In a Cheshire Garden: Natural History NotesEgerton-Warburton, Geoffrey
History
In a Cheshire Garden: Natural History Notes
Egerton-Warburton, Geoffrey
Natural History -- England -- Cheshire; Natural history -- Outdoor books
A white terrier that we had for ten years from 1888 used to associate
words with ideas even when spoken in ordinary conversation and not
directly to him. For instance, if he was lying apparently asleep before
the fire, and we happened in talking without reference to him to
mention any words that he knew, such as "dog," or "carriage," or
"walk," he would look up or perhaps just wag his tail.
The same dog had a wonderful gift of reckoning time. He knew Sunday
perfectly well, and he knew it the first thing in the morning, before
anything had been done to mark it as different from other days.
Generally he would lie on the rug at breakfast time and be quite alert
afterwards and on the watch to go out with us, but on Sundays he went
straight to his basket when we came down and did not move or look up
when breakfast was over. From very early days he used to go with my
wife to afternoon Sunday School. He knew exactly the time when she
ought to get ready to start, and if then she didn't move he would get
up and go to her, and he gave her no peace until she went to dress.
When he arrived at the school he would curl himself up on an old shawl
in a corner of the room, and until the Lord's Prayer before the final
grace of the dismissal prayers he would not stir. Directly he heard the
Lord's Prayer, he would get up in readiness, but he never left his
corner until the prayers were finished. On one Sunday in the month
there was catechising in the Church, instead of Sunday school, and Snap
was wont to be shut up by himself in the schoolroom until the service
was over. This he didn't much care for, and often when he had started
joyously as usual for his walk to the school, three-quarters of a mile
away, as soon as he came near enough to hear the church bell ringing,
he quietly turned round and went home. When he had been with us for
about eight years we took him to London for several weeks. He made the
best of it, and seemed to enjoy himself in a way, but it was almost
pathetic to see the change directly we got out of the train on our way
back. We had to drive three miles in a fly, and though Snap's place was
at the bottom under our feet, as soon as we got within a mile of home,
he seemed to know the smell of the country and was all excitement, and
when he found himself really at home he was quite beside himself with
joy and did not rest until he had visited in turn every familiar nook
and corner in the garden, then he threw himself down on his own rug in
his own house with a sigh of relief and satisfaction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account