Black and White

Black & White Icelandics

The following quotes were taken from my personal copy of The Iceland Dog 874 - 1956, by Mark Watson

From: - Histoire Naturelle - Le Chien d'Island, by Count de Buffon, 1755
page 300 - a drawing of an Icelandic showing it to be black & white.

From: - Travels in the Island of Iceland, by Sir George Steuart MacKenzie, 1811,
p. 311 - "Their predominant colour is white; yet they vary considerably; and some are entirely brown or black."

From: - Biographical Sketches and Authentic Anecdotes of Dogs, by Captain Thomas Brown, 1829
p. 187 - "His general colour is white with large patches of black over different parts of the body. In some few instances they are found altogether black."

From: - The Zoologist's Text-Book, by Captain Thomas Brown, 1833
p 77 - "Head round; ears erect, and reflected at their tips; hair long and soft, white with large black patches."

From: - The Naturalist's Library, by Sir William Jardine, 1840
p. 130 - "The Norwegian emigrants to Iceland seem to have carried a race of dogs to its shores, which at present is not found in the parent country. The head is rounder, and the snout more pointed, than the preceding (dog). In stature, it is not larger than that of the Kamtschatka, and in fur like the Esquimaux; ears are upright, the lips flaccid; the colours white and black, or white and brown."

From: - Iceland: Its Scenes and Sagas, by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1863
p. 3 - "The dog is of the Esquimaux type, with ruff around its neck, head like a fox, and tail curled over its back. It is of great use to the farmer keeping his flocks together, and defending his tun or home meadow, from the inroads of cattle."

p. 58 - "The Iceland dog (Canis Familiaris Islandicus) has been already briefly described in the Introduction: Its head is just like that of the fox; it is small, has sharp yes, short legs, a profusion of hair, a ruff around the neck, a tail curled over the back, and is generally of a white, dappled or tawny colour."

From: - By Fell and Fjord, by E.J. Oswald, 1882
p. 219 - "At Bessastadir I was presented with my Iceland dog Kari. He was pure white, with the exception of black cheeks and nose and pricked black ears, which stood up like two sharp points of rock out of a snow-drift. Indeed, in the snow he became almost invisible. A sweeter nature than Kari never ran upon four legs; nothing would make him bite or fight; he was friends with the whole world - except, indeed, pigs and donkeys. There are none in Iceland; and he looked upon them with the utmost disgust, and could scarcely be induced to pass them. I never knew a dog who understood language so well, or who tried so hard to talk. As these attempts were not always agreeable, and as he shrieked with delight at the prospect of a game of ball or a walk into town, etc., there were many words that we tried to conceal by spelling them; but in two or three days Kari would learn the alias of anything that concerned him, and excite himself as before."

"There are the long-haired and the short-haired varieties, but even the latter have fine thick coats. They are mostly black or white, or fawn, in colour; they are very fleet and hardy, and most companionable creatures."

From: - Hunden Og Hunderacerne, by Viggo Mueller, 1887
pp 85-88 – “The colour is commonly brownish or greyish and dirty white or yellowish. A usual colour distribution is: back black, underside of the body and limbs white, with the latter colour on the underside of the tail and its tip, and as a collar around its throat.”

“Yes, I know S. P. thinks that black & white is old colour! She was our special shows judge last summer (2005) and she told to us also this!” – R.

“Yes he (a black and white male) is a beuaty, If he stay in Iceland i will use him i think - - - - - I know that S. á Ó. like black and white color like (him). - - - - - - (he) is very good looking and healty...that is very good too, so of course you have to use him, if he was mine i use him - - - ” H.