THE SMALL HERD AT DALKEITH. 347 



whose family had been long in the employment of 

 the Dukes of Buccleuch and Marquises of Lothian, 

 and whose brother Robert was for many years forester 

 at Hamilton, in the charge of the wild cattle there, 

 and who has himself been, for the last thirty-eight years 

 (since 1836), grieve to Sir J. Powlett Orde, of Kilmory 

 House, Argyllshire. From him the following informa- 

 tion is derived. 



"The Duke of Buccleuch's herd, which came from 

 Athole Forest in 1834, consisted of six cows and two 

 cow-calves, one bull, and five oxen. They were all 

 white — pure white — and they had all black muzzles ; but 

 the black was confined to the muzzle itself, and did not 

 affect the skin around it which bore hair. The orbits 

 of their eyes were black, and the hoofs black or striped 

 with black. The ears were generally tipped with black, 

 and in many there was also more or less black inside, 

 but in a few the black hairs on the ears were scarce, 

 though in none altogether wanting. They all had 

 horns, which were not very long, turned up at the 

 ends and very sharp, and all their horns had black 

 points.* They differed much from well-bred Highland 

 cattle, but bore some resemblance to more ordinary 

 ones, being short-legged, straight-backed, and having 

 long silky hair. But, like all wild cattle, they had a 

 strong family likeness, and were all rather light in their 

 hind quarters. The Athole bull was by no means wild 

 or unmanageable, and had a double thin upright mane. 

 A son of his, who afterwards went to Sir John Orde's, 

 resembled him in these respects ; and so did another bull 



* Some of them had dark specks in the skin, which, however, grew 

 white hairs; sometimes, however, the calves showed black hairs mixed 

 with the white when new-born and wet, but these did not show afterwards. 



