British Association. 503 



" Mightiest of all the beasts of chace 



" That roam o'er woody Caledon, . 



" Crushing the forest in his race, 



" The mountain bull comes thundering on : 



" Fierce on the hunters' quiver'd band 



" He rolls his eye of swarthy glow, 



" Spurns with black hoof and horns the sand, 



" And tosses high his mane of snow." 



" I must observe, however, that those of Hamilton, if ever 

 they were of the same breed, have much degenerated. 



" The park of Chillingham is a very ancient one. By a co- 

 py of the endowment of the vicarage, extracted from the re- 

 cords at Durham, and referring to a period certainly as early 

 as the reign of King John, about which time, viz. 1220, the 

 church of Chillingham was built, the vicar of Chillingham 

 was, by an agreement with Robert de Muschamp, to be al- 

 lowed as much timber as he wanted for repairs, of the best 

 oak out of the Great Wood of Chillingham, the remains of 

 which were extant in the time of my grandfather. The more 

 ancient part of the castle also appears to have been built in 

 the next reign, that of Henry III., since which it has been 

 held, without interruption, by the family of Grey. At what 

 period, or by what process the park became inclosed, it is 

 impossible to say ; but it was closely bounded by the domains 

 of the Percies on the one side, and by the Hibburnes on the 

 other, the latter of whom had been seated there since the time 

 of King John ; and as the chief branch of the Greys always 

 made Chillingham their principal residence, until it passed 

 into the hands of Lord Ossulston, by his marriage with the 

 daughter and heiress of Ford Lord Grey, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that, in order to secure their cattle, wild and tame, 

 they had recourse to an inclosure probably at an early period. 

 It is said there are some other places in which a similar breed 

 is found : Lymne Park, in Cheshire ; Hamilton, as I before 

 mentioned ; and Chartley Park, (Lord Ferrers). The first I 

 have not seen, but they are described as of a different colour, 

 and different in every respect. Those at Hamilton, or, rather, 

 Chatelherault, I have seen, and they in no degree resemble 

 those at Chillingham. They have no beauty, no marks of 

 high breeding, no wild habits, being kept, when I saw them, 

 in a sort of paddock ; and I could hear no history or tradition 

 about them, which entitled them to be called wild cattle. — 

 Those at Chartley Park, on the contrary, closely resemble ours 

 in every particular ; in their colour, except some small differ- 

 ence in the colour of their ears — their size — general appear- 

 ance : and, as well as I could collect, in their habits. This 



2 b 2 



