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The Fife canary only goes back to the early 1950s when a number of breeders in Scotland believed the Border canary was not like the original Model standard before it came into England .
It had started getting bigger ,heavily feathered and the price was going over the top for the true hobby breeder.
The true Border was small and affectionately Known as 'THE WEE GEM' in it's homeland of the borders of England--Scotland.
There was a few Scots had a meeting and started the Fife Fancy.One of these members was WALTER LUMSDEN of Dysart.
Anyone showing Fifes showed them as Miniature Borders in the Any Other Variety class till it won the UK National Show in 1975 by Walter and is son David.
Today Fifes are the largest canary class at most UK shows now .
The Fife is now,
A small,agile,jaunty bird.
Always wants to be a good parent and is very fertile.
Anyone starting up in the fancy can expect to pay as little as �8 upwards to �35 for good breeding stock.
It is a joy when you go to the big shows and see a man walking round in a kilt,this will more than likely be Walter.

The Gloster dates back to the mid 1920s when some miniature Crested Canaries where shown at the Crystal Palace National Show by Mrs Rogerson Of Cheltenham.
Both judges on that day agreed that they would be very appealing to many fanciers.
They progressed slowly at first in small pockets around the country, the main strong hold being in Gloucestershire (Gloster).
A.W. Smith thought this would be a good name for this Miniature Crest and gave them their own identity of Gloster Fancy Canary, he also drew up the excellent exhibition standard.
The crested form of the Gloster, or Corona is like no other breed, only one the Crested Canary comes close to it , the main differants being.
The Gloster having a much lively action, feather quality and the overall size, which is diminutive.