244 The Irish NattDalist. November, 



between the native Kerr)^ cattle and some other intruding breed, in all 

 probability a red breed brought from the south of England. There are 

 several theories as to the origin of the Dexter, each in succession trying 

 to give a more satisfactory explanation of the facts than that given by 

 its predecessor. The oldest theory is that the Dexter originated in the 

 hands of a Mr. Dexter, agent to Lord Hawarden. But this Mr. Dexter was 

 dead 50 years before he was credited with having originated the breed. 

 Besides, Dexter lived in Tipperar}', far away from the couutr}- the 

 Dexters come from. The next theory got over that difficulty by fixing 

 upon Dexter's grandson, a coastguard officer who lived in Kerry. But 

 unfortunately he '' never had anything to do with cattle." 



But, according to another theory, since the Dexters are a Kerry 

 breed, and the coastguard officer had nothing to do with them, 

 the man who really originated them must have been someone called 

 Dexter, who lived in Kerr}', away up in the north, near where the coast- 

 guard officer lived. Who could he have been ? The cattle must have 

 originated in some out-of-the-way place. Did the Knight of Kerry 

 ever have a steward called Dexter ? Of course he must. The Dexters 

 originated, therefore, with the Knight of Kerry's steward called 

 Dexter. 



Others, not satisfied with any of the.se theories, tell us that in Kerry 

 stout-bodied, .short-legged animals, and even men, are called Dexters ; 

 that the Dexter breed of cattle were " sports "from the Kerries, and 

 that of course they came to be called by the local name describing such 

 animals. 



Unfortunately, here again there is a strong suspicion of the cart being 

 put before the horse. The original Mr. Dexter was an Englishman 

 who was a well-known importer and breeder of Leicester sheep. These 

 .sheep, which were much stouter and shorter-legged than the native 

 sheep, came to be called '-Dexters." They .spread over the south-west, 

 and along with them spread the word to express an animal of their 

 type. 



But against all these theories we must place the fact that animals 

 of Dexter type were to be found elsewhere than in Kerry, and that too 

 early and too far away for any of the Dexter family to have had any- 

 thing to do with them. They were to be found all over Ireland wherever 

 the native cattle were being pushed out by intruding races — by Long- 

 horns, Herefords, Shorthorns, and Devon.s. Presumably these Dexter- 

 looking animals were crosses between the native and the intruders. 



Down iu the south there were only two intruding races, the Long- 

 horns and the Devons. But the Longhorus could not have given rise 

 to the present Dexters, for the colours and size of the two breeds are in- 

 consistent. We are thus driven back on the Devon breed, and 

 Meudelism shows clearly that the Dexter is a hybrid breed, the original 

 races being a slender black race and a stout red one, like the Devon 

 breed of cattle. To bring this home, we need only set a red Dexter and 

 a red Devon cow side by side. 



