154 WILD WHITE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



to the extent which has taken place. But while avow- 

 ing that he considers the Chillingham wild ox " one 

 of the true descendants of the family " of the Bos 

 primij/enius, " and a faithful keeper of its race," he does 

 not deny that there are other breeds which may in some 

 degree claim a similar descent. Indeed, he says that 

 " a tame Brimigenius race, in a more or less pure form, 

 is widely spread ; " and he especially mentions how 

 closely the head of the " tame Budjading cattle of 

 Holstein " resembles, notwithstanding their lesser 

 horns, the Chillingham skull. 



None of the authorities I have quoted above seems 

 to have been aware that there is a notice in existence of 

 the Chillingham cattle, as they were near 200 years 

 since, which in many respects throws light upon them. 

 Having heard that such was the case, I discovered it at 

 last in a note at page 390 of vol. i. of E. Mackensie's 

 " View of the County of Northumberland," published 

 at Newcastle-on-Tyne, a.d. 1825. This note is as 

 follows : — 



" In a family Account Book written by "William Taylor, steward 

 of Chillingham, and now (1821) in the possession of his great grand- 

 son, William Taylor, Esq., Hendon Grange, near Sunderland, is an 

 outlay : — ' 1689, Dec r - 5, pd. Wm. Kadyll's white calfe ten shillings.' 



"'May, 1692. Beasts in the Parke. My Lorde's 16 white 

 wilde beasts, 2 black steers, and a guy,* 12 white, read, and black- 

 ear' d, five blacke oxen and brown one, 2 oxen from Warke, from 

 last a steer killed.' 



"'August '92. Y e guy had a calfe, and went to TJpparke with 

 the twelve black and read-ear' d, two of the Warke, and the brown 

 one at Chivton.' " 



With much trouble I have traced the Taylor family. 



* A "guy," or " quey," means universally throughout the North, and 

 in the Midland counties also, a young heifer. 



