222 WILD WHITE CATTLE. 



shire, about the year 1200, had its "fierce wild 

 cattle."* 



Speed tells usf that Maud de Breos, in order to 

 appease King John, whom her husband had offended, 

 sent to his queen a present from Brecknockshire of 

 four hundred cows and a bull, all white with red ears. 

 Whether this was the usual colour of the ancient 

 breed of Welsh and British cattle, or a rare variety, 

 esteemed on account of its beauty, and chiefly pre- 

 served in the parks of the nobles, cannot be deter- 

 mined with certainty. It is, perhaps, more natural 

 to suppose that they were all domesticated, and not 

 wild cattle. In later records, however, wild cattle 

 are particularly referred to by this name. " Six 

 wylde bulls," are included in the bill of fare on the 

 occasion of the feast given at the installation of 

 George Nevill, Archbishop of York, in 1466. "J 



Hector Boece(Boethius), who was a contemporary of 

 Leland, and who published his " Scotorum Historiae, 

 ^ prima Gentis Origine," in 1526, has often been 

 quoted to prove the former existence of wild white 

 cattle in Scotland. § His statement is to the effect 

 that in the great Caledonian wood, which covered a 

 great tract of country, running through Monteith and 

 Strathearn, as far as Athole and Lochaber, there were 

 bulls of the purest white, having manes like lions ; 



* Walbran, " Memorials of the Abbey of St. Mary of Fountains" 

 (Surtees Society, vol. xliii.). 



t Speed, "History of Great Britaine," folio, 1611. 



% Leland, " Collectanea" (ed. Hearne), vi., p. 2. 



§ This work was translated into the Scottish vernacular by John 

 Bellenden, Archdeacon of Moray, in 1553, and into English by Raphael 

 Holinshed in 1585. 



