Wir.soN — Bcandinavian Origin of Hornless Cattle of British Isles. 153 



what they call points of form and colour. Tliese points are short legs, a 

 fair proportioned round body, straight along the back, and, in their tliird 

 year, a long, slender white horn tipped towards the point with black. The 

 favourite colour is pure black. The brindled ranks next in esteem, and the 

 dun is not disliked. Pure wliite or streaked are counted inferior. "i 



Note the presence of the two colours yellow and dun among these north- 

 eastern cattle as among those of Suffolk and Yorkshire. Here again we have 

 cattle descended from light dun ancestors. 



From a statement printed in Messrs. Macdonald and Sinclair's book,^ and 

 communicated to them by Mr. William Forbes, an East Aberdeenshire 

 farmer, we may gather some further particulars as to the early character of 

 tlie cattle on the east coast of Aberdeensliire ; and Mendelian students may 

 see how size is affected when a small breed is crossed by a large. There is a 

 system of cattle-breeding well known in America at the present day, and 

 widely practised at one time in tlie British Islands, called grading. For 

 instance, the Americans put Shortliorn bulls to what are called "native" 

 cattle again and again in succeeding generations, and, by this process, the 

 native cattle eventually become Shorthorns. By the continued use of Long- 

 horn bulls the old native cattle of Ireland were made Longhorns in the 

 eighteenth century. In the same way the cattle of the nortii-east of 

 Scotland were changed in some of their characters. The process was begun 

 in the eighteenth century and continued well into the nineteenth : tlie breeds 

 used having been Longhorns and other large English cattle, Fifesliires, and, 

 latterly, Shorthorns. Mr. Forbes's statement is as follows : — " The cattle in 

 Buchan about half a century ago and earlier might be said to have consisted 

 of horned and polled black cattle in about equal proportions. The polled 

 cattle were of two classes, one large and another small. I knew tlie smaller 

 kind well. They were rather puny creatures, always thin in flesh, and very 

 badly used. They were pre-eminently the crofter's cow, as they were able 

 to live through the winter on the straw of oats and here, if necessary. Of the 

 larger portion of the cattle, about one-half were jet black, excepting the 

 uddei', which was usually white, and often the whole underline was white. 

 They could not stand starvation so well as the small polls, but witli better 

 treatment they gave a heavier yield of milk. When creamed, however, 

 their milk was thinner than that from the small cows. A considerable 

 portion of the cattle were large-sized, well-fleshed, brindled polls ; and these 

 were the finest-looking animals in Buchan. When well fed, they had a 



' See an article on "Aberdeenshire Horned Cattle," by Mr. James E. Barclaj', in the 

 "Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland," for 1906, p. 204. 

 - "History of Polled Aberdeen or Angus Cattle," 1882, p. 72. 



SCIENT, PEOC. R.D.S., VOL. XH., NO. XV. 2o 



