great show character on the part of 

 Young Viscount. It is a remarkable 

 record for any bull to campaign for six 

 years and have an unbroken list of first 

 prizes. So great an impression as an 

 individual did he make that in 1882 

 Campbell Macpherson Campbell wrote of 

 him: "Young Viscount is an undefeated 

 bull, and is acknowledged by breeders 

 to be the best bull of the breed ever 

 seen." 



In 1878 this son of Erica 3d was pur- 

 chased by Sir George Macpherson Grant 

 for 225 guineas (about $1,125), the highest 

 price paid for an Angus up to that time. 

 From then he went into active breeding 

 service in the Ballindalloch herd, where 

 he was used with great success, as will 

 appear further on. 



Young Viscount possesses special in- 

 terest for American breeders, as well as 

 British. While retained until his death 

 in Scotland, he proved to be a male of 

 great prepotency, and his descendants 

 have played a most important part in 

 American Angus development. Reference 

 to almost any catalogue of to-day, show- 

 ing pedigrees of this breed, will show 

 the name of Young Viscount occurring 

 four to six generations back. Several 

 of his sons are worth more than passing 

 comment. No doubt his most distin- 

 guished son was Ermine Bearer 1749, out 

 of Erminia 1750. This bull was imported 

 from Ballindalloch by Mossom Boyd & 

 Co. of Bobcaygeon, Canada. In their 

 herd he proved a great sire, and his sons, 

 Abactor and Abbotsford 2702 became two 

 great bulls. The former sired Jean's 

 Abactor 2d, the first prize yearling bull 

 at the World's Columbian Exposition in 

 1893. while the latter, as the sire of Black 

 Monk 13214, secures permanent place 

 among the famous sires. Mr. McGavock, 

 referring to Ermine Bearer in the Breed- 

 er's Gazette (Aug. 28, 1901), says: "Er- 

 mine Bearer is, I believe, entitled to the 

 distinction of being America's foremost 

 sire of high-class producing dams." Lu- 

 cia Windsor, a daughter, was dam of 

 Gay Lad 19538, the champion bull of 1895 

 and 1896, which as a 5-year-old sold at 

 $3,050. Another daughter, Lucia Estill, 

 sold in the Estill dispersion sale at $2,800. 

 There are numerous descendants of Er- 

 mine Bearer that became great prize 

 winners. 



Another son of Young Viscount that 

 attracts attention is Bushranger (2012). 



29 



