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THE DOMESDAY BOOK OF DOGS
Plummer Terrier
Renowned for its working ability, this breed was developed by D. Brian Plummer during the '60s and '70s. They were responsible for a remarkable haul of rats, an estimated aggregate of seventy-eight ton, whilst ratting (usually one night per week) at a battery farm during the 1970s. DBP would only use proven workers as breeding stock and outcrossed his strain to working terriers, with two quite distinctive exceptions: a working Beagle of the Rosset prefix (to improve scenting ability); and a Bull Terrier (to give sounder heads). After suffering a heart attack in 1985 his friends divided up the terrier pack and the breed is now popular amongst vermin controllers in Britain and Europe.From David Calcutt.
"This is interesting Meg. From your description of him, I think this may the same Brian Plummer I knew for a couple of years in the early 80's when we both worked at the same community school in Walsall. He worked with the most difficult - and often violent - pupils, and his off-the-wall methods had a very positive effect. He kept ferrets for hunting then. I'm sorry to hear he died, but glad he's living on in your work".
Many thanks to Meg Rosoff.
Brian wrote a couple of books under the pseudonym Michael Shaw, and when pressed said the name was from literature but would say no more. It is believed proceeds from the books were given to the miners' fighting fund during their 1984/85 strike. There is a poem, written in Doric, by George Cunningham about a fine upstanding citizen who, nonetheless, does not suffer fools easily and this may be the source of the name. The first verse:
"Auld nature has made ye a man,
Michael Shaw,
On the honest and sensible plan,
Michael Shaw.
She has stamped on her wark
Baith her name and her mark;
Has gifted ye wi' a bit spark,
Michael Shaw,
O' her ain native fire, a bit spark"
Books by D. Brian Plummer, Coch-Y-Bonddu Books
Plummer Terrier Club Of Great Britain
SEE Proto-terriers
