HORSES FOR HEAVY DRAUGHT. 615 



St Cuthbert, did not, on this account, become the less war- 

 like and predatory; and Yorkshire long retained the sad 

 distinction of being the most frequent arena of the foreign 

 and civil wars which desolated the kingdom. The people of 

 these countries have retained their ancient passion for the 

 Horse ; and, in more peaceful times, Yorkshire became a 

 nursery for horses, and is now the greatest breeding district 

 in England. 



The horses reared in this part of England are of all the 

 varieties suited to the saddle, the coach, the waggon, and 

 the plough ; and present every diversity of size, colour, and 

 breeding. It is the peculiarity of the entire district, that 

 much of the blood of the superior races has been communi- 

 cated to the common kinds, and that comparatively few of 

 those employed even in the labour of heavy draught are alto- 

 gether unmixed. This results from the practice, long and 

 extensively pursued all over Yorkshire and Durham, of 

 breeding horses especially for the saddle and the lighter 

 carriages. The larger kinds, used solely for draught, are 

 chiefly reared in the northern part of the district, of which 

 the county of Durham may be regarded as the centre. These, 

 when unmixed with the blood of horses of high breeding, are 

 a tall and powerful race of animals, adapted to every labour 

 requiring weight and muscular force. 



III. THE CLYDESDALE BREED. The Horses of Scotland 

 employed in labour, pass by gradations from the smaller va- 

 rieties of the mountainous districts, to the larger breeds of 

 the plains and cultivated country. It is in the Lowlands 

 that those adapted for the heavier labours, and properly 

 termed Draught- Horses, are reared. Although varying in 

 size, form, and properties, in different districts, they have 

 been gradually approaching, with the increased means of 

 general intercourse, to a greater uniformity of characters. 

 The part of Scotland which had early become the most dis- 

 tinguished for the production of the larger horses for draught 



