134 ON THE AYRSHIRE BREED OF CATTLE. 



other dairy farmers, but no mention of tlieir names is made. As 

 to whether some of the cattle which were introduced into Dunlop 

 were Aklerneys, as tradition asserts, there are no positive means 

 of determining, but the great similarity which exists between the 

 Alderney and modern Ayrshire would naturally lead to the con- 

 clusion that the blood of the one has been largely mixed with 

 that of the other. There is the same peculiar character of the 

 horns and colour of the skin; in fact, the general resemblance is 

 so great, that both Jersey and Alderney cattle are occasionally 

 mistaken for Ayrshires. A lecturer at an English farmer's 

 club meeting quite recently stated — on what authority he did 

 not mention — that " several Ayrshire farmers had introduced 

 cows from the Channel Islands, from all which, combined with 

 West Highland blood, the present improved breed of Ayrshires 

 had arisen." An unknown writer in the " Complete Grazier," 

 the third edition of which was printed in 1808, says that the 

 Dunlop breed is the result of a cross between Alderney cows and 

 Ayrshire bulls. The horns of this race are small and awkwardly 

 set. The animals, it is further stated, are small in size, and of a 

 pied or sandy red colour. They are, notwithstanding, admirably 

 calculated for the dairy, on account of the richness and quality 

 of their milk. Some people aver that this is another account of 

 the Dunlop importation, where the Aklerneys are accredited with 

 the improvement, rather than the Dutch, Teeswater, or Lincolns. 



There is great uncertainty, and consequently much diversity 

 of opinion as to the early history of these crosses, but weighing 

 matters carefully over, and judging from the character which the 

 descendants still possess, it seems possible, nay, indeed, probable, 

 that the blood of both the Teeswater and Alderney types has 

 been largely mixed with that of the native stock. In support of 

 the statement regarding the introduction of Aklerneys, it is 

 asserted by Colonel de Conteur, that Field-Marshal Conway, the 

 Governor of Jersey, and Lieut.-General Andrew Gordon, who suc- 

 ceeded him, both sent about the close of the eighteenth century 

 some of the best cattle to England and Scotland. And Quayle, 

 who wrote an agricultural survey of Jersey, says that the Ayr- 

 shire is a cross between the shorthorn and the Alderney. No 

 doubt when he wrote the word " shorthorn," he intended to con- 

 vey a general meaning, pertaining to shorthorn cattle as dis- 

 tinguished from longhorns, and not to the tribe now known as 

 the shorthorn l^reed. 



On the other hand, Alton, who wrote a survey of the county, 

 and was himself a farmer in the district of Cunningham, after 

 diligent and careful inquiry into the origin of the breed, was of 

 opinion that they are descended from the native cattle, changed 

 in their colour and partly in their shape, size, and qualities, by 

 being crossed with the Teesw\ater or Dutch breeds. Such are 



