38 HISTORY OF THE SHORT-HORNS. 



This certificate was made by the son of Hubback's breeder, forty- 

 five years after the bull's birth, and at the time he was recorded in 

 the Herd Book. Mr. Hunter's recollection of the charge of Kyloe* 

 blood in the cow was probably quite distinct. He had undoubtedly 

 heard it talked over at the time when the bull's merits were ascer- 

 tained and discussed, and from the very accurate description we have 

 of the cow, there is little probability that she was any other than a 

 pure Short-horn. At all events, the conceded merits attached to the 

 bull as a getter of superior stock, in none of which do we find a 

 cropping out of any other than Short-horn blood, (which would occa- 

 sionally have been the case had he much of the Kyloe in him,) we 

 may safely conclude that Hubback was as pure in blood as any other 

 Short-horn of his time. 



On the sire's side of Hubback all appears fair, and only on the 

 side of his dam were circulated, by some parties, a suspicion of 

 Kyloe, or Scotch blood in his veins, which seems to be fully set at 

 rest by the certificate of Mr. Hunter. A like innuendo was circulated 

 by others, that Dutch blood had crept into Hubback by the rumor 

 (without anything like proof, however), that Sir William St. Quintin 

 had, many years before, imported a bull or bulls, from Holland, and 

 crossed them into his cows to improve their quality, and which blood 

 had gone by descent into the stock of Sir James Pennyman. But, 

 as in a previous page has been conclusively shown, we think, that no 

 - such Dutch importations had been made, these innuendoes, surmises 

 and charges, all fall to the ground. 



The history of the cow Hubback's dam is simply this : She 

 was bred by Mr. Stephenson, who had lived at Ketton before Charles 

 Colling's day, and the ancestors of the cow had been in Mr. Stephen- 

 son's possession for more than forty years, as he had long been a 

 Short-horn breeder of the Pennyman and Studley stock. She was a 

 small cow, of remarkably smooth and even qualities, and an excel- 

 lent feeder. She had fine hair, a bright look, was a good milker, as 

 were all the cows of her tribe, and no doubt imparted much of her 

 good quality to her son, Hubback. How so much controversy could 

 exist about her being of Kyloe descent, and thus damaging the 

 integrity of Hubback for it was only on her side that his blood 

 could be assailed is only to be accounted for in the jealousies and 

 party spirit which was rife among the breeders of the time. The 

 very fact, admitted by all authorities, that Hubback's begettings were 



* The Kyloes are the u West Highland " cattle of Scotland. L. F. A. 



