Extinct Animals From The Isle of Man - Manx Sheepdog

Manx Sheepdog

The Manx sheepdog was a breed of sheepdog from the Isle of Man that is now extinct. Little is known about the breed except that it had a remarkable "ability to 'hould' or separate and immobilise, any sheep which was pointed out" (W. Walter Gill).

The following extract is believed to have been written by a Ms. A. L. J. Gosset;

"Shepherd Caley of Ramsey tells us that the old Manx sheep-dog was a "holding," not a driving dog. It kept to heel, and when a particular sheep was wanted, the shepherd would point to it and say in Manx, "There, Spring, go and hold that rough fellow," and the dog would seize the sheep behind the neck, throw it down, and hold it with his paws, never hurting it. These dogs are now extinct in the island; they did not work the sheep as the collie does. They are described as smooth—haired, of various colours, very big and strong. Dr. Tellet of Ramsey writes : "I recollect having seen one of these dogs about sixty years ago, which belonged to an old man who lived near Ramsey. It was smooth-haired, and my impression is that it was about the size of a Scotch deerhound, coloured black, grey and tan—the tan so intiniately mixed with the grey in parts as to produce a rust colour. I see the colour in the dogs we have now, a number of which are descendants of crosses between the dog in question and the Scotch collie..."

It continues..."I have heard my father say that the Manx dog was only a holding dog. A few days ago I was talking to an old shepherd, who described the way it threw the sheep down." Miss Sophia Morrison of Peel writes : "Some years ago a Manx shepherd told me some wonderful tales of an old sheep-dog. This shepherd used to go to the mountains with his father to look after the sheep, and his father had only to point his finger at any one sheep in the flock and say, ‘Grein yn nane shoh, Coly’ (‘Seize that one, Coly’ the sheep on to their backs and kept them down until the shepherd came to them. This old shepherd did not think that these were native sheep-dogs, but that they had had special training to make them "houl’ers." An authority in the island remarks "that if there had been a breed peculiar to the Isle of Man, some of the historians who wrote about the native pony, sheep, and cat would have mentioned it. They were probably introduced by the Norsemen, and existed in other places in the United Kingdom at the same time, i.e. about fifty or sixty years ago, and were only sheep-dogs by special training."...

It continues... "Ralph Fleesh tells us that the dog applies his mouth to the wool as well as his paws to the neck, but the skin of the sheep is never injured; adding, "To upset a sheep is a mistake, since the process involves a shock that some times leaves bad results. I knew a ‘beardie’ collie named ‘Roy ‘—one of the heroes of his day—who could hold up any sheep without upsetting it. He was a powerfully built dog, and so by seizing the wool of the sheep’s neck, and meeting by quick movements every effort of his charge, his strength and weight being a sufficient barrier, complete victory was easily and promptly achieved." There are local shepherds’ dogs in various districts in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, as well as in the Isle of Man, but these local breeds cannot be regarded as distinct, since they lack uniformity of type." (A. L. J. Gosset Shepherds of Britain: Scenes from Shepherd Life London:Constable 1911)