Post by EbonyPatriot on May 16, 2011 23:36:13 GMT -5
“Wherefore, as Lad reared to meet Rex’s lunge, Wolf hurled himself like a fury whirlwind upon the old dog’s flanks, burying his white teeth in the muscles of lower leg.
The flank attack bowled Lad completely over. There was no chance now for such a fall as would enable him to spring up again unscathed. He was thrown heavily upon his back, and both his murderers plunged at his unguarded throat and lower body.
But a collie thrown is not a collie beaten, as perhaps I have said once before. For thirty seconds or more the three thrashed about in the snow in a growling, snarling, right unloving embrace. Then, by some miracle, Lad was on his feet again.
His throat had a new and deep wound, perilously close to the jugular. His stomach and left side were slashed as with razor blades. But he was up. And even in that moment of dire stress- with both dogs flinging himself upon him afresh- he gained another yard or two in his line of retreat.
He might have gained still more ground. For his assailants, leaping at the same instant, collided and impeded the other’s charge. But, for the first time the wise old brain clouded, and the hero heart went sick, as Lad saw his own loved and spoiled son ranged against him in the murder fray. He could not understand. Loyalty was as much a part of himself as were his sorrowful brown eyes or his tiny white forepaws. And Wolf’s amazing treachery seemed to numb the old warrior, body and mind.
…But the house was still nearly a furlong off, and Lad was well-nigh dead. His body was one mass of wounds. His strength was turned to water. His breath was gone. His bloodshot eyes were dim. His brain was dizzy and refused its office. Loss of blood had weakened him full as much as had the tremendous exertion of the battle.
Yet-uselessly now- he continued to fight. It was grotesquely futile resistance. The other dogs were all over him- tearing, slashing, at will- unhindered by his puny effort to fend them off. The slaughter-time had come. Drunk with blood and fury, the assailants plunged at him for the last time.
Down went Lad, helplessly beneath the murderous avalanche that overwhelmed him. And the time his body flatly refused to obey the grim command of his will. The fight was over- the good, good fight of a white-souled paladin against hopeless odds.
… As no summons at bell or knocker followed Bruce’s announcement, the Mistress opened the front door and looked out. The dusk was falling, but it was not too dark for her to have seen the approach of anyone, nor was it too for the Mistress to see two dogs tearing at something that lay hidden from her view in the deep snow a hundred yards away. She recognized Rex and Wolf at once and amusedly wondered with what they were playing with.
Then from the depth of snow beneath them she saw a feeble head rear itself- a glorious head, though torn and bleeding- a head that waveringly lunged towards Rex’s throat.
“They’re-they’re killing- Lad!” she cried in stark, unbelieving horror. Forgetful of thin dress and thinner slippers, she ran toward the trio. Halfway to the battlefield the Master passed by her, running and lurching through the knee-high snow at something like record speed.
She heard his shout. And at sound of it she saw Wolf slink away from the slaughter like a scared schoolboy. But Rex was too far gone in the murder-lust to heed the shout…”
-Albert Payson Terhune, “In the Day of Battle,” Lad: A Dog
Not all rough collie stories are about Lassie. (In fact, the first Lassie story was serialized in 1938; movies would also come before the television show). Starting in 1917, some other famous collies entered the entertainment field. I first read these books when I was little and they’ve been my favorites ever since.
These are the collie stories of Albert Payson Terhune www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_bruce_lad_wolf.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Terhune1.jpg Terhune (1872-1942) was a newspaper writer in his estate, Sunnybank, in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Sunnybank-House-1898.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Corner_of_Sunnybank.jpg
For a while he had wanted to write about dogs, especially his beloved collies, but it wasn’t until years had passed that he finally got a publisher to accept his stories. Terhune’s first collie tales were wildly popular and collected into a book “Lad: A Dog,” which is still in print today. The stories, based on his real-life dogs (if not their real life actions), would enable to quit the newspaper job and write about the collies for the rest of his life.
Most of these stories were serializes in magazine form before being collected and published in book form. This means that most of the books are actually a collection of short stories, each with a complete plot but, in general, overarching continuity. The settings and dogs would vary, but personally I think the best were the Sunnybank stories: the ones set at his estate Sunnybank and told strictly from the perspective of the collies. (The dogs don’t speak however).
The Sunnybank stories feature the two human owners: The Mistress (no, not that kind of mistress- they’re from the dogs’ perspective and that is how the collies thinks of her: as the female master), Terhune’s second wife (his first died shortly into their marriage after giving birth to a daughter; years he would write of how much he still grieved her, although he didn’t mention her much), Anice, a gentle and patient woman whom the dogs loved the most. The second is the Master, Terhune himself, a just man second only to the Mistress in the Collie’s love but given to rash actions and a bad temper.
In addition, some of the Wolf stories feature the Boy, a son of the Master and Mistress. Terhune never had any children with Anice. (At least some biographies suspect this to be against Terhune’s real-life daughter [from whom he was very distant]; but I would instead suggest that, given the fact that these stories were some of the few to appear in children’s magazines, the Boy is simply there to help to target audience (the magazines were aimed at boys) relate to the story more than the adults or even the daughter would. Lorraine, like Terhune’s famous writer mother, is mentioned in passing in the stories).
All of the main dogs were real (although I’m not sure if the minor, one-story characters such as Lad’s rival collie Knave; the actor malamute Polaris; or the other animals such as Rameses the raccoon, Zat the crow, Aesop the fox, Tenebrus the bull and Sinham and Lass the horses, were). Some stories did happen to those dogs (such as Lad being nearly killed by Rex), some happened to other of Terhune’s dogs but were given to more established heroes (such as Jean’s jaws being caught open becoming Lad’s suffering or Bobbie’s obsession for fetching newspaper becoming Gray Dawn’s) and some were from newspaper stories.
The collies with books to their names were:
Sunnybank Lad: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies3/lad_by_lake.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/ladsnbnk.jpg
The first of the collies at Sunnybank, a large dark sable*. Lad was a stately, mahogany-colored collie, gentle with his beloved owners and the helpless, savage with foes. He wasn’t terribly friendly though. He was the leader of the dogs until his death. Lad was one of Terhune’s favorites and the first one to have a story published about him. Lad was also the only one to get three books. There are no descendants of Lad alive today.
Story wise, Lad appears in or is mentioned in most of the stories, loving his humans, tolerating the others, being rather cold towards strangers, and gentle to helpless (a trait that did not always serve him well) while ruthless to the strong. Lad is much devoted to his beloved mate Lady and, after not showing much interest in him, raising their son Wolf. Fearless save for venomous snakes, Lad spent all of his days obedient and protective to his humans until his death from old age.
Lad well…Lad got a little boring, especially by the time third book, Lad of Sunnybank, came out. I like the later dogs better, although I still love the first two. Lad’s best when he interacted with Wolf and protected the family.
Books: Lad A Dog, Further Adventures of Lad, Lad of Sunnybank. (With “In the Day of Battle,” a true story of the elderly Lad’s desperate fight against Rex and Wolf, “In Stranger Company,” where Lad must face a forest fire, “The Whisperer” Lad’s interactions with an ill fated pet raccoon Rameses as my favorites).
Sunnybank Wolf:
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/in_conference_lc.jpg (Far right)
Lad and his beloved, if savage-tempered, mate Lady’s only surviving pup, the red sable Wolf didn’t have a single show point, but was kept anyway. Though hot-tempered, he eventually became mellow with age to become like his father and, after Bruce, would become leader of the Sunnybank dogs. His favorite trick of herding the pups out of the way of approaching cars would lead him to his death saving a mongrel from being hit by a train.
Originally Wolf appears as another dog Lad would interact with as well as in stories with the Boy. The ill-tempered Wolf starts life much like his mother and gets on the Master’s nerves. Eventually he mellows into being much like his father. Like his dad, Wolf is rather sensitive and unlike Bruce, loves pups. As in real-life, in the book he dies saving another dog from being hit by a train.
I liked Wolf, although I turn wonder at how his description changed (early on he was described as being pale-gold like Lady, only to be later described as red-gold, although he may simply have darkened as he aged). It’s hard not to feel bad for Wolf- he never did match up to his parents in looks, although he did end life like his dad. Wolf was a pretty friendly dog- he was friends with Treve in real life and, in the book at least, Rex with well. I still remember reading “In the Day of Battle” and being upset when Rex attacked. When I saw the illustration, I remember going “Oh, that’s right! Wolf’s there! Wolf’ll save Lad”- and then being horrified, like Lad, when Wolf joins Rex and attacks his sire. (The attack really did occur, although whether or not Wolf was involved, I’m not sure). Wolf’s sacrifice really completes his character growth- he died like Lad would have.
Book: Wolf. (With “Wolf’s Off-day,” where Wolf must go from being scolded for what the kitchen cat did to saving one of the collie pups from a thief, as my favorite). As mentioned, there are several short stories with Wolf, as well several with Wolf mentioned in passing as a background character.
Sunnybank Goldsmith (Bruce): www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/bruce_full.jpg
The other dog and Lad’s only male friend; he became the leader after Lad’s death. Unlike Lad, the dark sable Bruce had many pups and mates, including the background dogs Bobbie and Jean, and his line continues to this day. Though dignified and too gentle to even growl at the pups, he didn’t care for them and wanted to stay away from them.
Bruce is mostly a background character. He didn’t actually serve in WWI, but his book places him as a war dog.
Book: Bruce. (With “Coming of Bruce,” detailing Bruce’s birth, as my personal favorite). Bruce also appears in several other stories, especially the ones dealing with his pups.
Sunnybank Gray Dawn: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/gray_dawn.jpg
Bruce’s son by Merledale Cleo (daughter of the savage Champion Grey Mist), Gray Dawn’s my personal favorite. A blue-merle** collie, Gray Dawn alternated between being as noble and devoted as his sire and an overgrown, clumsy puppy; with the Master never knowing which he’d be next. He became leader after his half-brother Bobbie died. Gray Dawn also had many pups.
Gray Dawn is easily my favorite: his clownish personality intermixed with moments as living up to Bruce’s heritage makes his personality a rival for the statelier Lad. Gray Dawn’s adventures in his first book range from being terrified of a hen as a puppy and insisting on dragging his stuffed elephant everywhere to racing through a raging forest fire to save the Master despite Gray Dawn’s terror of the smallest fire.
Books: Gray Dawn. Roughly half of the stories in Way of a Dog feature Gray Dawn (the other half are miscellaneous stories). (With “Gray Dawn, Director,” featuring Gray Dawn dealing with the Place being used to film a movie and the savage malamute actor Polaris, as my favorite from the first and “Biography as a Puppy,” about the early life of Gray Dawn’s son, Sandy, from the second).
Sunnybank Sigurd (Treve): www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/master_treve.jpg
Unlike the others, the gold sable Treve’s name was the only thing used in a novel. It’s a shame: from the anecdotes, Treve was quite the character- forever acting savage while obeying every command and never harming anything. Treve’s pups included Fair Ellen, Cavalier, Squire and Explorer. Like Bruce, Treve’s line still is around today.
Treve. (Didn’t care for this one, only liked the Afterword.) Treve is also mentioned in passing a few times, as well as getting his own anecdote in Real Tales of Real Dogs.
The dogs that had at least one story to their name include:
Sunnybank Fair Ellen: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/Bert_Anice_Collies1.jpg (On her hind legs)
www.sunnybankcollies.us/excerpts4.htm#Fair%20Ellen (close up)
The best of Treve’s litter out of the savage Alton Andeen, Terhune had noticed right away that her eyes were covered with a film. When she was few months old, he had her operated on, only to find that the vet had been right; she had been born completely blind. Terhune was sadly deciding to put her out of her misery when his wife Anice pointed out Fair Ellen had no misery to be put out of. She lived longer than all of her brothers, happy and obedient. After checking her out, the vet determined that her blindness would not be passed on and she was bred several times to produce healthy litters of puppies. One of those matings was with Bobbie and produced Bunty II.
Story: “Fair Ellen: Sightless- and Happy”
Sunnybank Sandstorm [Sandy]: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies3/sandy.jpg Gray Dawn’s sable-merle*** son. Like Wolf, Sandy wasn’t a show-dog, but was kept anyway. His puppyhood is recorded “The Biography of a Puppy.” Gentle and average, he was much like his sire.
Sandy’s tricolor son Sunnybank King Coal**** www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/RFriend_with_collies.jpg is only mentioned in passing.
Ch. Sunnybank Thane:
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Thane_face.jpg
Explorer’s son and the best of all the Sunnybank show dogs. Thane’s blood still runs today in the collies today, and as a result Treve and Explorer’s line lives on. (I’m not sure if any of Treve’s other children still have descendants today).
Short story: “Thane.”
The background dogs that appear are:
Sunnybank Robert [Bobbie] www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/Bob2.jpg and Sunnybank Jean (lying down) www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Master_Jean_Treve.gif : Bruce’s sable pups from the same litter. Jean produced many litters, and her clever brother Bobbie was had many articles written about him.
Rex: A huge mix between a bull terrier and collie. The first appearance of him describes his mother as a purebred bull terrier. However, Paddy, herself a bull-terrier-collie mix, was said to have pup named Rex that matched his description; in both cases his father was said to be a collie. Rex was a fine dog; that is, until he was killed in the attempt to tear old Lad to shreds.
Sunnybank Bunty II: With two of Terhune’s cleverest dogs as her parents (Bobbie was her father and Fair Ellen her mother), it’s not surprising that Bunty was incredibly smart. Bunty’s bobbed tail prevented from shows, but not from appearing in Terhune’s Secret of Sea-Dream House
Ch. Sunnybank Sigurdson [Squire], www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Sigurdson.jpg Ch. Sunnybank Explorer, www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/APT_Explorer_GrayDawn.jpg Sunnybank Cavalier: Fair Ellen’s littermates. Squire was much like his father, although only mentioned in passing. Cavalier was aggressive. Explorer, one of the quietest of Terhune’s dogs, nevertheless has two claims to fame: the time he became lost and headed in the right direction before the lake got in his way and his son Ch. Sunnybank Thane, the best of the Sunnybank show collies.
Sunnybank Lady: Lad’s ill-tempered mate and Wolf’s mother. Usually mentioned in reference to those two.
Ch. Arrowhill Azalea [Beth] www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_and_beth.jpg : A chum collie mentioned in passing.
Chips www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_dogs.jpg : Although she shares her name and description with a Terhune dog hero, Chips the book mongrel was actually written before Terhune acquired Chips the terrier. She was very much like the literary namesake in personality and looks. Chips, like Beth, is mentioned in passing.
Little People: The other animals of Sunnybank. These include: Peter Grimm and Tippery, the Persian cats; Fritz, the old chestnut gelding, foaled when Terhune was ten, who lived to be thirty-six; the peacocks Simon Peter Rhadames, his better-tempered successor Caruso and Caruso’s mate Melba; as well as the chickens, cows, and barn cats.
The collie stories, particularly the ones set at Sunnybank, are some of my favorites. I love how Terhune was able to tell the stories from the dogs’ perspectives without anthromorphising them. Their personalities come out very well, and personally, when it comes to action, I find Terhune to be second only to Walter Farley in terms of exciting fights.
That said, it must be noted that Terhune is an acquired taste: he had a bad habit of dragging the story to a screeching halt to rant about a then-current issue. They’re older books and sadly they show- unfortunately, not all of the parts are PC.
In addition, despite being children’s novels, these are quite violent books. The collies fight frequently to defend their family, and animals do die. Gray Dawn’s siblings die soon after birth, as do all of Lad’s pups save Wolf. Lad is almost killed when Wolf and another dog, Rex, nearly tear him to shreds and Rex is killed by Terhune to save the old collie’s life. Wolf, as mentioned, is killed by a train. Lady is struck and killed by a car, much to Lad’s grief (I do wonder if Terhune drew on this story from his on experiences: his first wife died a few days after giving birth. At least one book, The Fighter (published before Lad), expresses Terhune’s grief at his wife’s death). Thane dies mysteriously at little more than two years old, forever destroying Terhune’s love of dog shows. The deaths of Lad and Gray Dawn from old age are covered.
But they’re still quite awesome books, sentimental but very touching. Terhune put much value on dogs not from their looks but from their personalities.
In addition I also like some of Terhune’s other books:
Lochinvar Luck. Besides the possible name (Bobbie) the sable collie isn’t based on a Sunnybank collie but instead Champion Aeroplane, a tricolor collie that escaped from his home and managed to survive on his own for months (Treve was mated to one of Aeroplane’s daughter, the ill-tempered Alton Aldeen, to produce Explorer, Fair Ellen, Cavalier, and Squire. In addition Sandy’s mother, Victrix, was also one of Aeroplane’s daughters).
Originally sold as a scam to a man missing his collie, Bobbie becomes a champion, much to his breeder’s dismay. Bobbie’s owner makes a cameo in Lad of Sunnybank and both Bobbie and his owner appear in Luck of the Laird/ A Highland Collie. (Both names refer to the same book).
Amateur Inn: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least one collie be included. Forced to open an inn as stipulated by his dad’s will, a young man’s experience quickly becomes more serious when one of his guests is murdered.
The Pest: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least collie be included. Another murder mystery; in addition, the pest of the book, Glure, appears in the Lad stories.
Unseen!: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least collie be included. The collie, named Thor, appears to be based on Gray Dawn to judge from his coloring (blue merle with dark eyes). Still another mystery.
Book of Famous Dogs A miscellaneous collection of stories about dogs, including the Sunnybank Collies.
Real Tales of Real Dogs A miscellaneous collection of stories about dogs, including Wolf and Paddy, two Sunnybank dogs.
Buff, a Collie The first four stories are a single storyline; the rest are some miscellaneous dog stories.
Buff, the hero, isn’t all collie. Buff’s sire is a purebred collie, as is his maternal grandmother; his maternal grandfather, however, is a purebred bull terrier (pit bull, presumably from the description). Terhune also used this hybrid in his short story “Wild Heather;” I wouldn’t be surprised if this pairing interested him because Rex was a bull terrier-collie mix. Buff, unwanted, is abandoned and adopted by a local man.
His dog A short story, with the four stories following Link and his collie, Chum. (Some publications also include an unrelated short story with it). Link was lonely drunk until he finds a sable collie, crippled and lying in the road. Link takes the collie home and names him Chum. Chum eases his lonely and helps Link make something of himself.
Given that Chum’s pedigree name is later revealed to be Glenmuir Cavalier, I wonder if he was based on one Treve’s sons, Sunnybank Cavalier. Squire’s name appears to also have been the basis of the pedigree name of a collie found by a woman and named March.
My Friend the dog Collection of short stories. Gray Dawn is mentioned in passing as the sire of a female pup that appears to be based on Sunnybank Sandstorm in “The Pink Pup.”
Critter and other dogs More misc. stories. Only two have to do with the Sunnybank dogs, “Seventh Son” where Thane is mentioned in passing to be the sire of the ill-fated litter, and “Thane,” about the best and last of the Sunnybank show dogs.
Heart of a Dog This is mostly reprints from other stories, with only two that I remember as not being published previously: “Youth will be Served!” and “Fox!”
The Runaway Bag Although published after Lad, this unusual book has no collie but a falcon from Algeria, Fathma. Dirck is stunned to learn that his father’s will has cast him out of his estate. Determined that his hated uncle will not get his mother’s beloved jewels, he steals them and sets off, trying to avoid his murderous cousin.
Book of Sunnybank The history of Sunnybank. Sometimes published as Sunnybank: Home of Lad
To the Best of My Memory and Now That I’m Fifty, Terhune’s autobiographies that mentioned the collies in passing.
With the caveats in mind, I highly recommend these books. They’ve been my favorite ever since I was little and still remain so.
Some notes:
*Sable= any yellow-brown color ranging from pale gold to dark mahogany. All collies have white ruffs, feet, and tail-tips. Many also have white marks on their heads.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Website%20Crop%201.jpg
**Blue merle= silver gray with tan on the cheeks, brows and sometimes legs, with white paws, ruff, and tailtip and black patches occur through the silver parts of their bodies. Sometimes they have one or both eyes pale blue, although some, like Gray Dawn, have dark eyes.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/wyndlair%20momentum%20COLad1%204.5.jpg
***Sable-merle= red sable with gray tips on the hairs. What not judged against per se, it’s a generally undesirable color, often with blue eyes (blue eyes are only accepted in blue merles).
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Sable%20Merle%20Collie%20-%20Southland's%20Beyond%20The%20Glory%204.5.jpg
****Tricolor=black with tan on the brows, cheeks and sometimes legs, in addition to the white ruffs, paws and tail tips.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Audrey%20-%20Tri-Color%20Collie.jpg
*****in case you’re wondering, the only collie color not covered is white.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Double%20Dilute%20Collie%20-%20Aiden.jpg
To be a Champion, a show dog must win fifteen points under at least three different judges. These dogs have the prefix Ch. in front of their names.
Some show dogs have two different the names, the official name the AKC recognizes them by and the kennel name that the dog responds to. For example, Ch. Sunnybank Sigurd answered to Treve, while his son Ch. Sunnybank Explorer answered to Explorer. For this list, the dog’s official name is listed, with its kennel name (if it differs) in brackets.
The flank attack bowled Lad completely over. There was no chance now for such a fall as would enable him to spring up again unscathed. He was thrown heavily upon his back, and both his murderers plunged at his unguarded throat and lower body.
But a collie thrown is not a collie beaten, as perhaps I have said once before. For thirty seconds or more the three thrashed about in the snow in a growling, snarling, right unloving embrace. Then, by some miracle, Lad was on his feet again.
His throat had a new and deep wound, perilously close to the jugular. His stomach and left side were slashed as with razor blades. But he was up. And even in that moment of dire stress- with both dogs flinging himself upon him afresh- he gained another yard or two in his line of retreat.
He might have gained still more ground. For his assailants, leaping at the same instant, collided and impeded the other’s charge. But, for the first time the wise old brain clouded, and the hero heart went sick, as Lad saw his own loved and spoiled son ranged against him in the murder fray. He could not understand. Loyalty was as much a part of himself as were his sorrowful brown eyes or his tiny white forepaws. And Wolf’s amazing treachery seemed to numb the old warrior, body and mind.
…But the house was still nearly a furlong off, and Lad was well-nigh dead. His body was one mass of wounds. His strength was turned to water. His breath was gone. His bloodshot eyes were dim. His brain was dizzy and refused its office. Loss of blood had weakened him full as much as had the tremendous exertion of the battle.
Yet-uselessly now- he continued to fight. It was grotesquely futile resistance. The other dogs were all over him- tearing, slashing, at will- unhindered by his puny effort to fend them off. The slaughter-time had come. Drunk with blood and fury, the assailants plunged at him for the last time.
Down went Lad, helplessly beneath the murderous avalanche that overwhelmed him. And the time his body flatly refused to obey the grim command of his will. The fight was over- the good, good fight of a white-souled paladin against hopeless odds.
… As no summons at bell or knocker followed Bruce’s announcement, the Mistress opened the front door and looked out. The dusk was falling, but it was not too dark for her to have seen the approach of anyone, nor was it too for the Mistress to see two dogs tearing at something that lay hidden from her view in the deep snow a hundred yards away. She recognized Rex and Wolf at once and amusedly wondered with what they were playing with.
Then from the depth of snow beneath them she saw a feeble head rear itself- a glorious head, though torn and bleeding- a head that waveringly lunged towards Rex’s throat.
“They’re-they’re killing- Lad!” she cried in stark, unbelieving horror. Forgetful of thin dress and thinner slippers, she ran toward the trio. Halfway to the battlefield the Master passed by her, running and lurching through the knee-high snow at something like record speed.
She heard his shout. And at sound of it she saw Wolf slink away from the slaughter like a scared schoolboy. But Rex was too far gone in the murder-lust to heed the shout…”
-Albert Payson Terhune, “In the Day of Battle,” Lad: A Dog
Not all rough collie stories are about Lassie. (In fact, the first Lassie story was serialized in 1938; movies would also come before the television show). Starting in 1917, some other famous collies entered the entertainment field. I first read these books when I was little and they’ve been my favorites ever since.
These are the collie stories of Albert Payson Terhune www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_bruce_lad_wolf.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Terhune1.jpg Terhune (1872-1942) was a newspaper writer in his estate, Sunnybank, in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Sunnybank-House-1898.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/ThePlace/Corner_of_Sunnybank.jpg
For a while he had wanted to write about dogs, especially his beloved collies, but it wasn’t until years had passed that he finally got a publisher to accept his stories. Terhune’s first collie tales were wildly popular and collected into a book “Lad: A Dog,” which is still in print today. The stories, based on his real-life dogs (if not their real life actions), would enable to quit the newspaper job and write about the collies for the rest of his life.
Most of these stories were serializes in magazine form before being collected and published in book form. This means that most of the books are actually a collection of short stories, each with a complete plot but, in general, overarching continuity. The settings and dogs would vary, but personally I think the best were the Sunnybank stories: the ones set at his estate Sunnybank and told strictly from the perspective of the collies. (The dogs don’t speak however).
The Sunnybank stories feature the two human owners: The Mistress (no, not that kind of mistress- they’re from the dogs’ perspective and that is how the collies thinks of her: as the female master), Terhune’s second wife (his first died shortly into their marriage after giving birth to a daughter; years he would write of how much he still grieved her, although he didn’t mention her much), Anice, a gentle and patient woman whom the dogs loved the most. The second is the Master, Terhune himself, a just man second only to the Mistress in the Collie’s love but given to rash actions and a bad temper.
In addition, some of the Wolf stories feature the Boy, a son of the Master and Mistress. Terhune never had any children with Anice. (At least some biographies suspect this to be against Terhune’s real-life daughter [from whom he was very distant]; but I would instead suggest that, given the fact that these stories were some of the few to appear in children’s magazines, the Boy is simply there to help to target audience (the magazines were aimed at boys) relate to the story more than the adults or even the daughter would. Lorraine, like Terhune’s famous writer mother, is mentioned in passing in the stories).
All of the main dogs were real (although I’m not sure if the minor, one-story characters such as Lad’s rival collie Knave; the actor malamute Polaris; or the other animals such as Rameses the raccoon, Zat the crow, Aesop the fox, Tenebrus the bull and Sinham and Lass the horses, were). Some stories did happen to those dogs (such as Lad being nearly killed by Rex), some happened to other of Terhune’s dogs but were given to more established heroes (such as Jean’s jaws being caught open becoming Lad’s suffering or Bobbie’s obsession for fetching newspaper becoming Gray Dawn’s) and some were from newspaper stories.
The collies with books to their names were:
Sunnybank Lad: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies3/lad_by_lake.jpg
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/ladsnbnk.jpg
The first of the collies at Sunnybank, a large dark sable*. Lad was a stately, mahogany-colored collie, gentle with his beloved owners and the helpless, savage with foes. He wasn’t terribly friendly though. He was the leader of the dogs until his death. Lad was one of Terhune’s favorites and the first one to have a story published about him. Lad was also the only one to get three books. There are no descendants of Lad alive today.
Story wise, Lad appears in or is mentioned in most of the stories, loving his humans, tolerating the others, being rather cold towards strangers, and gentle to helpless (a trait that did not always serve him well) while ruthless to the strong. Lad is much devoted to his beloved mate Lady and, after not showing much interest in him, raising their son Wolf. Fearless save for venomous snakes, Lad spent all of his days obedient and protective to his humans until his death from old age.
Lad well…Lad got a little boring, especially by the time third book, Lad of Sunnybank, came out. I like the later dogs better, although I still love the first two. Lad’s best when he interacted with Wolf and protected the family.
Books: Lad A Dog, Further Adventures of Lad, Lad of Sunnybank. (With “In the Day of Battle,” a true story of the elderly Lad’s desperate fight against Rex and Wolf, “In Stranger Company,” where Lad must face a forest fire, “The Whisperer” Lad’s interactions with an ill fated pet raccoon Rameses as my favorites).
Sunnybank Wolf:
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/in_conference_lc.jpg (Far right)
Lad and his beloved, if savage-tempered, mate Lady’s only surviving pup, the red sable Wolf didn’t have a single show point, but was kept anyway. Though hot-tempered, he eventually became mellow with age to become like his father and, after Bruce, would become leader of the Sunnybank dogs. His favorite trick of herding the pups out of the way of approaching cars would lead him to his death saving a mongrel from being hit by a train.
Originally Wolf appears as another dog Lad would interact with as well as in stories with the Boy. The ill-tempered Wolf starts life much like his mother and gets on the Master’s nerves. Eventually he mellows into being much like his father. Like his dad, Wolf is rather sensitive and unlike Bruce, loves pups. As in real-life, in the book he dies saving another dog from being hit by a train.
I liked Wolf, although I turn wonder at how his description changed (early on he was described as being pale-gold like Lady, only to be later described as red-gold, although he may simply have darkened as he aged). It’s hard not to feel bad for Wolf- he never did match up to his parents in looks, although he did end life like his dad. Wolf was a pretty friendly dog- he was friends with Treve in real life and, in the book at least, Rex with well. I still remember reading “In the Day of Battle” and being upset when Rex attacked. When I saw the illustration, I remember going “Oh, that’s right! Wolf’s there! Wolf’ll save Lad”- and then being horrified, like Lad, when Wolf joins Rex and attacks his sire. (The attack really did occur, although whether or not Wolf was involved, I’m not sure). Wolf’s sacrifice really completes his character growth- he died like Lad would have.
Book: Wolf. (With “Wolf’s Off-day,” where Wolf must go from being scolded for what the kitchen cat did to saving one of the collie pups from a thief, as my favorite). As mentioned, there are several short stories with Wolf, as well several with Wolf mentioned in passing as a background character.
Sunnybank Goldsmith (Bruce): www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/bruce_full.jpg
The other dog and Lad’s only male friend; he became the leader after Lad’s death. Unlike Lad, the dark sable Bruce had many pups and mates, including the background dogs Bobbie and Jean, and his line continues to this day. Though dignified and too gentle to even growl at the pups, he didn’t care for them and wanted to stay away from them.
Bruce is mostly a background character. He didn’t actually serve in WWI, but his book places him as a war dog.
Book: Bruce. (With “Coming of Bruce,” detailing Bruce’s birth, as my personal favorite). Bruce also appears in several other stories, especially the ones dealing with his pups.
Sunnybank Gray Dawn: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/gray_dawn.jpg
Bruce’s son by Merledale Cleo (daughter of the savage Champion Grey Mist), Gray Dawn’s my personal favorite. A blue-merle** collie, Gray Dawn alternated between being as noble and devoted as his sire and an overgrown, clumsy puppy; with the Master never knowing which he’d be next. He became leader after his half-brother Bobbie died. Gray Dawn also had many pups.
Gray Dawn is easily my favorite: his clownish personality intermixed with moments as living up to Bruce’s heritage makes his personality a rival for the statelier Lad. Gray Dawn’s adventures in his first book range from being terrified of a hen as a puppy and insisting on dragging his stuffed elephant everywhere to racing through a raging forest fire to save the Master despite Gray Dawn’s terror of the smallest fire.
Books: Gray Dawn. Roughly half of the stories in Way of a Dog feature Gray Dawn (the other half are miscellaneous stories). (With “Gray Dawn, Director,” featuring Gray Dawn dealing with the Place being used to film a movie and the savage malamute actor Polaris, as my favorite from the first and “Biography as a Puppy,” about the early life of Gray Dawn’s son, Sandy, from the second).
Sunnybank Sigurd (Treve): www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/master_treve.jpg
Unlike the others, the gold sable Treve’s name was the only thing used in a novel. It’s a shame: from the anecdotes, Treve was quite the character- forever acting savage while obeying every command and never harming anything. Treve’s pups included Fair Ellen, Cavalier, Squire and Explorer. Like Bruce, Treve’s line still is around today.
Treve. (Didn’t care for this one, only liked the Afterword.) Treve is also mentioned in passing a few times, as well as getting his own anecdote in Real Tales of Real Dogs.
The dogs that had at least one story to their name include:
Sunnybank Fair Ellen: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/Bert_Anice_Collies1.jpg (On her hind legs)
www.sunnybankcollies.us/excerpts4.htm#Fair%20Ellen (close up)
The best of Treve’s litter out of the savage Alton Andeen, Terhune had noticed right away that her eyes were covered with a film. When she was few months old, he had her operated on, only to find that the vet had been right; she had been born completely blind. Terhune was sadly deciding to put her out of her misery when his wife Anice pointed out Fair Ellen had no misery to be put out of. She lived longer than all of her brothers, happy and obedient. After checking her out, the vet determined that her blindness would not be passed on and she was bred several times to produce healthy litters of puppies. One of those matings was with Bobbie and produced Bunty II.
Story: “Fair Ellen: Sightless- and Happy”
Sunnybank Sandstorm [Sandy]: www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies3/sandy.jpg Gray Dawn’s sable-merle*** son. Like Wolf, Sandy wasn’t a show-dog, but was kept anyway. His puppyhood is recorded “The Biography of a Puppy.” Gentle and average, he was much like his sire.
Sandy’s tricolor son Sunnybank King Coal**** www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/RFriend_with_collies.jpg is only mentioned in passing.
Ch. Sunnybank Thane:
www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Thane_face.jpg
Explorer’s son and the best of all the Sunnybank show dogs. Thane’s blood still runs today in the collies today, and as a result Treve and Explorer’s line lives on. (I’m not sure if any of Treve’s other children still have descendants today).
Short story: “Thane.”
The background dogs that appear are:
Sunnybank Robert [Bobbie] www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/Bob2.jpg and Sunnybank Jean (lying down) www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Master_Jean_Treve.gif : Bruce’s sable pups from the same litter. Jean produced many litters, and her clever brother Bobbie was had many articles written about him.
Rex: A huge mix between a bull terrier and collie. The first appearance of him describes his mother as a purebred bull terrier. However, Paddy, herself a bull-terrier-collie mix, was said to have pup named Rex that matched his description; in both cases his father was said to be a collie. Rex was a fine dog; that is, until he was killed in the attempt to tear old Lad to shreds.
Sunnybank Bunty II: With two of Terhune’s cleverest dogs as her parents (Bobbie was her father and Fair Ellen her mother), it’s not surprising that Bunty was incredibly smart. Bunty’s bobbed tail prevented from shows, but not from appearing in Terhune’s Secret of Sea-Dream House
Ch. Sunnybank Sigurdson [Squire], www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/Sigurdson.jpg Ch. Sunnybank Explorer, www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies2/APT_Explorer_GrayDawn.jpg Sunnybank Cavalier: Fair Ellen’s littermates. Squire was much like his father, although only mentioned in passing. Cavalier was aggressive. Explorer, one of the quietest of Terhune’s dogs, nevertheless has two claims to fame: the time he became lost and headed in the right direction before the lake got in his way and his son Ch. Sunnybank Thane, the best of the Sunnybank show collies.
Sunnybank Lady: Lad’s ill-tempered mate and Wolf’s mother. Usually mentioned in reference to those two.
Ch. Arrowhill Azalea [Beth] www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_and_beth.jpg : A chum collie mentioned in passing.
Chips www.sunnybankcollies.us/images/collies/apt_dogs.jpg : Although she shares her name and description with a Terhune dog hero, Chips the book mongrel was actually written before Terhune acquired Chips the terrier. She was very much like the literary namesake in personality and looks. Chips, like Beth, is mentioned in passing.
Little People: The other animals of Sunnybank. These include: Peter Grimm and Tippery, the Persian cats; Fritz, the old chestnut gelding, foaled when Terhune was ten, who lived to be thirty-six; the peacocks Simon Peter Rhadames, his better-tempered successor Caruso and Caruso’s mate Melba; as well as the chickens, cows, and barn cats.
The collie stories, particularly the ones set at Sunnybank, are some of my favorites. I love how Terhune was able to tell the stories from the dogs’ perspectives without anthromorphising them. Their personalities come out very well, and personally, when it comes to action, I find Terhune to be second only to Walter Farley in terms of exciting fights.
That said, it must be noted that Terhune is an acquired taste: he had a bad habit of dragging the story to a screeching halt to rant about a then-current issue. They’re older books and sadly they show- unfortunately, not all of the parts are PC.
In addition, despite being children’s novels, these are quite violent books. The collies fight frequently to defend their family, and animals do die. Gray Dawn’s siblings die soon after birth, as do all of Lad’s pups save Wolf. Lad is almost killed when Wolf and another dog, Rex, nearly tear him to shreds and Rex is killed by Terhune to save the old collie’s life. Wolf, as mentioned, is killed by a train. Lady is struck and killed by a car, much to Lad’s grief (I do wonder if Terhune drew on this story from his on experiences: his first wife died a few days after giving birth. At least one book, The Fighter (published before Lad), expresses Terhune’s grief at his wife’s death). Thane dies mysteriously at little more than two years old, forever destroying Terhune’s love of dog shows. The deaths of Lad and Gray Dawn from old age are covered.
But they’re still quite awesome books, sentimental but very touching. Terhune put much value on dogs not from their looks but from their personalities.
In addition I also like some of Terhune’s other books:
Lochinvar Luck. Besides the possible name (Bobbie) the sable collie isn’t based on a Sunnybank collie but instead Champion Aeroplane, a tricolor collie that escaped from his home and managed to survive on his own for months (Treve was mated to one of Aeroplane’s daughter, the ill-tempered Alton Aldeen, to produce Explorer, Fair Ellen, Cavalier, and Squire. In addition Sandy’s mother, Victrix, was also one of Aeroplane’s daughters).
Originally sold as a scam to a man missing his collie, Bobbie becomes a champion, much to his breeder’s dismay. Bobbie’s owner makes a cameo in Lad of Sunnybank and both Bobbie and his owner appear in Luck of the Laird/ A Highland Collie. (Both names refer to the same book).
Amateur Inn: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least one collie be included. Forced to open an inn as stipulated by his dad’s will, a young man’s experience quickly becomes more serious when one of his guests is murdered.
The Pest: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least collie be included. Another murder mystery; in addition, the pest of the book, Glure, appears in the Lad stories.
Unseen!: Not actually about a dog, although as per Terhune’s later books, the publisher insisted that at least collie be included. The collie, named Thor, appears to be based on Gray Dawn to judge from his coloring (blue merle with dark eyes). Still another mystery.
Book of Famous Dogs A miscellaneous collection of stories about dogs, including the Sunnybank Collies.
Real Tales of Real Dogs A miscellaneous collection of stories about dogs, including Wolf and Paddy, two Sunnybank dogs.
Buff, a Collie The first four stories are a single storyline; the rest are some miscellaneous dog stories.
Buff, the hero, isn’t all collie. Buff’s sire is a purebred collie, as is his maternal grandmother; his maternal grandfather, however, is a purebred bull terrier (pit bull, presumably from the description). Terhune also used this hybrid in his short story “Wild Heather;” I wouldn’t be surprised if this pairing interested him because Rex was a bull terrier-collie mix. Buff, unwanted, is abandoned and adopted by a local man.
His dog A short story, with the four stories following Link and his collie, Chum. (Some publications also include an unrelated short story with it). Link was lonely drunk until he finds a sable collie, crippled and lying in the road. Link takes the collie home and names him Chum. Chum eases his lonely and helps Link make something of himself.
Given that Chum’s pedigree name is later revealed to be Glenmuir Cavalier, I wonder if he was based on one Treve’s sons, Sunnybank Cavalier. Squire’s name appears to also have been the basis of the pedigree name of a collie found by a woman and named March.
My Friend the dog Collection of short stories. Gray Dawn is mentioned in passing as the sire of a female pup that appears to be based on Sunnybank Sandstorm in “The Pink Pup.”
Critter and other dogs More misc. stories. Only two have to do with the Sunnybank dogs, “Seventh Son” where Thane is mentioned in passing to be the sire of the ill-fated litter, and “Thane,” about the best and last of the Sunnybank show dogs.
Heart of a Dog This is mostly reprints from other stories, with only two that I remember as not being published previously: “Youth will be Served!” and “Fox!”
The Runaway Bag Although published after Lad, this unusual book has no collie but a falcon from Algeria, Fathma. Dirck is stunned to learn that his father’s will has cast him out of his estate. Determined that his hated uncle will not get his mother’s beloved jewels, he steals them and sets off, trying to avoid his murderous cousin.
Book of Sunnybank The history of Sunnybank. Sometimes published as Sunnybank: Home of Lad
To the Best of My Memory and Now That I’m Fifty, Terhune’s autobiographies that mentioned the collies in passing.
With the caveats in mind, I highly recommend these books. They’ve been my favorite ever since I was little and still remain so.
Some notes:
*Sable= any yellow-brown color ranging from pale gold to dark mahogany. All collies have white ruffs, feet, and tail-tips. Many also have white marks on their heads.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Website%20Crop%201.jpg
**Blue merle= silver gray with tan on the cheeks, brows and sometimes legs, with white paws, ruff, and tailtip and black patches occur through the silver parts of their bodies. Sometimes they have one or both eyes pale blue, although some, like Gray Dawn, have dark eyes.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/wyndlair%20momentum%20COLad1%204.5.jpg
***Sable-merle= red sable with gray tips on the hairs. What not judged against per se, it’s a generally undesirable color, often with blue eyes (blue eyes are only accepted in blue merles).
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Sable%20Merle%20Collie%20-%20Southland's%20Beyond%20The%20Glory%204.5.jpg
****Tricolor=black with tan on the brows, cheeks and sometimes legs, in addition to the white ruffs, paws and tail tips.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Audrey%20-%20Tri-Color%20Collie.jpg
*****in case you’re wondering, the only collie color not covered is white.
www.wyndlaircollies.com/images/Double%20Dilute%20Collie%20-%20Aiden.jpg
To be a Champion, a show dog must win fifteen points under at least three different judges. These dogs have the prefix Ch. in front of their names.
Some show dogs have two different the names, the official name the AKC recognizes them by and the kennel name that the dog responds to. For example, Ch. Sunnybank Sigurd answered to Treve, while his son Ch. Sunnybank Explorer answered to Explorer. For this list, the dog’s official name is listed, with its kennel name (if it differs) in brackets.