114 The Horse-breeding Indvstrii in Yorkshire. 



also undoubtedly had a very marked effect in popularising the 

 breed on Yorkshire soil, to Avhich, originally, the heavy hairy- 

 legged cart-horse, indigenous in the Midlands and Lincolnshire, 

 was entirely foreign. That is speaking of a hundred years ago, 

 or more. 



The great stronghold of the Shire in its purest form in the 

 county ever since its first introduction here has been in the 

 southern part of the West Riding, and particularly in the 

 country round Doncaster and Snaith. Some comparatively old 

 strains are established here, and it was in this neighbourhood 

 that the famous stallion Bar None was bred in 1877 ; he was 

 reckoned one of the best Shire sires of his day, and made a 

 great reputation for himself. Mares of his blood especially 

 proved very successful matrons and threw many winners. His 

 breeder was Thomas Holmes, of Fenwick Hall , near Doncaster, 

 and he subsequently passed into the possession of old Mr. 

 James Forshaw. Bar None, whose quality and good legs were 

 two of his leading attriliutes, while he was also of big size, 

 came on his dam's side of a Yorkshire-bred strain, she having 

 been got by Great Britain, a local horse. His sire was Lincoln, 

 a stallion of some note, who Avas bred in Lincolnshire. From 

 the West Riding the breed gradually spread northwards and 

 eastwards into other parts of the countj^, the native farm horses 

 being increasingly crossed up with heavy Shii-e blood and so 

 eventually becoming transformed into the Shire-bred type 

 which predominates everywhere at the present time. Shire 

 stallions are very extensively kept throughout Yorkshire, and 

 during the last decades cart-horse breeding has made much 

 progress here. But the expansion of this industry has of course 

 had its effect in curtailing the production of light horses. One 

 of the foremost Shire studs in the county is that of Lord 

 Middleton at Birdsall, which was founded about thirty years 

 ago. The first stallion used here was Northwood, while Silver 

 Queen, a prominent show-ring winner in her time, was the 

 chief matron of note among the original brood mares. Some 

 of the best animals now in the stud trace their descent back 

 to this mare. 1\\ 1897 the well-known stallion Mfnestrel, 

 admittedly one of the ])est and weightiest horses of the day 

 (he weighed 23 cwt.), joined the stud, and proved a great 

 acquisition. He was by Hitchin Conqueror out of Madrigal, 

 his breeder having been Mr. Freeinan-Mitford, now Lord 

 Redesdale. Menestrel stood at Birdsall for fourteen seasons, 

 and died three years ago at the age of twenty. Among the 

 many good horses sired by him, Birdsall Menestrel, Lord 

 Rothschild's champion stallion, ranks as the most notable. He 

 was bred at Birdsall, his dam, Birdsall Darling by Northwood, 

 still being one of the brood mares here. Among the many 



