Scotties were originally bred to hunt and kill vermin on farms and to hunt badgers and foxes in the Highlands of Scotland.
The actual origin of the Scottish Terrier is largely undocumented. However, the first written records about a dog of similar description to the Scottish Terrier dates back to 1436. It was then that Don Leslie described them in his book ‘The History of Scotland 1436–1561’.
Two hundred years later, Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a portrait of a young girl caressing a dog similar in appearance to the modern-day Scottie.
Early descriptions of the Scottish Terrier detail a dog "low in stature, with a strong muscular body, short stout legs, a head large in proportion to the body" and was "generally of a sandy colour or black" with a "long, matted and hard" coat. This indicates the existence of a small, hard, rough-coated terrier developed for hunting small game in the Scottish Highlands in the early 19th century.
Originally there was a large group of terriers with differing traits all said to originate from the Isle of Skye. The
Birmingham England dog show of 1860 was the first to offer classes for these groups of terriers. They continued to be exhibited in generic groups for several years. These groups included the ancestors of today's Scottish Terrier.
Towards the end of the 19th century, it was decided to separate these general terriers from Skye, and develop pure bloodlines dividing the group into specific breeds.
The first recorded history, and the initial development of the Scottish Terrier started in the late 1870s. As dog shows developed, the exhibition and judging of dogs required comparison to a breed standard and thus the appearance and temperament of the Scottie was written down for the first time.
So, in 1879, the first written standard of the breed was drafted, and Scotties were exhibited for the first time, as their own separate breed, at Alexander Palace in England. In 1879 the Scottish Terrier began to be classified in much the same way as is done today.
The 1879 standard described the breed's colouring as "Grey, Grizzle or Brindle", as the black colouring of Scotties did not become fashionable or favoured until the 20th century.
Scotties were introduced to America in the early 1890s, but it was not until the years between World War I and World War II that the breed became popular. The Scottie and the German Shepherd are the only breeds of dog that have lived in the White House more than three times. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was renowned for owning a Scottie named Fala, a gift from his distant cousin. The President loved Fala so much that he rarely went anywhere without him. Roosevelt had several Scotties before Fala, including one named Duffy and another named Mr. Duffy. Eleanor Roosevelt had a Scottish Terrier named Meggie when the family entered the White House in 1933. More recently, President George W. Bush has owned two black Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley. Barney starred in nine films produced by the White House.
Other famous people who are known to have owned Scotties include: Queen Victoria, Eva Braun, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Ed Whitfield, Rudyard Kipling, Gilbert Chesterton and President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński. Famous screen personalities including, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Marylin Monroe, Shirley Temple, Humphrey Bogart and Tatum O'Neal all owned Scotties.
The Scottie is also renowned for being featured in the popular board game, Monopoly, as a player token. When the game was first created in the 1930s, Scotties were one of the most popular pets in the United States, and it is also one of the most popular Monopoly game tokens still today.
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