CHAP. i. SCOTCH BREEDS OF CATTLE. 63 



mixed with white. The head, horns and dewlap are small ; the neck 

 is thin ; the barrel round and straight ; the loin and space between 

 the hips are flat and wide ; the breed is rather short in the leg than 

 otherwise, and bears a general similarity to that from which they 

 sprang. In some parts the}' are known under the name of Cunningham 

 cattle. There is a district so named in Ayrshire. The Dunlop cheese, 

 once so celebrated, was manufactured from the milk of the Ayrshire cow. 



Our notice of the Scotch breeds of cattle cannot be better concluded 

 than by quoting the following observations of Mr. Housman : 



" Scotland is said to have three ' native ' breeds of cattle the 

 Highland, the Galloway, and the Aberdeen- Angus all beef breeds, 

 and one breed, not called ' native,' yet regarded as not less Scotch than 

 the ' native ' breeds themselves, the Ayrshire dairy breed. Local 

 sub-varieties of the three former breeds, and crosses or nondescript 

 mixtures of the various main types, may be found ; but under these 

 four heads the recognised breeds of Scotland are classed. To the first, 

 and particularly to the Highland stock of Argyleshire and the Western 

 islands, belongs the reputation of being the representative of the 

 primitive breed of North Britain. 



" The origin of the two polled breeds, the Galloway and Aberdeen- 

 Angus, is very obscure. Whether a sport, one sport or more than one 

 sport, from the horned original to the poll, occurred in Scotland, or 

 whether the polled cattle of Scotland were disinherited of the horn 

 through variation which originated elsewhere, we have no record : 

 neither have we any certain evidence of the prior antiquity of the 

 hornless character in the north-east or in the south-west of Scotland. 

 Although a very marked contrast is seen when the Highland and 

 Aberdeen- Angus types are placed side by side, the difference may be 

 graduated by placing between them a specimen of the Galloway type, 

 which has strong points of resemblance to both the other types. The 

 notice of this graduation of typical characteristics by no means forces 

 upon us the conclusion that the Aberdeen- Angus breed is derived from 

 the Highland through the Galloway, but it suggests the possibility that 

 all three breeds are in their Scottish origin akin, and that, with or 

 without the help of alien blood, new types have been evolved on 

 Scottish soil in the course of centuries. 



" The Ayrshire type, by its distinctness, tells its own tale of 

 derivation from a different source.' 5 



THE CHANNEL ISLANDS BREEDS. The " Alderney" was the name by 

 which these breeds were formerly known in this country, but the term 

 is now almost obsolete. The native home of the Jersey cattle is the 

 island of that name, and the greatest care is taken to prevent the 

 introduction of other cattle, particularly of Guernseys, amongst the 

 native herds. The home of the Guernseys is in the islands of 

 Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Herm, in which the native herds are 

 preserved pure by means of similar precautions. 



THE JERSEYS (figs. 20, 21, 22) are valued for the richness rather than 



