THE
SCOTTISH DEERHOUND FORM, FUNCTION & FASHION
BY KRIS AND BAYARD SMITH (“JEFFCAIRN DEERHOUNDS”)
L ooking at our nearly nine-year-old Scottish Deer- hound bitch, Opal, lying upside down on the couch beside me, I am in awe at what purebred Scottish Deerhounds have brought into our lives for over seven decades. In Opal’s case, we have, twelve gen- erations back, Zatopek Of Ardkinglas, bred by Miss A.M.E. Noble (“Ardkinglas”) and imported from Scotland in 1958 by Bayard’s mother, Mrs. Bayard (Mickie) Smith (“Jeff- cairn”). Through that importation came not just our current descendant, GCHB Fernhill’s Opal At Jeffcairn SC GRC JOR, but also the sixty-year legacy of Lyonhil Deerhounds, from Kate Lyon’s foundation bitch, Jeffcairn Dylana in 1960, and the Dalmahoy-Shanid dynasty through Keith (and Frieda) Allan’s Liath Ian Of Dalmahoy and his son, bred by Mickie Smith, Jeffcairn Mac Ian Of Dalmahoy, which are behind most of the North American Deerhounds today. It is a long legacy and a continuing passion for a breed whose beauty, athleticism, and temperament have captivated gen- erations in the Jeffcairn household. We have lure coursed with all our Deerhounds, raced most of them, and even open field coursed a few. We have helped with countless Deerhound specialties and all-breed meets, and Bayard is a familiar sight hunt-mastering in his kilt. Over these years, we have been able to see Deerhounds that course well and hold up, those that show and course, and those that show but are never seen at a running event. Of course, many people who show choose not to run their dogs; however, nevertheless, we have made some observations that we feel hold up. Deerhounds are rarely allowed to perform their original function of chasing and taking down a mature stag, often as a single dog or brace, by grabbing the ear and having the neck snap, which has been described in detail in so much of our breed’s historical accounts. Today in Scotland, Deerhound
Opal. Best in Show SDCA Specialty 2021
Bayard and Kris Smith. SDCA 2018 Specialty ASFA BIF (Entry of 28). Ch. Fernhill’s Opal At Jeffcairn SC GRC JOR.
260 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JANUARY 2024
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