DURHAM DIVINITIES 55 



Longhorn bull and three cows, but such a sum for 

 a bull alone soon set all England talking of a rising 

 power. 



It must of course be borne in mind that the 

 animals subjected to this severe strain had been 

 specially chosen originally for their scale and con- 

 stitution. Great size was a leading tenet with the 

 farmers along the Tees, and they had, up to this 

 period, abstained religiously from any such course 

 as that which had wrought marvels in the "Long 

 Pasture" and straw-yards at Dishley. True, some 

 of the old families of the district prided themselves 

 upon having kept their own "breed" pure for many 

 generations, but such liberties as CHARLES COLLING 

 took with the Lady Maynard blood were until then 

 quite unknown in North Country live-stock hus- 

 bandry. One can better imagine than describe, 

 therefore, the sensation produced by this unparal- 

 leled procedure and its marvelous results. 



We must not fail to mention here, however, that 

 shortly before CHARLES COLLING acquired in Darling- 

 ton market the first Duchess in 1784, he had used 

 for two seasons an unnamed bull that he afterward 

 sold to go into Northumberland, a bull that had 

 introduced a refining element in the Ketton cattle, 

 which doubtless served although at the time little 



