ACCOUNTS OF TEE GI8BUBNE CATTLE. 287 



I give first the information I received from the pre- 

 sent Lord Eibblesdale,* who succeeded to the remains 

 of this herd in 1832, as a minor not five years old, and 

 who reaped the consequences of the neglect and indif- 

 ference with which it had been previously treated. His 

 lordship says, in a letter to me, dated January 29th, 

 1874: — "The cattle that used to be here have been 

 extinct about fifteen years. I could not keep them on 

 any longer ; they got delicate from breeding in-and-in, 

 and always bred bulls at last. They were, I believe, 

 the old inhabitants of the forests of this part of the 

 country. 



" When I knew mine they were not wild. They 

 required great care. I believe that generally the account 

 of them in the ' History of Craven ' is correct." 



The above words ought to be printed in letters of 

 gold, framed, and hung over every cattle-breeder's 

 mantle-piece, as a warning against excessive inter-breed- 

 ing. I have some reason to think that this remarkable 

 case is not a solitary one ; but that, as respects cattle, 

 one consequence of long-continued and excessive inter- 

 breeding is, that the cows generally, if not — as Lord 

 Eibblesdale affirms with respect to his — " always," 

 " breed bulls at last." 



The Eev. Thomas Staniforth, of Storrs, Windermere, 

 one of the oldest and most intelligent of English breeders, 

 lived at Bolton-by-Bowland Eectory, about four miles 

 from Grisburne, from January, 1832, to June, 1859 ; and 

 had, therefore, every opportunity of observing the Gris- 

 burne Park cattle. He tells me that "in size they were 

 as large as ordinary Short-horns, and had thick, mellow 



* Since deceased ; but it is thought better not to alter the text, also 

 written by a hand now dead. — Ed. 



