94 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



third ia the Liverpool National, and first for the North- 

 ampton, Pie gradually imbibed a taste for shorthorns 

 from his old schoolfellow Mr. Robert Holmes, of county 

 Westmeath, and when he had once seen Modish, who 

 was bought by that Irish pioneer of shorthorns from 

 the Booths for 120 gs. in 1825, the vaccination " took." 

 Mr. Holmes offered 150 gs. the same journey for Sylph, 

 by Remus (one of the finest sons of Comet), and de- 

 scended on her dam's side from Col. Trotter's sort ; but 

 Mr. John Booth, who had bought her at his father-in- 

 law's sale, considered her the best, and declined to let 

 her go. Lord Ross, of county Longford, had introduced 

 the old Teeswater style, even prior to Charles and Robert 

 CoUings's day ; and two or three years before the 

 daughter of Remus arrived, the Irishmen had been 

 purchasers at Mr. Champion's sale. Many of the lots 

 at Mason's sale followed suit, and it was there that Mr. 

 Holmes gave 110 gs. for Victoria, own sister to Monarch; 

 and crossed her with Booth bulls — one of which, Argus, 

 he bought at Richard Booth's Studley sale. She died of 

 dropsy after producing one heifer, Victoria Ilnd, and 

 three bulls ; and it was from that heifer that the whole 

 of Mr. Holmes' fine herd was descended, which averaged 

 £65 odd under Mr. Strafford's hammer. Mr. Latouche, 

 of county Kildare, and Mr. Adamson, of county West- 

 meath, were also among the faithful in those days of 

 shorthorn depression, and Mr. Holmes, conjointly with 

 the latter, bought Monarch's dam, which produced them 

 one bull. Napoleon, own brother to the great IMasonic 

 hero. " Kearney's Bull," as he was called, had been 

 brought over from Mr. Mason's by a salesman in 1822, 

 and by way of a beginning, Mr. Barnes sent a cow to 

 him which he had picked up from Lord Ross's herd^ 

 The next step was to buy Mr. Holmes's Prince George, 

 by Booth's Volunteer, from Mason's Victoria, but all 

 these careful calculations of Booth on Mason were 

 swept away by distemper, which killed fifteen of the 

 best cows. 



What seemed a grievous calamity at the time, proved to 

 be the reverse. In 1841, the horses were sold by auction 

 and Mr. Barnes determined henceforth to give up his 

 whole heart to Shorthorns, and taking his passage for 

 England, set his face Killerby- wards. Modish, by Lord 

 Stanley (4269), half-sister to the elegant Mantalini, the 

 great winner of the day, and Milliner, a daughter of Man- 

 talini, also by Lord Stanley, were, however, the only pur- 

 chases which he effected there. Modish had won seve- 

 ral prizes before he got her, and she was in-calf at the time 

 with Albion, by Morning Star. Her luck did not desert 

 her in Ireland, and the first heifer and cow prizes fell to 

 her lot at the Dublin Royal, as well as the first cow 

 prize at the Royal Irish. The above high-bred pair 

 were singularly niggardly in their heifer-breeding, as 

 each of them had only one a-piece, and the daughter of 

 one and granddaughter of the other adhered rigidly to 

 the same Malthusian practice. Luck, however, inclined 

 towards Milliner, and of the eleven pure Bootli females 

 in the Westland herd, ten now deduce their origin from 

 her, and only one from her companion. Baroness 

 ranges herself under the Milliner line, through Britan- 

 nia and Ophelia by Hamlet, whom Mr. Barnes still J 



thinks as fondly of as his very best cow. Lady Sarah was 

 purchased as a six weeks calf, at Mr. Pollok's of Moun- 

 tainstown, who had bought her dam Violet from Julia, at 

 Capt. Barclay's sale. Her ladyship was sent over, along 

 with The Belle (which picked her calf), at 10 gs. to Ham- 

 let, and Young Hamlet was the produce. Those were days 

 when 40 gs. was considered a good bull hire, and she had 

 a bull calf to Hamlet for each of the next three seasons, 

 while he stayed at Westland, and after that Ruby to 

 Royal Buck, who followed with Baron Warlaby in Ham- 

 let's footsteps. In fact, she was the only well-bred cow 

 served by Royal Buck during his stay, as his excellent 

 shoulders were required to correct her upright ones, a 

 failing of which Baron Warlaby rather partook. She had 

 eleven calves in all, and one of them. Lord Clarendon, was 

 the first bull which ever made 80 gs. in Ireland. Bright 

 Eyes, bred by Mr, Lawson, of Stapleton, and of the same 

 family as Mr. Fawkes's Bridegroom, once bid fair to 

 found a tribe_, which has, however, been gradually sold 

 off ; but Pauline, who was bought from Mr. Whitaker, 

 and is all Mason, with the exception of the cross of Job- 

 son's Prince of Northumberland, and her daughter Pritn- 

 rose by Hamlet, still live in their granddaughters. The 

 later purchases include Bloom, from Mason's Blooin, 

 by Satellite (1420), and Sweetbriar, by Nimrod (13,388). 

 Roseberry (5011), by Raspberry, purchased from Mr. 

 Torr, was the first of the Booth line of Bulls at Westland. 

 Hamlet, by Leonard, from Bracelet, then took his three 

 seasons ; then came Royal Buck and Baron Warlaby, 

 the latter of which was so especially successful as a 

 getter of prize animals. Hopewell reigned four seasons, 

 Windsor part of one, and Sir Samuel one, and then 

 Harbinger was hired for 250 gs., and did not live out 

 two-thirds of his time. After all, it was not with a 

 Warlaby bull of his own hiring, that Mr. Barnes made 

 his greatest breeding, but with Dr. McHale, as Sylph 

 was sent to The Monk during his period of service with 

 Mr. Kearney, of Clonmellan. Of the Monk, with his 

 " grand monastic arched rib," it is said, that he has been 

 so constantly engaged that Mr. Richard Booth has nOt 

 cast eyes on him for up v/ards of eight years. The herd now 

 consists of about 52 in all, 38 females and 14 bulls, and 

 one-third of them are pure Booth. Dr. McHale, who docs 

 not go to Canterbury, has been rather an exception, as in 

 consequence of the risk of forcing, Mr. Barnes scarcely 

 ever shows anything but yearling bulls and heifers, and 

 the Royal Dublin Spring Show is his principal arena. 



We passed the arch leading into the bull-yard, and 

 made straight for the three new boxes, in which Baroness, 

 Modish, and Ruby held their court. There was no oc- 

 casion for our cicerone to introduce us verbally to the 

 two first, as already we had seen them holding a post of 

 honour among the few herd favourites which adorn the 

 Westland walls. Baroness has only been shown once, 

 when she was the first-prize yearling at Dublin Spring, 

 but her extreme neatness and goodness might have 

 secured her royal honours. She has, however, been 

 more worthily employed, and a long list of calves, be- 

 ginning with Countess, and ending with The Druid 

 by Dr. M'Hale, attest the wisdom of curbing am- 

 bition, and leaving nature to itself. Her calf. Baron 



