin
Beulah’s Golden Fantasy ………………………….Beulah’s Nightvictorious
CH Beulah’s Golden Feather 2000SS…………….CH Beulah’s Golden Future
Beulah’s Golden Florida 1334UU…………………Knottyash Sensation
Backwoods Florabella ……………………………..Backwoods Farrier
Backwoods Folio ……………………………………Backwoods Feature
Sandbank Sylvia ……………………………………CH Freshfield Freedom
Osborne Ladyship …………………………………CH Poplar Perfection
Osborne Beatrice ……………………………
Mountshannon Marion (Mona) ………………..Mountshannon Blue Charmer
Primley Prunella …………………………………..Mountshannon Twilight
Bearwood Nell …………………………………..…King Of The Blues
Select Lassie ………………………………………..CH Seedley Stirling
Blue in Blue …………………………………………Seedley Select
Blue China …………………………………
Dainty Dollie ……………………………………….Blue Plasmon
Sprightly Lass ……………………………..
Billesley Bessie ……………………………
CH Old Hall Beatrice ………………………..
Old Hall Ina ………………………………………..Edgbaston Royal
Old Hall Ella ……………………………………….Finsbury Pilot
Parbold Princess (Old Hall Grace) ……..
CH Old Hall Venus ……………………………….Ch Portington Bar None
Annie Swan …………………………………….…Donovan II
Molly Swan 11 ………………………………….…CH Christopher
Molly Swan 16555………………………………..Paramount
Lady Bruce 16107………………………………..Rockwood II
Hamish 111 ……………………………………….Bruce Boy
With only three Champions in this line of fifty-two bitches it rather proves my point that Champion bitches are all too often not very good at producing big winners themselves. The first of the bitches in this line to produce winners was Molly Swan 11. She is in direct female line to the following Champions, Old Hall Beatrice, Old Hall Duchess, Parbold Pagoda and Barwell Beatrice. The last named had her original name changed from Marieville Marilla.
It was not until the other Champion bitch’s daughter in this line that we get a big branch off. Beulah’s Golden Fantasy was the daughter of Ch Beula’s Golden Feather. Fantasy was not only the dam of Beulah’s Night Flare in this line up but also the dam of her litter sister Beulah’s Night Flame who is at the head of a bitch line that goes right up to the 1980’s.
The bitch line of Beulah’s Night Flare goes on for nine generations before we come to the next great dam. This was a Champion bitch called Burwydne Brendenbury born on the 12th March 1964. Her sire was a dog called Burwydne Brave Ruler. This bitch was at the head of most of the Sangreat Champion Bitches. The champion bitches in this line included the following. Sangreat Sandra, Sangreat San Black N Tan, Sangreat Satteen, and her champion daughters, Ch Sangreat Softly Sentimental and Ch Sangreat Something Special. The line continues with Champions Angelfiel Habibti, a grand daughter of Sangreat Something Special, Sangreat Snow Saphire of Rubec who was the dam of Ch Rubed Snow Symphony and Ch Rubec Blue Whisper at Saredon
Once again we find that none of these Champion Bitches continued a female line for more than a couple of generations and indeed only two actually produced any winners at all. This line from Beulah’s Night Flame ends with the Rubec bitches.
The next bitch to make a mark in this line was the blue merle Lilac of Ladypark a daughter of Beulah’s Night Flare and sired by the blue merle dog Maroel Blue Mandarin. She was evidently injured soon after birth so was never shown but goes down in Collie History as one of the breeds greatest dams. She was the dam of Ch Lena of Ladypark when she was mated to Lucky of Ladypark. This mating was to be of very much importance to the Cathanbrae, Larkena and Wrenarve kennels.
In fact Ch Lena of Ladypark was even more important for the breed than her dam. Mainly through her sons which included Ch Lena’s Golden Son a prolific sire and Int Ch Libretto Of Ladypark who was exported to Teresa Garibelli in Italy.
Before he left these shores, he was used effectively on a number of bitches. I have done a reverse pedigree of Libretto which shows that he was in the pedigree of almost every kennel in this country. And a reverse pedigree of his dam Ch Lena of Ladypark results in the fact that she is in the pedigree of every modern Rough Collie. She was without a doubt one of the most important bitches ever in the breed and probably had a bigger influence on the breed than almost any of the dogs used.
An eight generation, reverse pedigree of her results in many thousands of dogs and bitches. For instance Ch Larkena Vanara Golden Victor one of the most successful sires in the breed is in her sixth generation. Further top sires that she is behind are Ch Liberty of Ladypark, Ch Westlyns Wayside Boy, and Ch Legend of Ladypark. Almost all of the Jefsfire Champions and Antoc Champions have her in their quite recent ancestors. In fact she is behind every kennel in this country and almost certainly every Rough Collie in Europe and further afar to Australia etc.
The next bitch in this line to have a mark is Desire of Dunsinane. She was behind the Aberthorne and Abbestone Collies. I have to assume that Abbestone Delecta of Dunsinane was the foundation bitch for the Abbestone kennel.
One of the most amazing points of Lilac of Ladypark is that she was at the head of at least four prominent lines that were started with three different sires. Ch Lena of Ladypark was sired by Lucky of Ladypark. Lobelia of Ladypark was sired by Westcarrs Black Bisley as was Ch Silvaseabear From Shiel and Lavendar of Ladypark was sired by Lyncliffe Lancer. I have included a 3 generation reverse pedigree of her. It is very complex.
REVERSE PEDIGREE of: Lilac of Ladypark
Sex: F
Date of Birth: 03/08/1945
Colour & Markings: B/M
Owner: Miss P M Grey
+--Lilac of Ladypark
| +--Hewburn Liquorice of Ladypark 2299AK
| | +--Starlight of Southwardedge
| | +--Leafgold of Ladypark
| | +--Lunalubra of Ladypark
| +--CH Lena of Ladypark 1329AF
| | +--Cathanbrae Crystal
| | +--CH Lena's Golden Son
| | +--Int CH Libretto of Ladypark
| | +--Valentine of Ladywell
| | +--CH Eden Rip of Ladywell
| | +--CH Lilt of Ladypark
| | +--Lyrical of Ladypark
| +--Lettuce of Ladypark
| | +--Lookout of Ladypark
| | +--Likely of Ladypark
| +--Letty of Ladypark
| | +--Chloe of Naragansette
| +--Lobelia of Ladypark
| | +--Westcarrs Blue Minerva
| | +--CH Westcarrs Blue Minoru
| | +--Windyhull Black Danube
| +--Lupin of Ladypark
| | +--Cloverfield Cobweb
| | +--Pattingham Silver Cloud
| | +--Pattingham Silver Velvet
| | +--Picture Girl of Valtura
| | +--Cloverfield Chearfull
| +--Sombreseawave From Shiel
| | +--Soloist From Shiel
| +--Silvaseadog From Shiel
| | +--Toirua's Diamond Triton
| +--Lavender of Ladypark
| | +--Biddy of Mellinwood
| +--CH Silvaseabear From Shiel
| | +--Silvacymbal From Shiel
| | +--Silvastarjoy From Shiel
| | +--Sombrestarray From Shiel
| | +--Sylvacymbal From Shiel
| | +--Silvaseagull From Shiel
| | +--Silvastartime From Shiel
| | +--Silva Seagull From Sheil
| | +--Silvasinglow From Shiel
| +--Silva Seahorse From Shiel
DAM LINE of: Jamesfair Gift Wrapped
Sex: F
Date of Birth: 06/09/1991
Colour & Markings:
Owner:
DAM SIRE
Jamesfair Precious Gift .............Steelhurst Dark Shadow
Jamesfair Sally Stocking ............CH Tameila Gordon Bennet
Jamesfair Goldilocks ................CH Mybern's Merideon
Jamesfair Truly Scrumptious .........CH Mybern's Mandane
Bernadette at Brilyn .................Damirayan the Dealer
Karbardin Jenna ......................Altricia Golden Offer
Karbardin Chantilly Lace .............CH Brettonpark Whatzizname
Bellaccoyle Spanish Lace of Kabardin. Duntiblae Brettonpark Even Chance
Bellaccoyle Dainty Girl ............CH Drum Major of Dunsinane
Bellaccoyle Ballerina ............................
Bellaccoyle Butterscotch ..............Chateauroux Ideal
Kinisa of Kinreen .....................CH Bellaccoyle Beauty
State Occasion From Shiel ........................
Soloist From Shiel ....................CH Westcarrs Whistler
Sombreseawave From Shiel ........Shiel's Beulah's Golden Viceroy
Lilac of Ladypark .......................Westcarrs Black Bisley
Beulah's Night Flare .....................Maroel Blue Mandarin
Beulah's Golden Fantasy ..............Beulah's Nightvictorious
CH Beulah's Golden Feather ...........CH Beulah's Golden Future
Beulah's Golden Florida 1334UU............Knottyash Sensation
Backwoods Florabella .....................Backwoods Farrier
Backwoods Folio ..........................Backwoods Feature
Sandbank Sylvia ...........................CH Freshfield Freedom
Osborne Ladyship ..........................CH Poplar Perfection
Osborne Beatrice .................................
Mountshannon Marion (Mona) ............Mountshannon Blue Charmer
Primley Prunella .........................Mountshannon Twilight
Bearwood Nell ............................King Of The Blues
Select Lassie ...........................CH Seedley Stirling
Blue in Blue ................................Seedley Select
Blue China .......................................
Dainty Dollie ..............................Blue Plasmon
Sprightly Lass ...................................
Billesley Bessie .................................
CH Old Hall Beatrice .............................
Old Hall Ina ...............................Edgbaston Royal
Old Hall Ella .................................Finsbury Pilot
Parbold Princess (Old Hall Grace).......
CH Old Hall Venus .......................Ch Portington Bar None
Annie Swan .................................Donovan II
Molly Swan 11 ..............................CH Christopher
Molly Swan 16555.............................Paramount
Lady Bruce 16107.............................Rockwood II
Hamish 111 .......................................Bruce Boy
Corydon Collies 