58 SHORTHORNS 



who were keenly interested in Shorthorns. Mr J. C. 

 Curwen, M.P., of Workington Hall, Cumberland, 

 refers to three of the Scots just named in writing 

 to Mr Thomas Bates in 1811. He had finished a 

 curiously titled report : " Hints on the Manner of 

 Feeding Stock and the Conditions of the Poor." He 

 wished copies to be sent to Brown and Rennie. At 

 the end of his letter he confesses, " Till this moment, 

 I have forgotten Hepburn" (Bell's History). Judge 

 Hepburn is very entertaining in writing to Bates 

 (July 1813). The southern autocrat was a sworn 

 bachelor of course, and the Judge advises him " Come 

 down to us when you can spare as much time, and 

 cast your eye on our fair ones." He then switches 

 into farming, and refers to his practice of carting straw 

 to the field in order to mix it with the newly-cut 

 clover. Of the mixture so won, he states, " My 

 horses are fonder of it than pure hay." " We are con- 

 tented, quiet, and happy," he notes, " and I thank God, 

 we have no rascally, drunken, discontented weavers 

 amongst us. ... Our staples are wheat and bairns." 

 The Smeaton herd, which was in existence for about 

 eighty years, won many prizes at the Highland Society 

 and locally. It was probably at its best between 

 1860 and 1875. 



The Judge Hepburn who corresponded with Bates 

 was born in 1739 and died in 1819. He was Judge 

 of the Admiralty Court, 1790-91, Baron of the 

 Exchequer in Scotland, 1791-1814, and was created 

 a Baronet in 1815. The present baronet is a great- 

 grandson. Carnegie is subjected to a sidelight in 



