CAPTAIN BARCLAY AND AMOS CRUICKSHANK 75 



intense consanguineous breeding v -and pedigree domination, 

 the value of the descendants of their unregistered cattle 

 suffered in consequence. Rennie had the distinction of 

 having sent the first Shorthorn bull to the Aberdeenshire 

 region, now acknowledged to be the fountain-head from 

 which the most highly prized specimens of the breed have 

 been derived during recent years. 



Captain Barclay of Ury, on the banks of the Cowie, 

 Aberdeenshire, "the father of Shorthorn breeding in the 

 North," was an all-round sportsman, who took a compre- 

 hensive view of country matters and grasped the necessity 

 and the possibility of developing agriculture and with it the 

 great cattle industry of the country, which he exhaustively 

 discussed with Hugh Watson of Keillor and William 

 M'Combie of Tillyfour, of Polled Angus fame. With rare 

 judgment he purchased for 150, at the displenishing sale of 

 Mason of Chilton, " Lady Sarah," the originator of one of the 

 most famous of all Shorthorn strains, to become the pro- 

 genitor of many of the best Scotch-bred Shorthorns. In 

 1838 his herd of about eighty cattle, of "great scale and 

 substance," was sold, and realised 3000. This wide dis- 

 tribution among many purchasers of animals of the highest 

 merit at moderate prices gave a wonderful stimulus to the 

 breeding of Shorthorn cattle in the north of Scotland. 

 About two years later, a second herd was started, and his old 

 bull, " Mahomed," was put to selected English cows and 

 heifers. At the time of his dispersal in 1847, ^ numbered 

 ninety-one, and sold for 2825. It passed into the hands of 

 the Cruickshanks of Sittyton, Campbell of Kinellar, Hutcheson 

 of Monyruy, Hay of Shethin, and buyers of similar type, and 

 exercised no little influence on subsequent Shorthorn history. 



To Amos Cruickshank (1808-95) of Sittyton (12 miles 

 north-west of Aberdeen), aided to some extent by his younger 

 brother Anthony (died 1879), remains the credit of giving 

 the best of the Shorthorn cattle of Scotland a world-wide 

 reputation. The first essential of an animal with this 

 "canny Scot" "was a good middle," as an indication of 

 digestive power and vigour of constitution. " A broad, full 

 chest, wide back, and deep ribs were his all-and-all," and no 

 other merits could condone defects in these points. He 

 began, like Robertson and Rennie, with a contempt for 



