34 EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE 



little more than time to think of settling down 

 when the Saxon was upon them. They managed 

 to take possession of some of the cattle left behind 

 by the Romans, but the rest were bound to have 

 become feral. Then, as the natives were pushed 

 westward and northward, the Roman cattle they 

 had been unable to secure were left behind to 

 fend for themselves in the forests. For some 

 centuries more, the country from which the Celts 

 had been expelled was the arena of strife and 

 war, by no means thickly populated, and exposed 

 on the western border to continual rieving and 

 raiding. And, so, when the Normans came in, 

 they found the Roman cattle no longer quiet and 

 uncomplaining animals of burden, but wild and 

 ferocious beasts of chase. 



In connection with these white cattle, there is 

 a series of facts which corroborates in a remark- 

 able manner the views which have just been set 

 forth. It is well known that the Romans had no 

 hold upon Scotland north of the Grampians, and 

 none at all upon Ireland. It is also well known 

 that the English pressed into England from the 

 Southern and Eastern coasts. That being so, 

 these Roman cattle ought to have been confined 

 to Wales, the North-west of England, and the 

 South of Scotland. It is also well known that, 

 while a large part of England was sunk in 

 struggle and strife, during the Saxon period, 

 Wales stood aside in comparative quiet. That also 



