THOMAS BATES AND THE DUCHESSES. 79 



side shows, held sometimes thrice a year, from 

 their inception in 1804, and was successful at 

 every show until that of 1812, when he consid- 

 ered himself shabbily treated by the judges. 

 So incensed was he at the decisions here that 

 he never afterward entered the show-yard as a 

 competitor until the York meeting of 1838. 



Bulls first used on the Duchesses. As 

 already mentioned, Duchess -by -Daisy Bull, 

 claimed as the best Short-horn cow of her time, 

 dropped to the cover of Favorite (252) a bull 

 which was named Ketton in honor of his Col- 

 ling derivation. This was the first bull of the 

 Duchess blood owned and used by Mr. Bates, 

 and in spite of his "close" breeding was a 

 beast of strong constitution and possessed of 

 the refinement and character so earnestly 

 sought.* He was undoubtedly a good bull, al- 

 though his portrait drawn in 1814 would in- 

 dicate some prominence of hip and lightness of 

 flank. He was red-and-white and remained 



* More than sixty years afterward Mr. William Charlton, who had lived 

 near Bates and ultimately settled at Sutton in Essex, wrote: "I think I can 

 see the grand old animal standing in the bull park with his fine head and 

 placid countenance, his beautifully-arched neck, his deep and roomy chest, 

 his short and wide-spread legs, his handsome shoulders and full crops, his 

 long, straight and level back, his heavy flank and deep ribs, his well- 

 formed, beautiful quarters and heavy thighs, and his tail so nicely set as to 

 give symmetry to his whole frame. How oft on my youthful mind was 

 impressed the idea that I should never see his like again! His image was 

 so imprinted upon my memory that whenever I began to examine a prize 

 bull Ketton came full in view, and then many defects were soon prominent. 

 Still, although Mr. Bates used Ketton for so many years, a Duchess heifer 

 or bullock could easily be picked out of his herd. There was something in 

 their very countenance and in their prominent gait, and, above all, in their 

 superior touch like none else. In that last quality they had no equals." 



