Gracehaven--Historic Collies

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Historic Collies

Years ago farm collies were common on many farms. The terms collie and shepherd were used interchangeably, as can be seen in the picture to the right. See a comparison of an old collie and English Shepherd. You may also want to read about English Shepherds.

Vintage illustrations of collies are fascinating to study; or, here are some of the same pictures but easier to view (encore editions has more).

On the left you see illustrations from Beatrix Potter's Jemima Puddleduck.† These are faithful portraits of Beatrix Potter's favorite collie, Kep, who worked with her sheep at Hill Top and other farms in the beautiful Lake District. Note the head shape, sturdy build, and large eyes. (Click on thumbnails to enlarge the other pictures).

Silverton Bobbie is the name of a Scotch collie that looks very like the early collies also. There is a picture inside this book of Silverton Bobbie, that shows a great resemblance to our Ginny. Scotch collies also look very much like the old type of farm collies, which makes sense, since collies originated in Scotland.

For those of you who have not read the books by Albert Payson Terhune, you are missing a treat. They

are classified as fiction, but they are based upon real collies and real stories. The most well-known one is Lad: A Dog, which is one of the most-loved books about a collie, besides that of Eric Knight's Lassie Come-Home. See these photographs of the historic Sunnybank collies bred by Terhune. And here are some more...

Here you see some Rockwell paintings featuring old-fashioned farm collies:

Normal Rockwell, 1948

Normal Rockwell, 1954

In the 1948 illustration, note the older type of farm collie with the rounded head, definite stop at the eyes, and the large eyes. Eye shape is round, and placement is different to the small, even tiny, modern eye-set of today. A similar type of farm collie is portrayed in the 1954 illustration, depicting a broad, rounded backskull, and large, expressive eyes. It is likely that these collies had a shorter, denser coat which was highly practical. Both collies appear to have been a common part of the American farm scene at that time period.

This 1940 Lassie Come-Home book illustration by Marguerite Kirmse, looks like our Bruce. You can also see a modern version here:

1940 illustration of Eric Knight's Lassie Come Home