This is a very short line but it is extremely important because of one bitch in the line. This is Old Bess that was responsible for the introduction of so many important early Rough Collies. I wrote out an eight generation reverse pedigree of her. It went on and on. So many of the early top stud dogs were in this. She was born in 1876 and must have been one of the very first true Rough Collies as they were not known by that name at The Kennel Club until about 1874. She was bred and owned by Mr Wheeler who describes her as one of the most important bitches in his book on the breed. In hindsight she was extremely important. For instance she was the g.g.grand dam of Ch Metchley Wonder. He appears on several occasions in this pedigree. The following very important pillars of the breed can also be traced back to her. Ch Ormskirk Emerald, Ch Sefton Hero, Ch Southport Perfection and Ch Christopher are just some of them.
DAM LINE of: Dudley Scarlet
Sex: F
DAM
Lady Muriel 1 ………………………………Edgbaston Fox
Purity …………………………………….Hopscotch
Lady Scot ………………………………….Smuggler
Nesta Wheeler) ……………………………..Guy’s Cliffe
Old Bess (Wheeler) ………………………….Duncan
Midge ……………………………………..Carlyle
Gyp (Bissell) ………………………………Old Cockie
Lassie (Ashwin) …………………………….Old Cockie
Yet another family starting off with a bitch called Lassie. She was bred and owned by Mr M C Ashwin and born in 1873. Mr Wheeler really liked her as he describes her as being on the active side with a good coat and a really pleasing head. Mr Ashwin was one of the stalwarts of the breed in the very early days of dog showing. Lassie produced three bitches that went on to produce lines themselves. These were Gyp a sable and white, Gypsy owned by a Mr Heaton and most importantly Elcho owned by a Mr James and this bitch was a tricolour sired by Trefoil. Lassie was also important being the dam of a dog called Clydesdale who was an important sire at this time. This line just reaches the eleven generation limit that I have for this book, but the line is rather important. An eight generation reverse pedigree of Lassie shows what an important influence she had on the future generations of the breed. And of course, Ch Metchley Wonder is there in the eighth generation. He does seem to appear in almost all of these bitch lines. He is also in the eighth generation of her daughter called Gyp that was owned by another of the major early breeders Mr J Bissel. Gyp was sired by Old Cockie so was obviously sable and white in colour. Mr Wheeler was not too fond of her as he says she was cloddy with very slack ears. But she did breed on. A third daughter to breed on was called Gypsy owned by a Mr Heaton. She bred on mainly through the male line as that famous dog CH Great Gun was in her 7th generation.
Lassie did produce a couple of very well known dogs as well. The first was one of the very first Champions called Cocksie. Named after his sire, Old Cockie, but not as good. Mr Wheeler did not like him and could not understand how he got his title. (Yes, it happened in those days as well) Her other son of note was called Clydesdale and he was much better than his Champion brother according to Wheeler. He was proved right because Clydesdale did breed on. His brother Cocksie did not.
Mr Ashwin Lassies breeder was an important breeder in the early days of Rough Collie development. His other bitch of note was Meg (Ashwin’s). Once again, I had to add his name to the bitch as others were also called Meg And it is this bitch that will go down as being very important because she was the dam of Maud when she was mated to Old Cockie, the first important sable and white bitch. She is highlighted in the first family chapter AA
Lassie’s daughter Gyp who was a sable and white because her sire was Old Cockie, was her most important daughter as she was the granddam of a bitch called Old Bess. A tricolour that was bred and owned by Wheeler. He naturally says many complimentary points about her. However, she did prove to be of great significance for the breed as she had many offspring that were to enhance the breed. She was sired by a dog called Carlyle and he was out of Roberts Lassie from Family F so tying up the two lines. I printed out an eight generation reverse pedigree of her. I thought of putting it here but it covered nearly twenty pages. Almost every important Collie was in this pedigree. She did have a great influence on the breed, and I have to say that every Rough Collie in the World today will have her as an ancestor.
I think that all of the important sires of the late 1800’s were descended from Old Bess. For instance, her great, great Grandson Ch Metchley Wonder is in every male line. And looking more closely we find that almost all of the bitch lines also trace back to her. She had two sons that were just four generations away from Ch Metchley Wonder. She was the dam of a Champion bitch called Lorna Doone. Another daughter called Floss is behind the early Westcarrs blue merles.
I have to wonder what the breed would look like today if Old Bess had not been a good producer and dam. The great pity is that there are no photographs nor pictures of this great bitch.
Corydon Collies 