Description: Scottish Deerhound, Fernhill’s Kendra
Source: Fernhill website
Date: 12:38, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
Author: Linda Lindt/Richard Hawkins
Used with permission: Linda Lindt Photographer

Actually, most Scots just say “dog” especially in modern times, but some accents change it a bit. Many types of dogs come from Scotland, and nearly all are working breeds. Any dog that can be trained to deal with sheep is priceless to a Shepard. The dog pictured is a deerhound, most likely a hunting dog.

As one of my readers recognized, the banner across the top of the site is in fact the tartan of the Clan Urquhart, who willingly adopted me after my mother married into the family. Clans generally start when someone does some thing brave and extraordinary. In the Urquhart Clan, a dog was just as important as the person.

The founder of our clan. Conachar Mor, scion of the Royal House of Ulster, was a mighty hunter. His faithful hunting dog was very old and probably in pain. Mor was considering putting the dog down. An old woman warned against this, saying that the dog still had a role to play. Sure enough, the two were out walking one day and encountered an angry wild boar. The situation was dire, for usually it took ten or twenty men to take down a boar with special weapons, and even then some were wounded in the process.

The boar charged, and no amount of bravery on Mor’s part did much good. The dog flew into action, forgetting any pain, and took down the boar enough for it to be killed. The dog died after the struggle, protecting his master. Hundreds of years later we remember them both.

Check out here for a more detailed version of the story.