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and part were of his own breed, " for he hath nearly 

 two hundred milch kine, which, for the most part, 

 have calves yearly." Sir David sold yearly to drovers, 

 or sent to St. Faith's and other fairs in England, about 

 eighteen or twenty score of bestial. " Those of his 

 own breed," the chronicler adds, " at four years old 

 are very large ; yea, so large that in August or 

 September, 1682, nine and fifty of that sort, which 

 would have yielded between 5 and 6 sterling the 

 piece, were seized upon in England for Irish cattle ; 

 and because the person to whom they were intrusted 

 had not witnesses there ready at the precise hour to 

 swear that they were seen calved in Scotland, they 

 were, by sentence of Sir J. L. and some others, who 

 knew well enough that they were bred in Scotland, 

 knocked on the head and killed." 



This extract throws a somewhat curious light on 

 both the cattle trade and the political economy of 

 the time. Whether the Baldoon cattle were the 

 ancestors of the native " Galloways" of the present 

 day, we know not ; possibly they were. But it does 

 seem rather odd that a set of English magistrates (as 

 presumably Sir J. L. and his friends had been) should 

 seize upon a number of them and have them killed 

 upon the mere suspicion, or pretence rather, of their 

 being Irish cattle. The oifence, even though it had 

 been proved, would not seem a very grievous one, 

 there having apparently been no dread of contagious 

 cattle diseases then. But not only did Ireland possess 

 a superior breed of cattle at that time ; it was also 

 against the law to import them into Scotland. We 

 find Sir David Dunbar's successor at Baldoon petition- 

 ing the Privy Council for permission to import from 

 Ireland " six score young cows of the largest breed," 

 for making up his stock in the park of Baldoon ; he 

 " giving security that he would import no more, and 

 employ these for no other end." 



Various others followed the example set at Baldoon, 



