160 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



The other places in wliieh Norsemen settled, and in which cattle bearing 

 a resemblance to the hornless cattle of the British coasts live or lived till 

 recently, are Normandy and the Channel Islands, Orkney, Shetland, and 

 Iceland. The Norman and Channel Islands cattle are identified by their 

 shape and by the presence of the two colonrs silver grey and yellow ; those 

 in Orkney and Shetland by shape and the dun colour; while those in Iceland 

 were identified by shape and the absence of horns. A former student' under the 

 writer of this paper connected with the Orkneys has acquired the information 

 that in the middle of last century there were many dun cattle in Orkney and 

 Shetland, but especially in Shetland ; and the writer saw dun Orkney or 

 Shetland cattle in Aberdeen not many years ago. Low is quite clear that 

 the cattle of Shetland are of Norwegian origin ; but unfortunately he gives 

 them horns. They " are distinctly Norwegian in their characters, and a 

 similar race extends to Iceland. Tiiey are small, but of very good form 

 when pure, and fatten with great quickness, when carried to superior pastures. 

 Their horns are short, their skin is soft, and their flesh is equal to that of 

 any cattle produced in the British Islands. They are of various colours, 

 generally parti-coloured, and tending more to the lighter shades than the 

 cattle of the Highlands. . . . The cows are tolerably good milkers, in which 

 respect they agree with the cattle of Norway, and differ from those of the 

 Highlands ; and in this respect, too, they agree with the cattle of Jersey and 

 the islands of the Channel, which are likewise believed to be of Norwegian 

 origin. These cattle are smaller than those of Norway, which is to be 

 asoilbed partly to the absence of shelter, and partly to the want of artificial 

 food."^ 



With regard to these old Orkney and Shetland cattle, it is safe to say, 

 although there is no other evidence, that their shape and size, together with 

 the presence of dun, show them to have been of the same race as the cattle 

 of the British coasts, and therefore at one time hornless. With regard to 

 Iceland, Uno von Troil writes in 1780 : " Their beeves are not large, but very 

 fat and good. It has been reported by some, though without foundation, 

 that there are none without horns : it is true, however, that they seldom have 

 aiiy."^ The Norsemen settled in Iceland about the time they settled in 

 Britain. " Are Frode, born 1068, . . . expressly says, in the first chapter of 

 the book (Landvama Bok) that Iceland was settled by the Norwegians in 

 the time of Alfred, King of England, and of Edward, his son."^ 



' Mr. R. J. Anderson, of Messrs. Eeith and Anderson, Aberdeen. 



- " Domesticiited Animals," p. 297. 



s " Letters on Iceland," 1780, p. 132. ^ Ibid., p. 60. 



