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CAIRN TERRIER BREED COUNCIL
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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 |
