Many years ago, when turnpikes were first established in Scotland,
a countryman was employed by the laird of Coll to go to Glasgow and
Edinburgh on certain business, and furnished with a small shelty to
ride upon. Being stopped at the gate near Dunbarton, the messenger
good-humoredly asked the keeper if he would be required to pay toll,
should he pass through carrying a burthen; and upon the man answering
“Certainly not,” he took up the horse in his arms, and carried him
through the toll-bar, to the great amusement of the gate-keeper.
A gentleman, some time ago, was presented with one of these handsome
little animals, which was no less docile than elegant, and measured
only seven hands or twenty-eight inches in height. He was anxious
to convey his present home as speedily as possible, but, being at a
considerable distance, was at a loss how to do so most easily. The
friend said, “Can you not carry him in your chaise?” He made the
experiment, and the shelty was lifted into it, covered up with the
apron, and some bits of bread given him to keep him quiet. He lay quite
peaceable till he reached his destination; thus exhibiting the novel
spectacle of a horse riding in a gig.
A little girl, the daughter of a gentleman in Warwickshire, England,
playing on the banks of a canal which runs through his grounds, had the
misfortune to fall in, and would in all probability have been drowned,
had not a little pony, which had long been kept in the family, plunged
into the stream and brought the child safely ashore, without the
slightest injury. The engraving at the head of this article exhibits
this interesting scene.
A gentleman had a white pony, which became extremely attached to a
little dog that lived with him in the stable, and whenever the horse
was rode out, the dog always ran by his side. One day, when the groom
took out the pony for exercise, and accompanied as usual by his canine
friend, they met a large dog, who attacked the diminutive cur, upon
which the horse reared, and, to the astonishment of the bystanders, so
effectually fought his friend’s battle with his fore feet, that the
aggressor found it his interest to scamper off at full speed, and
never again ventured to assail the small dog.
Shelties sometimes attain a great age. There was in the small village
of Haddington, Eng., a very small black pony, not exceeding eleven
hands high, of the Shetland breed, which in the year 1745, at only
two years of age, was rode at the battle of Preston Pans, by a young
gentleman, who afterwards sold it to a farmer near Dunbar. This pony,
at forty-seven years of age, looked remarkably fresh; trotted eight
miles an hour for several miles together; had a very good set of teeth;
eat corn and hay well; was able to go a long journey; and had not,
to appearance, undergone the least alteration, either in galloping,
trotting, or walking, for twenty years preceding.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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