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A Dog for Davie's Hill
An old and rambling shepherd in the Scottish highlands gives his dog to Davie. Davie trains the dog to compete in the Trials but loses him to an unpleasant neighbor. Boy and dog finally prove themselves and are restored to each other.
120 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 7, 2022
Sweet book by (Mr.!) Clare Bice, and I am tempted to put it into my shelf of dogs-favorite-books, but I think it is just shy of that mark I have for the books I put in there. Really great book though that I would recommend for any dog fan.
The summary for the book gives just enough information so you know what the book is about:
An old and rambling shepherd in the Scottish Highlands gives his dog to Davie. Davie trains the dog to compete in the Trials but loses him to an unpleasant neighbor. Boy and dog finally prove themselves and are restored to each other.
I am not one to put a lot of what is in a book in my reviews, but just like to discuss what I like or not. There is a lot of good elements in the story that the summary doesn’t mention. I especially how I liked they handled the unpleasant neighbor.
This book was published in 1956 and definitely has a feel of another time. It is set in Scotland so uses fun local terms and expressions. Some terms you can probably get from the context but best if you look them up. I especially like the ‘och’ to start a sentence off to indicate the person is a bit surprised or outraged. It is not written where you have to struggle with the dialect like Greyfriars’s Bobby. Here is an example to help get a feel for the writing and dialect:
“It’s nearly time for tea, not dinner. Half-past three. You must be starved Davie!” Mum shoved some sticks into the stove and opened the damper. She put the pot of stew on the fire. “We’ll warm up the hotch-potch, and I’ll make some stovie tatties for you.
hotch·potch: a mutton stew with mixed vegetables.
Stovies (also stovy tatties, stoved potatoes, stovers or stovocks) is a Scottish dish based on potatoes. Tattie is Scottish word for Potato.
Since the main Wee doggie in the book is a sheepdog, there is some on sheep trails and working with them, but not so much as to overpower the book and bog it down in details of trials.
The summary is he gets the dog from a rambling shepherd, but he is portrayed more as a tramp. I like the way he asks for some help. When the boy sees him he says to Davie:
“Aye, it is a good fresh morning. Aye, but not a good day for us, the wee dog an’ me. No one wants to give us a bit this day from their plenty, not even so much as a bowl of porridge or brose, let alone sixpence. Do you have a penny maybe?”
It is a different day and place. I don’t remember them saying how old the boy is, but is school age and portrayed as pretty young in the illustrations. Imagine you have maybe a young teen and asking him to take four ewes back to a neighbor’s farm. Look at how the little task is described:
“Ye’ll have a job on your hands,” Piper Rory said, “to take home those wild young beasts. If you go straight over the shoulder o’ Craig Dhu, it’s only three miles which isn’t far, but it’s rough and steep.
I also liked how they explained the training of the wee doggie. Also mixed into the book is some little passages of wisdom said in poetic ways.
“Aye,” said Davie, “first thing he’s got to learn is to obey.”
“it cannot be taught by being harsh with the wee dog, Davie. You won’t put an old head on his young neck overnight."
Lastly, the illustrations are wonderful, and capture the beautiful landscape as well as the characters well.
In summary I would say this is a grand book with a bonnie wee doggie and I hope I haven’t made a foozel of this review. I highly recommend it to my dog loving friends and doubly so for those who are into stories with herding dogs.
The summary for the book gives just enough information so you know what the book is about:
An old and rambling shepherd in the Scottish Highlands gives his dog to Davie. Davie trains the dog to compete in the Trials but loses him to an unpleasant neighbor. Boy and dog finally prove themselves and are restored to each other.
I am not one to put a lot of what is in a book in my reviews, but just like to discuss what I like or not. There is a lot of good elements in the story that the summary doesn’t mention. I especially how I liked they handled the unpleasant neighbor.
This book was published in 1956 and definitely has a feel of another time. It is set in Scotland so uses fun local terms and expressions. Some terms you can probably get from the context but best if you look them up. I especially like the ‘och’ to start a sentence off to indicate the person is a bit surprised or outraged. It is not written where you have to struggle with the dialect like Greyfriars’s Bobby. Here is an example to help get a feel for the writing and dialect:
“It’s nearly time for tea, not dinner. Half-past three. You must be starved Davie!” Mum shoved some sticks into the stove and opened the damper. She put the pot of stew on the fire. “We’ll warm up the hotch-potch, and I’ll make some stovie tatties for you.
hotch·potch: a mutton stew with mixed vegetables.
Stovies (also stovy tatties, stoved potatoes, stovers or stovocks) is a Scottish dish based on potatoes. Tattie is Scottish word for Potato.
Since the main Wee doggie in the book is a sheepdog, there is some on sheep trails and working with them, but not so much as to overpower the book and bog it down in details of trials.
The summary is he gets the dog from a rambling shepherd, but he is portrayed more as a tramp. I like the way he asks for some help. When the boy sees him he says to Davie:
“Aye, it is a good fresh morning. Aye, but not a good day for us, the wee dog an’ me. No one wants to give us a bit this day from their plenty, not even so much as a bowl of porridge or brose, let alone sixpence. Do you have a penny maybe?”
It is a different day and place. I don’t remember them saying how old the boy is, but is school age and portrayed as pretty young in the illustrations. Imagine you have maybe a young teen and asking him to take four ewes back to a neighbor’s farm. Look at how the little task is described:
“Ye’ll have a job on your hands,” Piper Rory said, “to take home those wild young beasts. If you go straight over the shoulder o’ Craig Dhu, it’s only three miles which isn’t far, but it’s rough and steep.
I also liked how they explained the training of the wee doggie. Also mixed into the book is some little passages of wisdom said in poetic ways.
“Aye,” said Davie, “first thing he’s got to learn is to obey.”
“it cannot be taught by being harsh with the wee dog, Davie. You won’t put an old head on his young neck overnight."
Lastly, the illustrations are wonderful, and capture the beautiful landscape as well as the characters well.
In summary I would say this is a grand book with a bonnie wee doggie and I hope I haven’t made a foozel of this review. I highly recommend it to my dog loving friends and doubly so for those who are into stories with herding dogs.
October 27, 2022
This 1956 children’s book from the old weekly reader club was a great read! 120 pages and a beautiful cover. The story is about a young sheep herding boy named Davie in the Scottish highlands and a dog named Fly. Davie and Fly go on adventures, attend sheep dog trials, and crack the mystery of who is stealing sheep. My son enjoyed the story as I read it out loud. A lot of Scottish terms that he wasn’t familiar with, so we learned a lot about that. Fun little read.
November 8, 2024
I wonder if I would’ve appreciated this story as much if I read it when I was younger. A touching story set in the sheep herding territory of Scotland about a farm boy who inherits an incredible sheepdog while there’s also the mystery of sheep thieves. Faintly reminiscent of the old and early Hardy Boys stories.
January 25, 2019
This a lovely story of a young boy learning to train sheep dog through patience and affection. It offers a wonderful portrait of masculinity as centered in caretaking and empathy. Nice dialogue too!
January 10, 2021
A sweet little story. Nice characterization.
December 30, 2022
Funny lecture, it's great for children. It remembers me of when I had a wee dog that I loved so much.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews