304 ON THE POLLED ANGUS OR ABERDEEN 



The latter much thinner than that of the male, 



A sign that she's sure to excel at the pail ; 



Jet black is the colour, that with breeders goes down, 



Though a few polls are spotted and others are brown. 



Such are the pomts of the improved breed at the present day, 

 and such breeders are endeavouring to cultivate and fix upon 

 their favourite type. 



History of tlic Breed. 



In order to trace the origin of the polled Angus or i\.berdeen 

 cattle, it. will be necessary, first of all to ascertain what descrip- 

 tions of stock prevailed in the countries whose name they bear, 

 previous to the era of improvement. Mr George TiUmsden, 

 Auquhorties, who is described by Mr M'Combie as " the greatest 

 living authority on the subject, whose recollection goes back 

 much farther than 1808, who was one of the few who first 

 brought feeding to perfection in Aberdeenshire, and one of the 

 best judges in Scotland," says — " Since my earliest recollection 

 three-fourths of the cattle in Aberdeenshire were black and 

 polled, and this was the original breed of the county. The 

 celebrated breeders and feeders in the beginning of the present 

 and end of the last century, viz : — Messrs Robert Walker, Wester 

 Fintray ; the Harveys, Bedlaston and Daneston ; Mitchell of 

 .Fiddesbeg ; Lumsden of Eggie ; the Williamsons of St John's 

 Wells, Bethelnie and Crichie, and Ardmurdo, and Captain 

 Stoddart, bred and fed pure Aberdeens." 



Three-fourths of a century ago Mr Lumsden himself bought 

 stots two and a half years old for L.30 a head in spring, and sold 

 them at Christmas at from L,40 to L.45, These statements at 

 once cpuarantee that the Aberdeen stock was even then of no 

 inferior order, for at that time figures as high as those we have 

 quoted were rarely heard of in connection with the best bovine 

 tribes. Mr Lumsden continues : — " The polled Aberdeenshire 

 are the best of all the best yet produced, and had they got the 

 same feeding which is now given to the shorthorns, would have 

 surpassed anything I have seen in that class, and, moreover, I 

 think the county would have sustained no loss although the 

 shorthorn had never crossed the Dee." 



Mr Lumsden may be speaking somewhat with the partiality of 

 affection ; nevertheless, this living testimony falling, as it does, 

 from the lips of a thoroughly practical man, is of the utmost 

 value in determining the position of the black skins as a com- 

 mercial stock in Aberdeen at the beginning of the present 

 century. His views are also in part confirmed by an account 

 of the breed given in the history of the county published in 

 1811, which states that Aberdeen is a breeding county, and 

 raises a larger number and value of black cattle than perhaps 



