The Horse in Iceland and the Faroes. 303 



and in certain districts of north of Ireland, and also in that of 

 the majority of Faroe and Icelandic ponies, it follows from the 

 historic evidence we have adduced that those horses which the 

 Scandinavian colonists of Iceland and the Faroes brought with 

 them from the Western Isles and from Ireland were prepotent as 

 compared with those which came from Scandinavia, that is to 

 say, a larger proportion of their characters were dominant and so 

 were perpetuated in the breeds that arose from the union of the 

 two original stocks. As we have pointed out, Norwegian blood 

 in considerable quantity has recently been introduced into the 

 Faroes, and yet the ' Celtic ' type is still closely approached in 

 individuals at least half, in some cases three-quarters, Norwegian. 

 It is worthy of note, however, that not all such individuals take 

 after their island ancestors, and that in those which do so not all 

 characters are dominant in equal degree, for it is not uncommon 

 to find among the Faroe ponies, known to be of mixed Norwegian, 

 Icelandic and native descent, individuals which have small hock 

 callosities but otherwise resemble their Norwegian progenitors ; 

 in other words, which belong to the ' cart-horse ' type of modern 

 horses in the majority of their characters but approach the 

 ' Celtic ' or true pony type in one important feature 1 . If this 

 be so, we have an instance where in-breeding has produced a race 

 in which one character is more distinctly dominant than others 

 when individuals of this race are crossed with individuals from 

 the continent of Europe, and probably not in-bred to nearly 

 so great an extent. 



In conclusion we must acknowledge our obligations to Professor 

 J. Cossar Ewart, but for whose researches our own would not have 

 been undertaken. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



(1) Annandale " The People of the Faroes," Proc. Roy. 



Soc. Edinburgh, Vol. xxv., 1903. 

 " The Survival of Primitive Implements 

 in the Faroes and Iceland," Journ. 

 Anthrop. Inst., Vol. xxxiv, 1903. 



(2) Dasent The Story of Burnt Njal, Edinburgh, 



1861. 



(3) York Powell The Story of Thrond of Gate, London, 



1896. 



1 Professor Ewart informs us that he has noted complete absence of hock 

 callosities in numerous ponies imported from Iceland, which were of heavy build 

 and resembled the ' cart-horse ' type in most of their characters. 



