In any case there is little dispute that several years later James I of England requested that County Argyllshire provide "six white earthe dogges" to be shipped across the Calais-Dover Channel as a gift for His Majesty the King of France. Anxious for the safety of the cargo during the occasionally treacherous channel crossing, King James ordered the dogs divided into two parties of three dogs apiece. Each trio of white Scottish "earthe dogges" sailed on a separate ship across the channel, an indication of the high value the King of England attached to these frisky animals.

Historically, then, the West Highland White Terrier was carried to the land that gave it its name by a circumstance of war. However, the dog with the long name, sometimes known affectionately as "Westie", became both very popular and very unpopular almost simultaneously. With certain Scotsmen the West Highland White Terrier became synonymous with an ideal varmit-hunting dog; with others he appeared as a freakish oddity in a world of brindle terriers. Many old Scottish gentlemen can recall the joy of hunting otters on the shores of Loch Lomond with these easily visible, scurrying vermin-catchers. Other sportsmen, attached to that other Scottish Highlands native dog, the Cairn Terrier, found the white color abhorrent since the Cairn Terrier is allowed to be any color except white. For a Cairn Terrier to whelp an all-white puppy is considered a disaster by fanciers of the Cairn Terrier, and for many years such pups were destroyed. Unfortunately this prejudice against whites extended also the new strain that had arrived from Spain - resulting in a very unfortunate slaughter of many innocent dogs.

In the nineteenth century the Mancolm family of County Poltalloch to a liking to the West Highland White Terrier. The Malcolms were insistent that their dogs have all the field and gaming qualities associated with a good working dog. Accordingly, they constantly worked their dogs in the field and selected breeding partnerships based on field capabilities as well as on fonformation to type. These characteristics remain in the twentieth century Westie in an attenuated condition, but can be brought to the fore under the right circumstances. The little Westie may sometimes affectionately nip at the ehels of grade-school children in the morning, helping their mother herd them off to school - reminiscent of the days when Westies would herd the cows in off the moor and to the barns at nightfall.

The West Highland White Terrier is an imaginative hunter of badgers, ottters, rabbits and rats. His little body will squirm into the places the vermin ca go but where no human being could possibly tread. The Westie's quick intelligence developed through such hunting experiences. One story is told of a Westie that purused a badger among huge boulders riven with narrow crevices. The badger sucrried away, but the Westies became wedged between two enormous rocks, unable to continue forward and too wedged in to back out, his tiny chest constricted between the hard rocks and his feet still groping for the ground. His master called for him, but the little bark could not be heard and his master could not get close enough to find his game little friend. About a week later the Westie arrived back home, a skinny shaodow of his former self. He had slowly starved until his chest shrunk enough to release him from his rock prison. After a special weight-gain diet and plenty of rest, he was eager to return to the field once again.

Another Westie on a hunt fell into a hole in the ground too deep for him to climb out of without assistance. His distraught master stumbled upon the hole in his search and saw two tiny eyes peering up at him. Calling his dog's name, he was surprised to see the eyes did not move. Surmising his pet's dilema, he wrapped a rabbit skin around a shillelagh and lowered it into the hole. The alert Westie siezed the skin in his mouth and was pulled up to safety by his rejoicing master, who then gave him a two-week regimen of rest and at-home recreation.

Although few Westies today get an opportunity to display their working qualities to the full, their intelligence is unquestioned. Many Scotsmen prefer them over all other dogs for fox hunting.

The show development of the West Highland White Terrier lagged behind its development as a ridder of vermin, a circumstance that has contributed to the hardiness of the breed. White terrier from Scotland that resemble today's Westie began to appear in British dog shows about 1860, but it was not until 1904 that the West Highland White Terrier received a full classification of its own under a name in a fully accredited national dog show. Most fittingly, this took place in Edinburgh at the annual show of the Scottish Kennel Club. The first champion of the breed was Morven, who won his title in 1907. Morven's victory stimulated interest in the Westie as a show dog among American fanciers. In 1909 the West Highland White Terrier Club of America was formed.

One of the most successful of the Scottish exports was Champoin Ray of Rushmoor, bought by Mrs. John G. Winant about a year before the great stock market crash of 1929. Champion Ray sired ten champions on American soil. Mrs. Winant had the joy of returning to England during World War II when her husband was appointed Ambassador to the Court of Saint James by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The American Westie came full circle then, returning to the land of his origins."