The White Collie has seemed to be a subject
of much controversy in dog dom all through the history of the breed.
Apparently the show-going and the dog-loving public has a weakness for this color.
One always finds the space around a white Collie's bench crowded.
In the early history of the breed there was a very definite prejudice against
the color; indeed, Charles H. Wheeler, the eminent English Collie authority of the last
century, (1800's) stated that in the early days of the Collie's development 'the fanciful
taste was for dogs in color back and tan, with little or no white, the absence of white
being a much prized feature, which, accordingly fixed a higher estimate of monetary value.
The erroneous belief went forth that, as regard color, the lack of white denoted purity of
breed, and even at a period hardly so remote, the same misconception was prevalent
in the United States.
In spite of this 'erroneous belief' mentioned by Mr. Wheeler, solidly blank and tan,
or sable, solidly black and tan, or sable.
The Lily made her place in Collie history both for her individual merit and the illustrious
line of descendants she has left. She was born in 1881 and described as "in color white,
with sable marking on face. She was a nicely built, racy-looking bitch, with a passable head
nd a close coat, but not enough of it."
She was the litter sister of the sable and white, Ch Flurry I (dam of Ch. Flurry II), Flurry I being descried as
having a "head brimful of character and tiny ears; but her coat, although of a good class, was a bit short." Ch.
Flurry II, along with her daughter and her own full brother, Ch. The Squire, were imported by Mr. Mitchell
Harrison, who owned, showed, and bred a great number of the country's best of the Collie breed. So he must
have felt this line worthy of perpetuation.
Scottish Fancier was another of the early whites worthy of mention. He is described as "a large handsome
tricolour, with very small, beautifully carried ears...In colour he is all white with the exception of his head, which
is black and tan with a blaze up the face and a black spot on his off hip." This white dog was pictured in The
Scottish Fancier and Rural Gazette under date of December 1887, and at Glamis that same year he was
exhibited, winning first and a cup in a class of thirty-six! This, you will observe, was more than sixty years ago.
(This was actually 120 years ago!)
Katherine Lee Bates, in one of her books, describes a white collie, Sigurd, whose pedigree she gives as
being by Barwell Ralph, a full brother to the immortal Ch. Ormskirk Emerald, being by Heather Ralph and
Aughton Bessie, who was daughter of Ch. Edgbaston Marvel, a son of Ch. Christopher, by Metchley Wonder.
Aughton Bessie's dam was Wellsbourne Ada, by Great Alne Douglas, a son of Metchley Wonder. The litter
containing Ch. Ormskirk Emerald, Barwell Ralph, etc., having been born in 1894, would place the age of
Sigurd as somewhat younger.
It is through the Metchley Wonder line that The Lily's blood has been perpetuated, and it is Metchley Wonder
we can credit as the source of the white Collie today, as he is recognized by the fancy. We have had in
America many representatives of the Metchley Wonder line imported from abroad, not all of which would carry
the white genes, this having to be proven through experimentation, but all to be considered potential material
for the production of the legitimate, color-marked white.
Metchley Wonder was himself a broadly marked, bright sable, whelped in 1886. His sire was the tricolor
Sefton, and his dam the sable and white Minnie. Sefton was a son the broadly marked, bright sable, Ch.
Charlemagne, who was credited with siring whites. Charlemagne himself, like his own sire, being the product
of a tri sire (Trefoil) out of a sable and white dam (Maude), daughter of Old Cockie, sable, and Meg, tri.
Sefton's dam, Ch. Madge, was a tri from the two sparsely marked tricolors, Ch. Marcus and Ruby III. Ruby III
also being a daughter of a pair described as merely "black and tan".
Metchley Wonder's dam, Minnie, was a sable and white daughter of Loafer (sable son of Chang and The Lily),
Minnie's dam, like herself, being also a sable and white, Catrine.
The Lily was a daughter of Trevor, sable and white litter brother to Ch. Charlemagne. The Lily's dam was the
tri, Hasty, by the black and tan, Ch. Carlyle, out of Glen, a daughter of Trefoil, sire of Ch. Charlemagne.
Catrine was a daughter of Bonnie Laddie, (by Duncan ex Old Bess); Duncan a son of the tricolor, Scott, ex
Lufra, also tri. Catrine's dam was Bonnie Greta, by the sable and white dog, Druce (full brother to Bonnie
Laddie) out of the blue, Hunt's Lassie. Thus it will be seen that the blood which produced The Lily was
predominantly sable, although some of the tricolors appearing on her pedigree were partly of merle ancestry.
Undoubtedly, it is to the paternal line through Ch. Charlemagne, and the maternal line through The Lily, that
Metchley Wonder's white producing ability must be attributed.
We must conclude, however, that many of the early whites were not allowed to survive, due to the prejudice
against the color which existed during this certain period of the development of the breed and as a
consequence probably only a small percentage lived to popularize the color during this period of Collie history
and to bring down to later generations of the fancy the full value of the lines capable of producing the white
color.
The prejudice which still exists against the white color is collies is undoubtedly partly a carry-over of this
ancient prejudice, and partly due to the all-white, alien type of Collie which was all the fancy knew in the early
1900's. It must always be remembered, however, that the color-bred, color-marked white is not a new color in
the breed, but merely a revival of one of the oldest of the Collie colors. As yet there are only a few authentically
bred, show-type white in America; by far the majority are of questionable origin, many derived from the
all-white stock which savors strongly of the infusion of alien blood, judging from the persistence with which a
certain type manifests itself in this variety. The healthy sign regarding the white variety is that no longer is a
white Collie's value measured by the freedom from any color. The all-white as apparently gone, not only into
the limbo of "forgotten" things, but also "verboten".
of much controversy in dog dom all through the history of the breed.
Apparently the show-going and the dog-loving public has a weakness for this color.
One always finds the space around a white Collie's bench crowded.
In the early history of the breed there was a very definite prejudice against
the color; indeed, Charles H. Wheeler, the eminent English Collie authority of the last
century, (1800's) stated that in the early days of the Collie's development 'the fanciful
taste was for dogs in color back and tan, with little or no white, the absence of white
being a much prized feature, which, accordingly fixed a higher estimate of monetary value.
The erroneous belief went forth that, as regard color, the lack of white denoted purity of
breed, and even at a period hardly so remote, the same misconception was prevalent
in the United States.
In spite of this 'erroneous belief' mentioned by Mr. Wheeler, solidly blank and tan,
or sable, solidly black and tan, or sable.
The Lily made her place in Collie history both for her individual merit and the illustrious
line of descendants she has left. She was born in 1881 and described as "in color white,
with sable marking on face. She was a nicely built, racy-looking bitch, with a passable head
nd a close coat, but not enough of it."
She was the litter sister of the sable and white, Ch Flurry I (dam of Ch. Flurry II), Flurry I being descried as
having a "head brimful of character and tiny ears; but her coat, although of a good class, was a bit short." Ch.
Flurry II, along with her daughter and her own full brother, Ch. The Squire, were imported by Mr. Mitchell
Harrison, who owned, showed, and bred a great number of the country's best of the Collie breed. So he must
have felt this line worthy of perpetuation.
Scottish Fancier was another of the early whites worthy of mention. He is described as "a large handsome
tricolour, with very small, beautifully carried ears...In colour he is all white with the exception of his head, which
is black and tan with a blaze up the face and a black spot on his off hip." This white dog was pictured in The
Scottish Fancier and Rural Gazette under date of December 1887, and at Glamis that same year he was
exhibited, winning first and a cup in a class of thirty-six! This, you will observe, was more than sixty years ago.
(This was actually 120 years ago!)
Katherine Lee Bates, in one of her books, describes a white collie, Sigurd, whose pedigree she gives as
being by Barwell Ralph, a full brother to the immortal Ch. Ormskirk Emerald, being by Heather Ralph and
Aughton Bessie, who was daughter of Ch. Edgbaston Marvel, a son of Ch. Christopher, by Metchley Wonder.
Aughton Bessie's dam was Wellsbourne Ada, by Great Alne Douglas, a son of Metchley Wonder. The litter
containing Ch. Ormskirk Emerald, Barwell Ralph, etc., having been born in 1894, would place the age of
Sigurd as somewhat younger.
It is through the Metchley Wonder line that The Lily's blood has been perpetuated, and it is Metchley Wonder
we can credit as the source of the white Collie today, as he is recognized by the fancy. We have had in
America many representatives of the Metchley Wonder line imported from abroad, not all of which would carry
the white genes, this having to be proven through experimentation, but all to be considered potential material
for the production of the legitimate, color-marked white.
Metchley Wonder was himself a broadly marked, bright sable, whelped in 1886. His sire was the tricolor
Sefton, and his dam the sable and white Minnie. Sefton was a son the broadly marked, bright sable, Ch.
Charlemagne, who was credited with siring whites. Charlemagne himself, like his own sire, being the product
of a tri sire (Trefoil) out of a sable and white dam (Maude), daughter of Old Cockie, sable, and Meg, tri.
Sefton's dam, Ch. Madge, was a tri from the two sparsely marked tricolors, Ch. Marcus and Ruby III. Ruby III
also being a daughter of a pair described as merely "black and tan".
Metchley Wonder's dam, Minnie, was a sable and white daughter of Loafer (sable son of Chang and The Lily),
Minnie's dam, like herself, being also a sable and white, Catrine.
The Lily was a daughter of Trevor, sable and white litter brother to Ch. Charlemagne. The Lily's dam was the
tri, Hasty, by the black and tan, Ch. Carlyle, out of Glen, a daughter of Trefoil, sire of Ch. Charlemagne.
Catrine was a daughter of Bonnie Laddie, (by Duncan ex Old Bess); Duncan a son of the tricolor, Scott, ex
Lufra, also tri. Catrine's dam was Bonnie Greta, by the sable and white dog, Druce (full brother to Bonnie
Laddie) out of the blue, Hunt's Lassie. Thus it will be seen that the blood which produced The Lily was
predominantly sable, although some of the tricolors appearing on her pedigree were partly of merle ancestry.
Undoubtedly, it is to the paternal line through Ch. Charlemagne, and the maternal line through The Lily, that
Metchley Wonder's white producing ability must be attributed.
We must conclude, however, that many of the early whites were not allowed to survive, due to the prejudice
against the color which existed during this certain period of the development of the breed and as a
consequence probably only a small percentage lived to popularize the color during this period of Collie history
and to bring down to later generations of the fancy the full value of the lines capable of producing the white
color.
The prejudice which still exists against the white color is collies is undoubtedly partly a carry-over of this
ancient prejudice, and partly due to the all-white, alien type of Collie which was all the fancy knew in the early
1900's. It must always be remembered, however, that the color-bred, color-marked white is not a new color in
the breed, but merely a revival of one of the oldest of the Collie colors. As yet there are only a few authentically
bred, show-type white in America; by far the majority are of questionable origin, many derived from the
all-white stock which savors strongly of the infusion of alien blood, judging from the persistence with which a
certain type manifests itself in this variety. The healthy sign regarding the white variety is that no longer is a
white Collie's value measured by the freedom from any color. The all-white as apparently gone, not only into
the limbo of "forgotten" things, but also "verboten".
The following article is from the book
The Complete Collie
by Milo G. Denlinger
3rd Edition, New Material, 1949
The Complete Collie
by Milo G. Denlinger
3rd Edition, New Material, 1949
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" The White Collie - History of the White Collie "
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by Grace Seaman, USA
