■WHITE CATTLE,] 



CATTLE, AND THEIE VARIETIES. 



[wniTE CATTLE. 



the ox into a country naturally destitute of it, 

 nothing need be said; but the gift of cattle 

 to a people who, though yet uncivilised, are 

 still capable of appreciating their value, is to 

 commence a revolution in their state and con- 

 dition, immeasurably for the better: for the 

 possession of property is one of the bonds of 

 society ; and the desire of acquiring it, the 

 great stimulus to industry. With the intro- 

 duction of the ox, the condition of the people 



of these islands has necessarily been improved. 

 Not only has cattle been reared for home con- 

 sumption, but for supplying the ships that 

 navigate these seas (whalers, &c.), other valua- 

 bles being given in exchange. Hence has the 

 rearing of cattle been generally undertaken. 

 This, of course, involves care and attention, 

 and a state of peace : but agriculture and com- 

 merce follow, and prepare the way for the arts 

 of civilised life. 



CHArTER II. 



ErJTISn BREEDS OF CATTLE. 



THE WILD WHITE CATTLE OF CHILLING- 

 HAM PARK. 



(Bos Taurus, var. Scoticus). Having merely 

 alluded to this beautiful breed of cattle, we will 

 here resume the subject, and lay before the 

 reader a few interesting details respecting its 

 history. 



Mr. Touatt, in his admirable work on cattle, 

 in the Libra?'!/ of Use/id Knoioledge, clearly 

 expresses his belief in the identity of this wild 

 breed with our domestic races : and adds, that 

 the slightest observation will convince us, that 

 the cattle in Devon, Sussex, Wales, and Scot- 

 land, are essentially the same breed changed 

 by soil and climate, yet little changed by the 

 intermeddling of man. " Every one who has 

 had opportunities of comparing the Devon 

 cattle with the wild breed of Chatelherault 

 Park, or Chillingham Castle, has been struck 

 with the great resemblance in many points, 

 notwithstanding the difference in colour." In 

 anotlier place, the same writer says — " To the 

 Principality we naturally look for some trace 

 of the native breed of cattle, for the Welsh 

 were never entirely subdued by any of the 

 early invaders. The Eomans possessed merely 

 a portion of the country ; the Saxons scarcely 

 penetrated into AVales, or not beyond the 

 county of Monmouth. The Welsh lono- re- 

 sisted the superior power of the English under 

 the Norman king; and it was not till late in 

 G3t> 



the thirteenth century that the Principality 

 was annexed to the crown of England. We 

 therefore expect to find more decided speci- 

 mens of the native productions of our own 

 islands ; nor are we altogether disappointed. 

 Howell Dha, or Howell the Good, describes 

 some of the cattle in the tenth century as 

 being white, with red ears, resembling the 

 wild cattle of Chillingham Castle. An early 

 record speaks of a hundred white cows, with 

 red ears, being demanded as a compensation for 

 certain oftences against the princes both of 

 North and South Wales. If the cattle were 

 of a dark or black colour, a hundred and fifty 

 were to be presented. When the Cambrian 

 princes did homage to the king of England, 

 tlie same number of cattle, and of the same 

 description, were rendered in acknowledgment 

 of sovereignty. Speed tells us, that Maud de 

 Breos, in order to appease King John, whom 

 her husband had offended, sent to his queen a 

 present, from Brecknockshire, of four hundred 

 cows and a bull, all white, with red ears. 

 Whether this was the usual colour of the 

 ancient breed of Welsh and British cattle, or 

 a rare variety esteemed on account of its 

 beauty, and chiefly preserved in the parks of 

 the nobles, we are unable to determine. The 

 latter is the most probable supposition; and 

 the same records that describe the white cattle 

 with red ears, speak also of the dark or black 



