396 THE BREED IN THE SHOW- YARD. 



the quality in every class was not quite as good as it 

 afterwards became, there were numbers enough, and a 

 sufficiency of general merit to stimulate breeders of polls, 

 and from that period onwards the northern polled breed 

 lias steadily risen in public favour and increased in 

 numbers over the country. For first honours in the old 

 bull class there was a keen contest between Odin 2nd 

 499, from Bognie, and Clansman 398, from Eothiemay. 

 The latter was the more lengthy, bigger bull of the two, 

 but the former was rather finer in bone and more com- 

 pact, and won accordingly. Clansman, however, rather 

 improved during the next twelve months, and topped a 

 very good class of aged bulls at the Edinburgh Highland 

 show in 1869. He was a lengthy, level bull of great sub- 

 stance, with massive quarters, and a little white in the 

 underline. After several years of valuable service at 

 Eothiemay, he was transferred to Drumin, where he 

 proved a splendid 'getter.' Easter Skene triumphed in 

 the two-year-old bull class with Caledonian 2nd 409, 

 a straight shapely bull of Mr M'Combie's own breeding. 

 The yearling class was to some breeders specially 

 interesting in that it was headed by the first animal 

 that the late Mr George Brown, Westertown, exhibited 

 after his valuable herd had been reduced almost to com- 

 plete annihilation by pleuro-pneumonia, caught at the 

 Dumfries Highland show in 1860. The animal referred 

 to was March 355, a bull of exceedingly fine bone, great 

 gaiety, well-covered rump, and deep hind quarters. He 

 was not, however, very successful in after years at the 

 Highland shows. His head was too short and thick for 

 the Angus taste, and, excepting second at the Dumfries 

 Highland show in 1870, he was not further noticed by 

 the Highland Society's judges. He stamped his deep 

 chest, strength of shoulders, perfection of hind quarters, 

 and, it must be added also, clumsiness of head, on his 

 numerous progeny, several of which, nevertheless, were 



