Sent P.B. Fearon to E. Nettleship, 29th Sept. 1910.
29 Sep 1910
Description:

‘Dear Sir,

I should have answered your letter before, but one thing & another has prevented me from doing so.

I fear I may have misled you as to albino in my breed, for the dogs I have had with pink noses had light hazel eyes, not “wall eyed” or pale blue - & I did not specially note the colour of skin & mouth, but shall do so in future. I expect a litter of puppies tonight & shall watch them carefully.

The “West Highland White Terrier” was practically unknown in England a few years ago & was only acknowledged by the Kennel Club, I think in 1907. But they were bred & kept by Col. Malcolm of Poltalloch on Skye for generations for bolting foxes. Their light colour making them conspicuous among the rocks & preventing them from being shot.

I bred “Skye terriers” for years (the long haired ones) but never had one with albinotic eyes, though a few had very light hazel eyes, but they were mostly dark haired dogs though all had pink skin, so I suppose the colour of this has no connection with the colour of the skin.

W.H.W. Terriers as far as my limited experience goes, are usually born with black points, & the pads, noses etc. turn pink when a few months old, but often go quite black again before they are a year, so I never destroy an otherwise good puppy on this account. If I see[?] ever a real albino puppy I will most certainly give it to you.

Believe me,]

Yours [illeg.]

Paul B. Fearon.

I enclose a photo to show you the breed I am talking of. Do not trouble to return as I have duplicates.’

Sent P.B. Fearon to E. Nettleship, 30th Oct. 1910.
30 Oct 1910
Description:

‘Dear Sir,

Your letter reached me in Cornwall, & I am ashamed to say, I put it aside for the moment & only just came across it  today, when going through some papers. So I have no good excuse for [the] delay in replying.

I fear I may have misled you, or rather that I perhaps do not mean quite the same by “pink nose”. These vary very considerably, some very light in colour, but others are quite dark though decidedly pink. I should call all that were not coal black - “pink”. I fancy you only refer to the light ones. I have seen a dark pink nose, with very deep coloured hazel eye. Also I should not say that the pink nose, meant pink skin, with [illeg.], but I can not [be] sure about this, anyhow the reverse is not true, for I have before me now, a Fox Terrier puppy abt. 4 months white with dark head & one black patch on body. His nose is black, his eyes dark, & his skin pink all over, even on black patch. The dogs I previously bred were long haired Skye terriers, not similar in points to either W[?]H.W. Terriers or “Setters”, I have now the mother of many pups [illeg.], she has black nose very dark hazel eyes – dark grey coat & pink skin.

All Skye terriers have this colour skin to the best of my knowledge. The lighter coloured ones (silver or light grey) have a tendency to light hazel eyes, but this is considered a serious fault & is very bred out.

All the 3 existing breeds of Scotch terriers were probably the same, 50 years ago i.e. mongrel scotch terrier & the different types brought into existence by careful breeding & selection, but for all three, the black nose & dark eyes is essential. Therefore, the pink nose, even if the original natural colour, has not had much chance!

I remember reading an article some time ago, in which it was stated that the colour of the skin on a party [sic] coloured dog had nothing to do with the colour of the hair, but I cannot lay my hands on it. If I remember rightly it was with respect to a dog, in a class, ‘all whites’, that had white hair all over, but dark patches on its skin, which showed thought, & it was “objected” to, as not being perfectly white, but I have missed the point! for I can’t remember the decision.

I have never bred fox terriers, but I would be surprised to hear, that they usually have dark skins, though they must have black noses; their usual colour is not all white, though many are so.

Foals vary in colour when born, but it is difficult to say what their final colour will be – but they soon change. I never saw a white or a grey foal when first born.

I  have kept Himalaya rabbits, some of which were born dark. Their final colour is white, with dark nose, legs, ears. I think also top of tail.

I never had a white dog from dark.

My litter of 5 are now a month old, all white with black pads & noses; (eyes? say dark blue).

I will look at moult & skin tomorrow & add to this letter, x [illeg.]

Yes, in my adult dogs W.H.W.T.s the skin is very dark, but varies in places. The change from black to dark pink, in my young dog’s nose, when scared at a show, lasted some hours. He did not appear faint but was very frightened & had an attack of diarrhoea. With respect to quoting my remarks in your article, I feel rather diffident, as I am not good at expressing myself & I fear we have sometimes been writing at cross purposes. Besides my experience is only a limited one. Also before you wrote me, I had not been taking special note of the points you raise, & only write from impressions – However I cannot recall having said anything that I should wish to correct & perhaps you would not mind lettng me see what you propose to publish, I would rather that my name was not mentioned & I do not wish to get into a long conversation in the doggy papers!

The whole subject is very interesting to me.

Yours truly,

Pauil B. Fearon

P.S. The puppies skin is dark on their bellies, the roofs of mouths vary – some quite dark & some patchy.’

Does a Star[?]mism[?], which assumes white patches in the winter, change the colour of the skin at same time? I think some mammals do the same; am I right on this?’