GLAMORGAN CATTLE. 189 



acres of wheat and turnips ; active grazing cattle are conse- 

 quently replaced by large docile animals, which accumulate great 

 weight of flesh when kindly treated in stalls or boxes. The 

 plough is no longer drawn by oxen, but by stalwart horses, or 

 by the more powerful aid of steam ; and the modern farmer, 

 instead of selling all his cattle from the summer grass, to be 

 turned into profit by the grazier, manufactures meat himself by 

 the aid of cake and corn, and sells the produce direct to the 

 butcher. 



Among the breeds doomed to extinction is the once so well 

 known and highly prized Grlamorgan breed. The Glam organs 

 are of ancient lineage, and their origin is hidden in the past. 

 They belong to the class called middle-horns, and in character 

 and antiquity of descent they rank with the Herefords, Devons, 

 the Welsh black cattle, and other allied breeds. As far back 

 as the twelfth century, it is said that a Norman knight, Robert 

 Fitzhammond, who had seized a great portion of Glamorgan, 

 introduced some Normandy cattle into the county, which are 

 supposed to have been crossed with the native cattle. The 

 swelling crest of the Glamorgan ox is by some traced to the 

 influence of this admixture of foreign blood. Youatt says that 

 the influence of Devon blood could not be mistaken at the end 

 of the last century, and attributes it to the importation of 

 Devons into the district by Sir Richard de Grenaville, one of 

 the knights who at one time divided the lordship of Neath. It 

 is certain, however, from all legends and historical accounts, 

 that the Glamorgan cattle are a very old breed, and were the 

 native cattle of the district from a very early date, and that 

 their principal characteristics remain unchanged, Norman and 

 other breeds notwithstanding. In more modern times the 

 Glamorgan farmers were particularly careful of their breed, 

 and we are told that in the last century they prided themselves 

 greatly on the fact that they admitted no admixture of foreign 

 blood into their cattle. The Glamorgan cattle soon became 

 famous. Stock in England at that time were fed at grass. 

 There was no stall feeding and no improved Shorthorn. There 

 was land to plough, and active strong oxen did most of the 

 work. The ideal of a good breed consisted in the females being 

 hardy and profitable milkers, and the males active, docile, and 



