CHAPTEE IX 



THE LONGHORNS. 



By GILBEET MUREAY, Elvaston, Derby. 



HE present position of the Longhorn breed of cattle 

 illustrates the old saying that " every dog has its 

 day." Confined now to a few amateur farmers in 

 the midland counties, it is difficult to realise that a 

 hundred years ago they were the most valuable breed in this 

 country ; yet such is the fact. Yorkshire has the credit of 

 giving rise to the Longhorn and their supplanters, the Short- 

 horn. The latter, however, originated in the eastern division, 

 whilst the district of Craven (the original home of the Long- 

 horns) is in the West Eiding, bordering on Lancashire, from 

 whence they spread out into the latter county and the south- 

 eastern portions of Westmoreland. Like the Durham cattle, 

 they enjoyed a considerable local reputation, those bred in the 

 fertile vale of Craven being considered the quickest feeders, as 

 they were the handsomer beasts ; but it required the genius of 

 Bakewell to draw them from their comparative obscurity, and 

 give them a reputation which at that time seemed unassailable. 

 CuUey states that before Bakewell' s time " The kind of cattle 

 most esteemed were the large, long-bodied, big-boned, coarse, 

 flat-sided kind, and often lyery or black-fleshed." This, how- 

 ever, is rather a sweeping denunciation, and, though applicable 

 enough to the general run of Longhorns as they appeared in the 

 various counties to which they had gradually spread, either 

 tolerably pure or incorporated with the prevailing breeds of the 

 district, must not be taken as a fair account of the Craven 

 cattle, many of which were noticeable for rotundity, length of 

 carcase, mellowness of skin, and quality of their milk. The 



