Queen Victoria was the first to see the Collie’s potential as more than just a
Shepherd’s labourer. Adding the breed to others in the Royal Establishment after admiring their cleverness whilst holidaying on her Scottish Estates and as Victorian Society invariably followed ‘The Court’ the Rough Collie quickly established itself as a pampered drawing room accessory.

This newly found position exemplified
by several famous artists who featured
the Collie in a variety of guises including
highland scenes, as fashionable
accessories, and cute chocolate box
themes, often depicting children with
collie at play, that were so popular with
Victorian and Edwardian families.

The first two images, both by popular world
renowned artists, are typical of the type of
art work which helped to maintain the
Collie’s popularity throughout the late
Victorian and the whole of the Edwardian
periods.

 

Top right — Two Collies set in a
Highland landscape by John Emms
(1843-1912) — although neither Collie is
identified it is believed the tricolour is
Ch Rutland while the sable and white,
originally considered to be a dog, is now thought to be Rutland’s daughter  Barton Sable, founding bitch of Sir Humphrey de Trafford’s Collies, and it is known that Sir Humphrey commissioned Emms to paint his English Setters.

 

Right — Well Done — this image of a family group cheering on a young equestrian who is accompanied by the family’s Collie is typical of Arthur J Elsley’s (1860-1952) work and of the popular family cult of the period.

 

Bottom right — Share & Share Alike — the Collie - Companion bond graphically illustrated in this charming image of a small child sharing her picnic with her canine friend  —  circa 1964

Popularity revived with the introduction of a new icon in the shape of the
celluloid Lassie, star of Lassie Come Home and several spin-off television
films screened in the 60s. Catapulting the Rough Collie into the top twenty
list of popular breeds where it remained for almost 60 years.

Now into the twenty-first century the Rough Collie continues to be the
canine companion of choice in many families, and with good reason. Its undemanding devotion, natural intelligence, and biddability make it ideal
for today’s fast changing society where its inherent eagerness to please
allows it to adapt to any owner’s requirements whatever they may be.
Equally content to curl around ones feet while its owner reads a book or
watches television, supervise or join in the children’s rough and tumble, or accompany the more energetic on a twenty mile hike along one of Great
Britain’s many exposed long-distance footpaths when your collie will travel
three times your own distance while investigating each bush, gate-post,
stile etc, and still be ready for the next stage long before you are.

Royal patronage continues even now although since the death of King
Edward VII’s widow, Queen Alexandra, in 1925 the Collie has enjoyed a
rather lower profile and public support for the breed took a downward turn
during the late twenties and throughout the thirties.