Wilson — The Origin of the Dex lev- Kerry Breed of Cattle. 5 



immigrants, and if they came from Wales, or England, or Scotland, the 

 mixture consisted of branches of tlie same black Celtic race, since it is very 

 unlikely that Anglo-Saxon cattle readied Wales or the north-west of England 

 early enough to affect the cattle of the Dunshaughlin crannog. But if 

 Anglo-Saxon cattle were carried to Ireland in these early times, they were 

 of the same race as the great importations of the seventeentli and eighteenth 

 centuries. If the immigrants were of Norse origin, as the hornless skulls 

 would suggest, then they must have been few in number ; for otherwise, 

 since the hornless character in cattle is dominant over the horned, there would 

 have been a far larger proportion of polled cattle in Ireland in later times. 



The importations that swept out the black race of cattle are of com- 

 paratively recent date, and are to be connected with human immigrations 

 from the other side of tiie Channel. There have been three great immigra- 

 tions: the first, a result of Strongbow's invasion ; the second, tiie Englisli 

 "plantations" of Elizabethan and subsequent times; and the third, the 

 Jacobean " plantation " of Ulster. 



There are no records to show that the first and last of these immi- 

 grations were followed by importations of cattle ; but it is usual for colonists 

 to be accompanied or followed by their live stock, and there is evidence that 

 this happened in the soutli of Ireland by reason of the large number of 

 cattle there similar in colour and type to the red Saxon cattle of the south- 

 west of England, the district from which most of Strongbow's colonists 

 migrated and from which they sailed. It is also probable that the Ulster 

 colonists brought some cattle with them ; but these cattle could have effected 

 very little change, since they were of the same race as the cattle already 

 in Ireland. 



But there are records to show that the Elizabethan and subsequent 

 plantations were followed by importations from England. In 1611, the 

 Government made the following regulations' : — " Eor 2000 acres, and so 

 rateably the undertaker for the first year may carry^ 20 cows, 2 bulls, 

 and 20 young store cattle; 100 ewes and 6 rams; 20 mares, horses, and 

 colts ; and as many swine as he will (not exceeding 10)." 



At the time of Arthur Young's visit^ (1776-79), the bulk of the cattle 

 on the Irish plain were not only descended from imported English Longhorns, 

 but were Longhorns in type. The native cattle had been crossed so often 

 that most of them had lost their original character, and the others were 

 losing it. A similar change had taken place in the more fertile districts 



' Irish State Papers. ^ That is, may import. 



' See Young's Tour in Ireland, op. oil. 



