Border collie origin: where the breed's name and lines began

Part 1

What the word border actually refers to

Border collies originate in the region of the Anglo-Scottish border, and they descend from the traditional sheepdogs once found across the British Isles. The breed's name most likely comes from this same border country.

The word collie is older than the breed name border collie and comes from the Scots language. Some writers have argued that collie traces back to an old Celtic word meaning useful, while others link it to an Anglo-Saxon word for black.

Part 2

Old hemp and the foundation of the modern bloodline

Many border collies today can be traced back to a single dog named Old Hemp. Old Hemp was born in September 1893 in West Woodburn, Northumberland, and he was bred by a shepherd named Adam Telfer. His parents were Roy, a loose-eyed dog with a good-natured temperament, and Meg, a strong-eyed, reticent sheepdog. Hemp worked sheep quietly, using a fixed stare rather than barking, and shepherds later called this trait the eye.

This quiet, low style became known as the Border Collie style and spread through the breed within a few generations. Telfer said Hemp flashed like a meteor across the sheepdog horizon, and Hemp went on to sire around two hundred pups. Old Hemp was later entered into the International Sheep Dog Society's stud book as its ninth entry, out of a book that would eventually list around three hundred thousand dogs. Between 1906 and 1951, every one of the twenty-nine dogs that won the International Sheepdog Championship was descended from him.

Part 3

The role of sheepdog trials in fixing the type

The earliest recorded sheepdog trial in Britain was held at Bala in Wales in 1873. Ten dogs competed there in front of two or three hundred spectators, and crowds grew to more than two thousand people by 1875. Border collies have traditionally been bred for working ability, not for how they looked. That is different from show-ring breeds, where the Kennel Club's collie took on a different, standardized appearance after entering the show ring in 1860.

Part 4

How the name became official

The International Sheep Dog Society was formed in 1906 by English and Scottish shepherds, with the goal of improving the shepherd's dog and the management of stock. In 1915, James Reid, the Society's secretary, first used the name to separate these working dogs from the Kennel Club's collie, which had developed its different, standardized look after the 1860 show ring split. Old Hemp himself was later given a stud book entry, listed as the ninth entry in the International Sheep Dog Society's records.

1. 1873: the first recorded sheepdog trial in Britain took place at Bala, Wales.
2. 1893: Old Hemp was born in West Woodburn, Northumberland.
3. 1906: the International Sheep Dog Society was formed by English and Scottish shepherds.
4. 1915: James Reid first used the name border collie to separate these dogs from the Kennel Club's collie.

Part 5

What genetic and historical research says about ancestry

Some accounts trace herding dogs in Britain back much further, to dogs the Romans brought to control livestock, later mixed with smaller herding dogs introduced by Viking settlers. Written references to sheepdogs working by voice and whistle in Britain go back to around 1570, and a 1790 book included a drawing and description of a black-and-white shepherd's dog similar to today's border collie.