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Historic Norfolk Breeders/Kennels
Historical Norfolks
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Brownie Parentage unknown, Born in 1912 Story contributed by Frank Rogers Mrs. Fagan had a beloved little bitch named Brownie, who was very sporting and especially good out shooting, where she was almost as good as a shooting dog, putting up game in rough stuff and roots, also picking up the birds with a lovely tender mouth. But oh! dear! there was a disaster. Brownie went everywhere with her mistress and one day accompanied her to a Newmarket July meeting. On the way home they stayed at a hotel in London with a friend of Mrs. Fagan's who also had a Norwich terrier. They had intended to stay only one night, so that they could go to the theatre. The two dogs were left with Mrs. Fagan's friend's maid while they went out, with instructions to feed them and leave them together and then she could go out herself. On returning from the theatre they were met in the Hall of the hotel by a distracted maid ....the dogs had gone. Someone had opened the door of the room where they were shut in and the dogs had vanished. Two frantic owners wandered round Piccadilly and the nearby streets hoping to find them. The Police were informed and took all particulars and a good reward was offered for their recovery. The next day Mrs. Fagan and her friend returned to their homes in Warwickshire. Advertisements were put in the papers and, knowing that both dogs were wearing collars with their names and addreses, great hopes were felt that they would be recovered. After three days Mrs. Fagan's friend to her delight received a telegram from an unknown man saying that her dog had become tired of wandering and had followed him to his home. Mrs. Fagan had numerous answers to her advertisement and went on several wild goose chases to look at dogs not the least like Brownie. Her sister went daily to the Battersea Lost Dog's Home and Mrs. Fagan got a lot of help from the man in charge of the Animal Department at Harrods. One Sunday he took Mrs. Fagan to Club Row, where stolen dogs often turned up, though he was afraid Brownie might have got into the Vivisection Van. However, when he was given a description of Brownie's character, he said he felt sure that she must be trying to get back to Windsor, where Mrs. Fagan had been living. About three weeks later, when hope had nearly been abandoned, a letter arrived from a maid in Ealing, saying she had seen the advertisement in the Sunday paper, and was SURE the dog had been in their garden. She looked starved and had eaten the whole of her stockpot, but she had been unable to catch her. Off went Mrs. Fagan to a little villa on the outskirts of Ealing. The maid took her round the streets where she had seen Brownie on several occasions, but they had no luck, and Mrs. Fagan returned to Windsor. The next morning she received another letter stating that the maid had met Brownie after she had left Mrs. Fagan at the station and felt sure she had been on her mistress's track. Back to the villa chased Mrs. Fagan, and she was kindly invited to stay the night and continue the search. In the evening she went to the Public gardens and was told by the Keeper, "Oh, yes, I am sure I saw your dog at lunchtime, some boys were stoning her". There was no trace of Brownie that evening, but next day they started the search again, and as a last resort, the maid said "You go through the gardens and I'll walk round the road outside, as I often see her there". Through the gardens went Mrs. Fagan, and as she came out on the main road, with trams going up and down, she saw a small terrified dog carreening as fast as she could up the road, whereupon she yelled, "Brownie!". The little dog stopped as if she had been shot, turned and leapt into her mistress's arms, who in her relief and joy burst into tears. The Keeper who saw what had happened could not keep the tears from his eyes any more than the maid could when she turned up. What had happened was that when Mrs. Fagan had gone into the gardens, the maid met Brownie in the road, had been unable to catch her and so had driven her round the garden in the hope that she would run into her mistress. Poor little dog, she smelt like a wild animal, and her collar had gone. It is thought that she had been stolen and had got away and had then tried to make her way to Windsor, as she was exactly half-way there from London. Never did anyone part with money more gladly than Mrs Fagan did to that maid.do not appear in the statistics. From English breeder Eileen Needham of Titanium Norfolk: Jack Cooke’s strain, eventually producing, in 1929, "Horsted Mick". At about the same time Mr. W.E. West began his “Farndon” line with a bitch from Roughrider Jones and, in 1912, Mrs. Fagan also began with a bitch called Brownie whose dam, Flossie, red with a black back, was very game. Many famous names can be traced back to Brownie. More>>
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Short Stories About Significant Norfolk Terriers