I 



30 THE STOR Y OF THE JERSE Y HERD 



to a fine of ^200 per head ; the ship was to be con- 

 fiscated, the cattle killed, and the meat sold for the 

 poor of the parish where it was seized. In 1826, when 

 the great and valuable export trade was established, the 

 fine was raised to ^1,000 per head of cattle introduced, 

 with confiscation of the vessel, and this might be seized, 

 and the fine imposed, if it were within two leagues of 

 the shore. 



The motive for this intense vigilance will be found in 

 the great profits drawn by the island from the English 

 ' discovery ' of Channel Island cattle. The first im- 

 ported came from Alder ney, where there was a garrison. 

 The little cows came over as ' camp followers,' and 

 attracted little notice. They were called ' Alderneys,' 

 and later, 'Alderney Jerseys.' The first person to 

 note them as qualified for the highest circles of bovine 

 society was a Yorkshireman, Mr. Fowler, the travelling 

 partner in a large London dairy. In 1 8 1 1 he saw one 

 coming home unsold from a fair, and bought it for his 

 wife, and took it to his home at Little Bushey. The 

 despised little cow gave such enormous quantities of 

 butter and cream that her new master inquired her 

 origin, and soon began to import the breed wholesale 

 from the islands. His son managed the transit, had 

 the herds shod with thin iron plates when they reached 

 Southampton, and sold them mainly in the home 

 counties. It was no easy matter to ship them, though 



