196 THE CATTLE OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



our herds and flocks, much more than now, for among the 

 sayings attributed to Catwg Ddoeth, or Catwg the Wise, we 



find: 



The best of the ewes are the polled, 



The best of the cows the spotted [or grey, hrithioni 



The best of the horses the gentlest, 



The best of the goats the white. 



The distinct specification of colour in the Dimetian code 

 supposes the presence of cattle other than white. It may even 

 be assumed, as far as the above proves to the contrary, that 

 white cattle were not the common stock of the country at the 

 time, although they appear to be the sort most highly prized. 

 The great favour in which they were held might even be 

 because of their rarity ; possibly also because of real or 

 traditional value attached to them ; or, as has been conjectured, 

 they may have been larger than the blacks. The tribute, 

 however, appeared to demand a special rather than a common 

 kind of beast. There need have been no selection of a 

 particular colour, unless cattle of another kind co-existed with 

 them, and, indeed, prevailed to a greater extent. There is no 

 doubt of the great antiquity of a race of wild white forest 

 beasts. They are alluded to very distinctly, in 1598, by John 

 Leslie, Bishop of Eoss, and also by Hector Boece, in his 

 ** History and Chronicles of Scotland," quoted by Professor 

 David Low in his work on the "Domestic Animals of the 

 British Islands." And, according to Speed, King John received 

 from Maud de Breos 400 cows and a bull, all white and with 

 red ears, as a present to his Queen, in order to appease his 

 Majesty, whom her husband had offended. This variety, 

 hitherto considered the oldest, is of very early origin, yet still 

 possibly an offshoot developed from the older blacks, and 

 perpetuated in certain centres by natural selection. Their 

 present descendants, the white cattle of the parks, frequently 

 throw back calves, appearing to revert to the earlier type. 

 Mr. Darwin evidently doubts the great antiquity generally 

 attributed to them, for the following passage occurs in his work 

 on " The Variation of Animals and Plants in Domestication," 

 p. 85 : " The cattle in all the parks are white ; but, from the 

 occasional appearance of dark-coloured calves, it is extremely 



