186 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



Clydesdales. — The resemblance which exists between the Clydesdale 

 and the Shire horse may possibly be regarded by persons who are not 

 intimately acquainted with the points of heavy horses as being very close; 

 though, as may be seen by a comparison of the descriptions which appear in 

 this volume of the two varieties, the opinion would be a most incorrect one 

 in several respects, and notably in weight and the position of shoulders as 

 well as in the length and spring of the pasterns. Regarding the origin of 

 the Clydesdale, there is not the same explicit information forthcoming as 

 there is to be obtained with reference to the ancestry of the English horse, 

 and even the most enthusiastic supporters of the former variety are divided 

 in opinion concerning the source from which it was originally obtained. 

 According to the authority of the Clydesdale Stud-book, the more popular 

 but least satisfactory explanation is, that the breed comes of a cross between 

 some Flemish stallions that were imported into Scotland over two hundred 

 years ago by an ancestor of the then Duke of Hamilton, and the mares 

 that were in the country at that period of its history. The alternative, and 

 more reasonable, theory of the origin of the Clydesdale is, that the breed 

 owes its existence to the perseverance and capacity of the farmers who then 

 resided in the valley of the Clyde; this hypothesis being strengthened 

 by the impossibility of discovering any reliable data in support of the 

 story of the Duke of Hamilton's ancestor having imported any Flemish 

 stallions into the district during the seventeenth century. In fact, William 

 Aiton, a well-known writer on Scottish agricultural subjects, appears to have 

 made full enquiry into the truth of the story, with the result that he could 

 find no one at all who had ever heard of the existence of the Flemish sires, 

 and all they knew of them was gathered from their reading. 



Suffice it, therefore, to recognize the fact that the Clydesdale horse has 

 existed, and been highly valued by the inhabitants of his native district as 

 a distinct breed, for many generations. No doubt, however, the original 

 horse of Scotland, wherever it may have sprung from, was like the ancient 

 War-horse of England, a very much smaller animal than its modern 

 descendant. At the same time, there is evidence forthcoming that so-called 

 "large horses" were recognized in Scotland as far back as the year 1352, 

 this information being supplied by the " safe-conduct" from Edward, King 

 of England, to William Douglas, Knight, of Scotland, to enter the district of 

 Teviotdale, then in the possession of England, with " ten grooms and ten 

 large horses". This "conduct" is still in existence, and unquestionably 

 may be accepted as evidence that even at that remote period of the world's 

 history there were fair-sized horses of some sort or other to be found in 

 parts of Scotland. Unfortunately, however, as Mr. Thomas Dykes observes, 

 no information is forthcoming as to the precise localities from which these 



