Cricket is a rescued Cairn Terrier. She was rescued by a foundation devoted to finding homes for precocious dogs that have been rejected by the British Royal Family.
The British Royal Family? What?
Cricket was born at Craigdarroch Castle in Craigdarroch, Scotland. Besides being the birthplace of fog, Craigdarroch Castle is home to the Craigdarroch Cairn Cennel (Gaelic spelling of "Kennel"). The Craigdarroch Cairn Cennel (or "CCC"), established 1324, has been breeding Cairn Terriers for the British Royal Family for nearly 700 years.
In fact, the name of the Cairn Terrier itself derives from a royal encounter.
In 1323, King Edward II was on a golfing and scotch distillery tour in Scotland with his staff, and ended up in Craigdarroch late one evening, mysteriously alone, but unmistakably drunk. Stumbling across a local red-haired man playing stick fetch with his dog on a driving range just outside Craigdarroch Castle (which in those days was a brewpub and house of ill repute), the King, intrigued, inquired as to the breed of the dog. Although both King and commoner theoretically spoke the same language, little real communication actually occurred in the exchange that was to follow.
In fact the red-haired local thought the King had asked him, “can I have your dog?” Both flattered and relieved, the local man answered “yus ye carn,” handed the King the stick and walked away. The King, both bewildered and somewhat incapacitated, looked down at his feet to find the dog calmly, if somewhat insistently, staring up him, black eyes burning bright in the night. Finding himself with little choice in the matter, the King threw the stick. Six hours later, he collapsed, having thrown the stick for this creature until he could no longer raise his arm nor remain on his feet.
The next morn, his valet discovered the King, passed out, stick in hand, royal drool upon lips, with a small brown dog sitting by his hand and staring at the King’s slack face intently. Awakening the King, the valet inquired as to what had come to pass, whereupon the King responded - “I found myself drunk and playing fetch with this relentless devil of a cairn dog all through the cold and foggy eve, that’s what,” and, as a final note, deposited 7 quarts of royal spew upon the valet’s deerskin boots.
Henceforth, the breed of dog that was bred in Craigdarroch Castle would be known as the Cairn – by de facto drunken royal decree.
But back to Cricket’s story. Actually, this FAQ entry has grown a little long. Try a different one for the answer.
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