INTEODUCTION. 



Two or three years ago it occurred to some members 

 of the Scottish Central Shorthorn Association that a 

 volume dealing with the past and present of the great 

 breed of cattle in the counties between Perth and 

 Forfar and the Border would prove interesting to 

 breeders within that area, and useful to the general 

 body of patrons in the homeland and beyond the seas. 

 In these days there are demands for histories which 

 deal with moderate-sized sections of the country. The 

 underlying feeling is that a relatively compact history, 

 whose scope is the country as a whole, must of neces- 

 sity avoid excess of details. Emphasis must be laid 

 on the larger events, and very many of the minor 

 and still important movements must be either crowded 

 in or crowded out. In practice it is usually found 

 that much of a minor order has to be omitted in 

 those histories which deal with Britain or the United 

 Kingdom. 



In the case now before us a history of Shorthorns 

 in Central and Southern Scotland the selection of a 



