e^ — — - — -^::y ^ , 



'^ 1T6 THE GENESEE FAEMEE. '' *^ ' 



downward, and then bent forward. The size of the skulls denote an animal which, 

 although much less than the enormous and savage Urus,* {^Bos primigenius) it is yet 

 considerably larger than the B. longifrons. 



Some have supposed that hornless cattle were called into existence by cutting out for 

 many generations the young horns of calves, imtil this osseous protuberance ceased to 

 grow on the skull ; and this explanation appears not improbable. It is a great mistake 

 to suppose that neat cattle have been changed by domestication, mainly within the last 

 thousand years ; although hornless bulls and cows are doubtless of recent origin, say 

 within two or two and a half centuries. At the commencement of his operations in 

 England, Caesar tells us in his Commentaries that " the country was well peopled," and 

 that they possessed '■'■pecorus magnus numerus^'' (lib. v. 12) numerous herds of cattle; 

 for ^;eci(6> refers often to cattle as well as sheep. He adds that the natives of the interior 

 seldom trouble themselves with the tillage of the ground, but live on milk and fresh 

 meat, and clothe themselves with skins. For ought that is known to the contrary, the 

 people of Great Britain and Germany were pastoral in their habits before the time of 

 Abraham, and in no respect inferior to Jacob in the art of making " ring-streaked and 

 speckled" cattle. We have no doubt that the famous "Wild White Cattle of Chilling- 

 worth" Avere a purely artificial breed produced in an early age, and then during pro- 

 tracted civil wars allowed to become wild in the extensive forests of princes and noblemen. 

 Prof Bell, in his valuable work on "British Quadrupeds," says : " It appears the eare 

 are more liable to retain color in animals which become Avhite by domestication than 

 any other parts. This is the case as we have seen with the Guinea pig, and it is no 

 less true of the ox and sorhe others." Prof. Fleming remarks that he never saw an 

 entirely white ox, but that the ears always remained of a different color. In the Chil- 

 lingworth white cattle this peculiarity still exists. Nilsson alludes to the fact that no 

 strictly wild white oxen are known to naturalists. As these " wild white cattle" are the 

 oKlest known fancy stock in Europe, some notice of them before we attempt to trace 

 the origin of the Short Horns, Devons, Herefords, Ayrshires, Galloways, Alderneys, 

 and others, is due to the dignity of the subject. _ 



Early modern history found these white cattle in the " Great Caledonia Forest" which 

 formerly covered the country from Stirling to Athol. In a history written by Bcethifs, 

 and ptiblished in Paris in 1526, entitled, '■'■ Scotorum Historia a Prima Gcntis Origine,^'' 

 these cattle are described as '■'boves candissimos informane Iconis juham fercntes ;'''' per- 

 fectly white, and having maues like lions. Their tlesh is said to have been tough and 

 cartilaginous, and their tempers exceedingly ferocious, and quite untaraeable. That 

 these white wild cattle of the 15th century descended from a domesticated race, appears 

 from the following historical allusions of an earlier date. In Leges Wallicre, of " Howell 

 Dda," the Welsh laws of King Howell the Good, which date from about A. D. 942, or 

 before the middle of the tenth century, we find an account of the payment of a fine or 

 forfeiture to the crown, in which a handrcd white cows with red ears were demanded, 

 and a hundred and fifty black, spotted or red ones, considered as an equivalent. Besides 

 the hundred white cows, the oftending party was required to furnish " M«i<»i taurus 

 aurihus rujis^'' (ouG, bull with red ears.) 



Mr. YouATT supplies us with an liistorical fact which proves that the ancient white 

 cattle of England were domesticated and highly prized. " Speed tells us that Maud de 

 Breos, in order to appease King John, whom her husband offended, sent to his queen 

 a present from Brecknockshire of four hundred cows and a hull, all white with red ears.^' 



Neither the roast beef of old England, nor the breeding of fine cattle there is a 

 modern invention. It has been suggested that the Romans introduced their superior 





* Ppcakint' of tin- Fms, a n.itivo of Eritiiin, CAiar says: "Groat is its strength, and eroat its speed ; and it spares 

 neitlicr man nnr buMst wliieh it catehes sigtit of; and thul the man wlio killo<t lUo frrealest number of them even by the 

 pilfall, brings llieir lioriis as an evidence of his prowess, and is liiiihly upphiudcd by his countryuicn ; and so savage is 

 hie nature, that thougli taken never so young, it cannot be tamed." 



