Sometimes we think it’s a pity that some of our breeds don’t still go by the names they had in the early days. To wit: “Bearded Collie” is pretty cool name, but its early name, “Hairy Mou’ed Collie,” was a name with teeth. Still, we do wonder about the origin of Hairy Mou’ed Collie. 

One native French speaker said that  ‘poil mou’ refers to hair that is very soft without a strong hold. That sounds like it could apply to the Bearded Collie, but another respected dog person mentions that the term has been seen translated into “Hairy Mouthed Collie,” and perhaps it morphed into a Scottish or Gaelic dialect as “Mou’ed?”

In response to that comment, someone else mentioned that in the case of the Bearded Collie, the term is a form of the word, “mouth” or “maw.”

Let’s get to the bottom of this. Bearded Collie folks?

Image: ‘I Don’t Think So” by Paul Doyle
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