THE COUNTIES OF FORFAR AND KINCARDINE. 159 



■which the late Mr M'Combie " swept the field " at the Paris 

 Exhibition in 1878. Got by the Easter Skene bull " Valiant " 

 (663), she is out of "Mayflower 2nd, of Easter Tulloch" 

 (3521), now at Powrie, and got by " Emperor of Easter Tulloch" 

 '(396), which was bred at Ballindalloch. 



Shorthorns. — Shorthorn breeding has almost ceased to exist in 

 Forfarshire. It was never pursued to any great extent, but 

 :some time ago there were a few fair-sized and well-bred herds in 

 the county. The largest, and perhaps also on the whole the 

 best, was that carried on for about thirty years, first at Kincraig 

 near Brechin, and latterly at Old Montrose, by Mr Charles 

 Lyall. Among his first purchases were four animals from the 

 late Captain Barclay of Urie, while from other herds well-bred 

 females were subsequently obtained. The stock consisted of 

 mixed Booth and- Bates blood, and Mr Lyall having frequently 

 gone to the noted English herds for his bulls, the best strains 

 were engrafted upon his herd. Among the sires used were 

 Lord Dunmore's " Crown Prince " (28,281), and Colonel Kings- 

 cote's " Duke of Dursley " (25,953), the latter having been the 

 last bull used in the herd. The herd had become a large and 

 very flourishing one about 1860, but in 1865 rinderpest killed 

 no less than fifty-six, leaving only a very few that were enclosed 

 in a garden surrounded by a high wall. With these few and 

 others purchased, a fresh start was made, and in a short time a 

 large and very good herd was again established. In October 

 1874, however, it was dispersed. The average obtained for thirty- 

 eight head was about £30. Mr Lyall has still a few shorthorn 

 cows, but has not again entered into shorthorn breeding with 

 thorough earnest. With animals of his old herd he won manv 

 prizes. Previous to the outbreak of the rinderpest, Lord Airlie 

 had a good shorthorn herd for some time at Cortachy ; while 

 others who bred a few shorthorns for a time have also given 

 them up. The chief shorthorn breeders now are Mr Arklay of 

 Ethiebeaton, Monifieth ; Mr Granger, Pitcur, Kettins ; 'Mv 

 Hume, Barrelwell, Brecliin ; and Mr Arnot, Mains of Glamis. 

 The herds of these gentlemen, however, are small. Mr Arklay's 

 stock bull "Master Toddles" (40,331), was highly commended 

 in a very strong class at the Highland Show at Kelso in 1880. 



Though shorthorn breeding is now carried on only to a very 

 limited extent in Kincardineshire, yet this county figures pro- 

 minently in the early history of the shorthorn in Scotland. 

 Probably no name* is so closely associated with the introduc- 

 tion of the fashionable "red, white, and roan" into the north 

 of Scotland as that of the late Captain Barclay, from whose 

 celebrated herd at Urie the ancestors of a great many of 

 the shorthorns now in the northern counties were obtained. 



