TOO RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



took their ladies and friends with them, so that with 

 the usual retinue of servants they formed a goodly 

 company. The Duke told Mr. Westcar, on their 

 arrival at Hereford on the fair day, to order dinner 

 for a hundred guests at the principal hotel — I think 

 it was the ' Green Dragon ' — and he was to invite 

 all the principal breeders and dealers to meet him. 

 He described the annoyance of some of the dealers 

 at these noblemen being brought down to see the 

 grand store bullocks, for it had the effect of raising 

 their price at least i/, per head. After dinner the 

 Duke and Lord Berners announced their desire to 

 purchase from ten to twenty cows and heifers of the 

 best that could be found ; also a couple of high class 

 bulls, to be sent into Bedfordshire, to Woburn, for 

 his Grace, and to establish the breed there ; whilst 

 Lord Berners imported his into the Midlands to 

 follow the same, instead of the Longhorns for which 

 he had been long famous. Thus the Herefords 

 became fixed as a great breed in the Midlands. 

 This visit of the Duke of Bedford and Lord 

 Berners, with the continued success of Mr. Westcar 

 at the Smithfield Club Christmas Show, brought the 

 breed prominently into notice, and firmly established 

 their merits. 



As an instance of the size and weight attained 

 by these animals at one of the great exhibitions at 

 the beginning of the present century, I find that 

 Mr. Westcar's first prize at the Smithfield Show in 

 the year 1801 measured in length 8 ft. 1 1 in., in 

 height 6 ft. 7 in., in girth, behind the shoulder, 



