54 The English Wild Bull. 



cattle and their habits, we cannot resist the temp- 

 tation of quoting Pennant's remarks on the reason 

 why England was always famous for its cattle. 

 He says : " The climate of Great Britain is above 

 all others productive of the greatest variety and 

 abundance of wholesome vegetables, which, to 

 crown our happiness, are almost equally diffused 

 through all its parts; this general fertility is 

 owing to those clouded skies which foreigners 

 mistakenly urge as a reproach on our country; 

 but let us cheerfully endure a temporary gloom, 

 which clothes not only our meadows, but our hills, 

 with the richest verdure. To this we owe the 

 number of our cattle." However, to return, wild 

 cattle are, as we have said, a dwindling race; 

 for, as Mr. Harting tells us in his extremely 

 interesting account of the British Wild White 

 Cattle, published in 1880, only six herds are left 

 out of twenty-one, "concerning which some his- 

 torical notices are to be found," and individually 

 these cattle are certainly becoming smaller, and 

 generally deteriorating. So long ago, indeed, as 

 1836, " Robert Brown, Esq., Chamberlain to his 

 Grace the Duke of Hamilton," wrote of the cattle 

 at Cadzow, "The circumstances of their breeding 

 in-and-in, of being chased so much when any 

 of them are to be shot, of being so frequently 

 approached and disturbed by strangers, and of 

 having been exposed so long to all the vicissitudes 

 of the seasons, and constantly browsing the same 

 pasture, have no doubt contributed greatly to the 



