Though the breed is believed to have some Polski Owczarek Nizinny (aka Polish Lowland Sheepdog) in its ancestry, the names by which it’s been known over time are distinctly “United Kingdomy:” The Old Welsh Grey Sheepdog, the Hairy Moued Collie, the Highland Collie, the Mountain Scotch Collie, the Loch Collie, and our personal favorite, the Argle Bargle.  Any of those names still refers to the bouncy and beautiful dog we know today as the Bearded Collie.

It’s said that a Polish merchant visiting Scotland on a blustery Tuesday in the 16th century traded a pair of his Polish Lowland Sheepdogs for other goods (we made the whole Tuesday thing up, btw). The dogs were likely bred with local sheepdogs to develop the early Bearded Collie. A few of the breed names mentioned in the first paragraph make sense when one considers that early on, the breed had two “types:” One, a longer, coarser dog was known as the “border” type, while the other, a smaller dog with shorter, wavier brown hair was referred to as the “highland” type.  It’s not hard to imagine over time, shepherds who already valued their dogs’ working abilities thought that by crossing the two types, they might get an “uber sheepdog.” They weren’t far off. Their blended types led to today’s fawn, brown, blue and black Beardies, but the breed as we know it today might be credited to G.O. Willison who began breeding Beardies for the show ring after World War II.

“Highland Drovers by” Lynn Paterson
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