10 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



tlie other breed, all of them fine, some of them rather upright, and frequently, 

 after projecting forward, tlien turning backward. Although somewhat 

 deficient in the hind- quarters, they are high-boned, and wide over the hips, 

 yet the bone generally is not lieavy. The hair is coarse and long ; in some 

 places they are black, in others brindled, with white faces. Some are finer 

 in the bone, and finer in the neck, with a good oye, and sharp muzzle and 

 great activity. ... 



"Mr. Anderson' of Shelton, in a letter with which we have been 

 favoured from him at the request of the Earl of Wicklow, describes the old 

 Irish cattle there, as a low, bi'oad, hardy breed, with thick heads and necks, 

 and a thick hide." 



Wakefield" (1812) writes : — " Tlie native Irish stock were, in my opinion, 

 all black, for, though at present there are very few of tliat colour, they fire 

 universally called 'black cattle.' I have seen some which were pointed out 

 to me as the remains of the ancient breed ; they were narrow in the loins 

 and thin in the quarters ; they had sliort legs, large bellies, and white faces ; 

 their horns, which turned backwards, were remarkably wide set, and tliey 

 had large dewlaps ; but this breed is now almost extinct." 



Low' (1845) describes the Kerry cattle as follows: — " Tiie Kerry cattle 

 of the mountains are generally black, with a white ridge along the spine, a 

 character agreeing with the account which older writers have given of the 

 TJri of the woods of Poland. Tliey have often also a white streak upon 

 the belly, but they are of various colours, as black, brown, and mixed black 

 and white, or black and brown. Their skins are soft and unctuous, and of a 

 fine orange tone, which is visible about the eyes, the ears, and the muzzle: 

 Their eyes are lively and bright, and, although their size is diminutive, their 

 shape is good."* 



From these quotations it is clear that, where the natives had been crossed 

 by imported cattle, but where the imported tj'pe had not yet overwhelmed 

 the native, there are two kinds of cattle, one of vvhicli, and sometimes the 

 other, was taken to be the native kind. But when we remember that the 

 imported breeds— the Longhorns, the Herefords, and the Shorthorns, at 

 any rate — were much heavier in the body than the native, it is clear that the 

 stouter cattle, that were sometimes mistaken for the old native race, were the 

 results of crossing the native cattle with these heavier breeds. The colours 

 of both kinds were derived partly from the old native race, partly from the 

 imported 'm-epds. 



1 Youatt's Caille, p. 185. ' Account of Ireland, vol. i., page 334. 



^ Somesliaiicd Animals, etc., p. 309. 



* Low is here describing the small Iiisli cattle. To him they were all Kerries. 



