shown at local fairs as a yearling and 2- 

 year-old, and met with considerable fa- 

 vor. He was used in his herd and others 

 in the neighborhood and bred well. Al- 

 though the Messrs. Watt had not spe- 

 cially regarded this bull as of unusual 

 promise as a calf while in their herd, 

 rumors later came to them of 

 his considerable merit. Norrie 'had 

 given him good care, and when he 

 sold out in 1889 the Watts attend- 

 ed the sale and purchased Young 

 Abbotsburn. About this time Colonel T. 

 S. Moberley of Forest Grove herd, Rich- 

 mond, Ky., was casting about for a bull 

 to head his herd that would be of the 

 very highest show type. He made a trip 

 to Canada in 1890, where he saw this bull 

 and purchased him for $425, believing 

 that he had found not only a breeder, 

 but also a show animal of great pos- 

 sibilities. Soon after his purchase Colo- 

 nel Moberley was asked what he was 

 going to do with him, to which he re- 

 sponded: "Use him a little and show him 

 'right smart.' " 



The first appearance of Young Abbots- 

 burn in the show ring on this side of the 

 line occurred at the Detroit International 

 Exposition in September, 1890. Here he' 

 was shown as a sort of "dark horse," as 

 it were, his name not being .given out 

 to the public, and so he was referred to 

 as "the great unknown." His high char- 

 acter was at once seen at this show, 

 where he won first in class. The next 

 week at the Michigan state fair at Lan- 

 sing he was first in class. In contin- 

 uing the circuit that season he was first 

 in class at the state fairs of Ohio, In- 

 diana and Illinois, winning the grand 

 sweepstakes at the latter show, over all 

 beef breeds, competing against the Here- 

 ford Cherry Boy and the Angus Errant 

 Knight, both show bulls of the first class. 

 Young Abbotsburn was the sensation or 

 the season, and well the writer remem- 

 bers his appearance on the fair grounds 

 at Indianapolis and the talk caused 

 thereby. 



Young Abbotsburn soon demonstrated 

 that he was the most remarkable Short- 

 horn show bull that America had seen 

 in a generation, if not more. At Peoria 

 he vanquished without trouble Cupbear- 

 er (52692), who for several years had 

 been invincible. No aged bull of any 

 sort seemed capable of winning the cov- 

 eted prize for which this champion com- 



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