Also in 1891 brother and sister, different
litters, Roughs Ormskirk Dolly &
Amazement each gained The Collie Club’s
‘Challenge Trophy’, the first two of the same
breeding to gain this distinction, then over a
seven month period in 1893 litter sisters,
Chorlton Phyllis & Precilla, became the
first litter siblings to annex this same trophy.
Chorlton Precilla hitting the headlines again when she collected the first every Championship Prize awarded to the breed at the Kennel Club’s own show held, over the three days 24-26 October 1893. Other notable collies included Smooths Heatherfield Tip, already mentioned, Gyp & Nip, Gold Nugget, and Village Girl, but the star of the decade has to be the sable & white Rough Ch Ormskirk Emerald who’s 22 Challenge Certificates established a record that stood for more than 100 years.
The ability to Change Names makes it difficult to assess the most outstanding breeding kennels, but Hugo Ainscough’s PARBOLD kennel was prominent throughout the decade, although frequently his Collies had acquired other affixes. When looking for suitable sires breeders, then, as now, tended to turn to proven producers, with the likes of Edgbaston Excelsior, Fox & Marvel, Portington Bar None, Stracathro Ralph, Finsbury Pilot, Heather Ralph, and Wellesbourne Councillor & Conqueror, and by the end of the decade Ormskirk Emerald featuring prominently. It is always more difficult to isolate prominent brood bitches, families a, c, and 7 continued to exert considerable influence whilst the increasing Scottish involvement catapulted Panmure-Gordon’s Hamish III (family d) into the limelight.
