So Scottish in origins they have a tartan named in their honour, a rare breed of bouffant-headed dogs will get their Edmonton moment in the sun on World Dandie Dinmont Day.

Technically, they’re rarer than Giant Pandas — and Edmonton’s Mary Machum has three Dandie Dinmont terriers, or a tenth of a per cent of the estimated 3,000 world population. Alberta’s handful of the unusual pups will strut their stuff at Hawrelak Park on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m., led by a kilt-wearing bagpiper.

Machum said there are believed to be fewer than 20 of the Dandie Dinmonts in the entire province.

“It’s a wonderful breed that people don’t know about it, and this is why we’re doing World Dandie Day,” she told Postmedia.

The only breed of dog named after a literary character — so dubbed by Sir Walter Scott — the short-legged cuddle-bugs are loved for their people-loving nature and large, melting brown eyes.

The 1815 Waverley novel Guy Mannering featured a memorable Scottish Borders farmer character named “Dandie Dinmont,” who had six of the round terriers.

“It’s the only breed of dog that is named after a fictional character in a book, and it’s also the only breed of dog which has its own tartan. In 2015, which is the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Guy Mannering, the head of Clan Scott gave the Dandy Dinmont the black and white tartan,” said Machum, as a trio of terriers gazed soulfully up at her from ground level.

The big-headed breed was favoured by a host of luminaries, from George Bernard Shaw and William Wordsworth to Karen Blixen and Agatha Christie. Queen Victoria owned and bred them.

There has also been a train, a boat, a tobacco, and a whiskey named for the breed.

Its roots are very old, and very local to the Scottish borders country — it had yet to be discovered when numbers dipped in wartime.

“Unlike other Scottish breeds, like Cairn Terriers and Scotties, the Dandies just stayed in a triangle of the border country of Scotland,” Machum said.

“There were problems during the wars where dogs were culled because they didn’t have enough food for them.”

One major breeder euthanized her entire kennel, including 10 English champions.

“All the Dandies in the world today are just descended from a dog named Old Ginger. And we know the kennel that he was born in, and it’s been restored in Selkirk, Scotland,” she said.

These days, about 250 Dandie Dinmont puppies are born each year, worldwide.

“Don’t just rescue a dog, rescue an entire breed,” Machum said.

Dandie characteristics

Frequently snagging dog show honours, the Dandie Dinmont breed characteristics include tasseled ears placed quite far down on the side of their head, sweet Ewok faces, and a big, soft “top knot” mop of fur.

There’s a long, curved torso, a “scimitar” tail, and fluffy, short legs (shorter in front). “These dogs were bred for badgering and going down holes after vermin. The little front legs perfect for digging out animal dens,” Machum said

“They can really dig, and if they’re going down into the badger, and if it’s defending itself, it’s going to grab hair first.”

They can live to be 14 or more.

Machum’s Callum is at the bigger end of the breed, standing 11 inches at the shoulder, and weighing 27 pounds. Most run between 20-24 pounds, girls running smaller.

“The other thing that’s really funny is that they are dogs that love to be carried, like babies,” she said.