THE UNITED KINGDOM. 143 



(13) WEST HIGHLANDER CATTLE. 



As a milker, possibly the West Highlander cow has not much of a 

 reputation, yet whatever milk she gives is exceedingly rich, and the 

 men who are reared in a Highland glen, on good West Highland cream 

 and some oatmeal bannocks, have little indeed to complain about. As 

 to its beef, as is well kno^, it is the best to be found in the London 

 market, and always commands as ready a sale as the best Shorthorns, 

 Herefords, Galloways, or Polled. Though the West Highlanders thrive 

 better on their native heath, they do very well in the South, and many 

 of their admirers have displaced the deer from their parks and substi- 

 tuted the shaggy beast, thus revising to some extent the present process 

 in the Highlands. They are thus ornamental as well as useful, and 

 fetch better prices in the market than would the savory venison. As 

 the points of the West Highlanders have never been laid down, it may 

 be well to give here the opinions of all the noted breeders, together with 

 some slight history of the most noted herds. 



Characteristics of West Highland cattle. The head should be beauti- 

 fully proportioned to the rest of the animal; the fine head with a large 

 tuft of hair on it; the nostrils full ; the eyes large and liquid. There 

 should be a proportionate breadth betwixt the jaw-bones behind to the 

 large forehead in front. The horns should be lengthy, and showing 

 what is called blood to the very point ; they should come level out of 

 the head, inclining forwards and upwards ; in the cow they should rise 

 up with a graceful slope. Some breeders do not care for the horns to 

 rise upwards, being of opinion that the less rise there is the better. 

 Perfection in a cow's horns is of two kinds, according to taste, but some 

 prefer them to come out level from the head, with a peculiar back-set 

 curve and a wider sweep. In the bull the horn should be decidedly 

 strong, and what is termed sappy. Some are of opinion that when the 

 horn droops suddenly from the crown to where the upward curve com- 

 mences it is a sign of weak back. The cow's horns rise sooner from the 

 head and are a little longer, preserving their substance and rich color 

 to the very tips. 



The neck should in length be proportionate, clean below, and in cows 

 forming a straight line from the head to the shoulder. In point of thick- 

 ness it should be fully developed, and the bulls should have a crest. 

 The shoulder should be thick and immensely filled out downwards from 

 the point to the lower extremity of the fore-arm. 



The back, from the very back of the shoulder, should have a fully 

 rounded development, what judges call " plain"; that is, a hollow be- 

 hind the shoulder, as if you had tied a string about it, is exceedingly ob- 

 jectionable. Across the hips there should be great breadth, while from 

 the hips backwards the quarters should have a very large development, 

 being square betwixt the hips and the tail and betwixt the tail and the 

 hind feet. As in the fore shoulders, the hind thighs should have an 

 immense development. The tail should be thick and strong, with a full 

 bunch of hair hanging down towards the ground. The bone, both in 

 the fore and kind legs, should be thick, broad, and straight ; the hoofs 

 large and well set on, and the legs feathered with hair. There should 

 be great breadth betwixt the fore legs, and the animals should walk 

 with great dignity of motion; indeed, unless an animal possesses this 

 dignified style of carriage, he will have small chances of winning prizes 

 in the show-sing. The hair should be long, with a graceful wave in it 

 a cud in it is a decided faultand should possess much bloom. The 



