MR HENRY IRVING AND THE COLLIE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XII, Issue II, 13 January 1894, Page 25

MR HENRY IRVING AND THE COLLIE.

Hr Henry Irving was in Scotland two or three summers tgo, and on one of his walks he frequently met a shepherd with a fine collie. He took a fancy to the dog, and a few lays before leaving he said to the Highlander : • I will give yon £5O for your collie.’ The shepherd seemed surprised at the amount offered, and was struck with sadness, for he was poor and wanted the money, yet he had formed so strong an attachment to the dog that he could not bear the thought of parting with it. After deliberating for a while, he said — Na sir, I wull no tak the feefty pund.’ * Well, then,’ said Mr Irving, ‘ I will give you sixty if you like to bring the dog up to my hotel within three days.’ The man stood looking down at his dog and was silent, and Mr Irving walked away. At the end of three days one of the hotel servants said that a shepherd bad called to see Mr Irving, -i.u H, R h ' an< J«r and his dog came in, and the man said that although he did not want to part with the collie, as he was

poor and had a family to support, he could not afford to keep a dog worth £5O, and he had decided to aecept the offer. Thepoor fellow took themoneyand thanked Mr Irving He looked once very hard at the collie, which whined and tried to lick bis band ; then he threw his arm over bis eyes and ran out of the room. Mr Irving brought the dog to London, but the rumble of the city and the crowds in the street seemed to confnse him. He grew more and more unhappy, and after a few days the great actor began to regret bis bargain, for he bad only succeeded in making himself, the shepherd, and the dog thoroughly miserable. A tew days after his return Mr Irving took his dog into Kensington Gardens, and for a moment the poor creatnre brightened at the sight of a few sheep that were grazing under the trees, but soon discovering that they were not his own flock, and that his master was not near, be relapsed into his usual dejection. After this, it was very difficult to get him to take any food, and as he soon lost his fine appearance and grew lean, Mr Irving decided to give him his liberty. So he returned him as a present to the Highlander, who afterwards wrote that the dog was so overjoyed to get back home, that he leapt upon his old master’s shoulders, and then ran about the hills so wildly that he (the shepherd) feared for a time that be would go mad.