BUCKLING AND WOODBASTWICK HERDS 153 



breed which still exists, probably by the second Lord Suffield, 

 who married the heiress of Blickling, and others had been 

 sold to Albemarle Cator of Woodbastwick Hall, near Norwich. 



Storer, quoting reliable authority on the Gunton Herd, 

 says : " The colour of this breed was white, with black ears, 

 but some had dark brown ears ; nose black, no horns, very 

 good skin ; hoofs also black. They were very large, big- 

 framed beasts, with wide haunches, back, and loins, and of 

 considerable height at the spine-line. They were not large 

 consumers for their size, and were generally very healthy. 

 The cows were capital milkers, and had very large, well-formed 

 udders. The calves always came pure-white (swan-white) 

 except the noses and ears, but in a few instances inclined to 

 cream-colour. I never recollect seeing any of the true breed 

 spotted with black or red. The herd consisted of about 

 forty animals, two or three of which were bulls. They were 

 never crossed with any other cattle." 



The Blickling Herd was reduced to some three or four 

 calves by rinderpest. Constance, Marchioness of Lothian, 

 contending against decreased fertility, made a strenuous, 

 though not quite successful, effort to breed it up to its former 

 standard. At the Norfolk Agricultural Association Show at 

 Blickling in 1887, " Blickling Tom," a fine specimen of the 

 breed, gained the premier place. Since the death of the 

 Marchioness the herd has been reduced to ten in number. 



The Woodbastwick Herd was of recent formation, dating 

 from about 1840, when one or two White Polled cattle were 

 bought from the fourth Lord Suffield by Albemarle Cator. 

 One cow " had black spots round her muzzle ; the ears and 

 the circles round the eyes were dark brown. She was in calf 

 when she came, and produced a bull, which was retained ; 

 the dam remained barren for more than a year, and her 

 second calf at Woodbastwick, a heifer, was by her first." 



Although at Blickling black ears prevailed, and at 

 Woodbastwick red ears were preferred, the two colours were 

 common to both breeds, which mutually gained in constitu- 

 tion as well as in colour by exchange of calves of both sexes. 

 For about twenty years the Woodbastwick cattle were bred 

 pure ; but about 1862 a well-bred Shorthorn bull was used for 

 at least two seasons, and about ten years later another white 

 pedigree Shorthorn bull was introduced. Early in the 

 eighties of last century a black-and-white bull of the 

 Somerford Park breed was secured, and with this change of 



