The Cairn Terrier Breed Historian

The Historian Records comprises of ongoing data originally devised by Mr Alex Fisher MBE, who developed a system of recording all Challenge Certificate winners since 1912.

    The seven volumes of Challenge Certificate (CC’s) records consist of the name of every Championship Show where Cairns are exhibited and CC’s awarded. Also includes name of judge, the dog & bitch winners with their owner’s/ breeders. It includes wherever possible Stud Book Numbers, Line & Family and a five-generation pedigree. Perhaps further explanation on Lines and Families is appropriate.

    Dr. Rosslyn Bruce was a noted terrier man, and succeeded in persuading  some of the top terrier breeders of the late 1920’s to

adapt the Bruce Lowe System of annotating the pedigrees of racehorses to their respective terrier breeds.

      Ruth Parker Tucker, Breed Historian

    The Rev. and Mrs Casperz were the enthusiasts who adapted the system to Cairns and Scotties. Rev Casperz published the groundwork by researching and annotating all Cairns champions and C.C winners up to the end of 1933.

    The system came under much criticism as it is not based on scientific facts. The idea of the system is to provide a code whereby the dominant sires and dams can be traced back to their origins, thereby projecting a way forward through ongoing generation to present breeding trends in a user-friendly manner.

 

    The LINE is the top line of a pedigree and is known by letters. The Founder of a LINE was given the initial letter of the name of the earliest traceable male Cairn. Branches have been added to some LINES where it was thought that a particular male had made influence on the breed. For example -Gillie of Hyver was a LINE D male – traceable back to Founder Duan. When it was decided that he had contributed to the breed G for Gillie was added and his direct descendants became known as LINE DG. Splinter’s of Twobees was a LINE DG male and as it was considered that he had an influence on the breed his direct descendants became LINE DGS.

    The FAMILY is the bottom line of a pedigree and is known by figures.  The Founder of a FAMILY was given a number. By tracing the bitches back daughter to dam along the bottom line of the pedigree to the foundation dam, i.e. the tail female line. The lower the number the earlier the ability of that particular family was proven.

    To fully understand this system, it is essential to study the chapter written in the Cairn Bible, meaning The Cairn Terrier book, J.W.H Beynon & Alex Fisher MBE. This book through the years has been revised by Peggy Wilson (Felshott prefix) and then again in the 7th edition by Doreen (Bunty) Proudlock (Seltirk prefix). I do not intend to copy what is already published in this latest edition as it’s freely available to those who would like to explore the subject further.

    Alex Fisher devoted his time to formulating records of every Cairn C.C winner to a five-generation pedigree and every entry in The K C Stud books to three generations in alphabetical order. He also incorporated the Lines & Family annotations. These records are in custody of the Breed Historian and can be freely available for all to review. Though now it’s proving an impossible task of maintaining all the pedigrees as people either forget or do not understand the importance of forwarding such documents. Please when you win a CC please forward a copy of the pedigree so it can be placed on the relevant page.                                                                                            

    In the same volume there is an alphabetical index of each CC winner where the Cairn has an individual  number which can be used to cross reference against the shows and create a list under the CC winner of the show and judge. This formulates an easy record of all the individuals wins.

    The Cairn Breed Records do not belong to any said club or person. Originally, they belonged jointly to the Cairn Terrier Association, The Cairn Terrier Club and The Southern Cairn Terrier Club. Now in the present day the records are considered joint property of all six Cairn Clubs, the three original clubs and The North of Ireland CTC, the South Wales and West of England CTC and the Midland CTC.

  These volumes of records at present are held in custody of the current Breed Historian, alongside many boxes of various memorabilia. The latest box to join the collection was from the well renowned Felshott kennels. These contents have already been meticulously indexed and include their visitors book dating from 1947 to 1978 which contain many well-known cairn breeders of the past. These boxes can be made freely available to view via appointment.

    The ultimate aim is now to move forward by sorting and categorising the contents of each box using digital technology. Any duplicates can be offered to interested persons. The overall purpose is to create a website to make the collection accessible to everyone worldwide. This daunting task will be undertaken by interested Cairn experts and with some assistance from The Kennel Club.

    I can only stress the importance of CC owners forwarding copies of pedigrees in order to maintain these most valuable records.

 

Ruth Parker Tucker

Email ruth.mordue@btinternet.com