244 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



THE SEERS OF KETTON AND BARMPTON 



94. The first parents of modern Shorthorn breeding, if first 

 parents there be, were Charles and Robert Colling, farmers of 

 Ketton and Barmpton. Their primal venture in cattle improve- 

 ment dates to the visit of Charles Colling to Robert Bakewell 

 (78) in 1783. Here considerable time was spent in the study both 

 of the methods and the results of this master artisan. Mr. Col- 

 ling's efforts convinced him beyond all doubt as to the funda- 

 mental soundness of the Dishley principles, but with equal 

 soundness he postponed his attempts at application until he be- 

 came possessed of the cattle to suit his purposes. His founda- 

 tion animal was discovered in 1789, when he obtained from Mr. 

 Maynard of Eryholme, that mother of the modern Shorthorn, the 

 "beautiful Lady Maynard." 



Both the farms of Ketton and Barmpton were located in the 

 Tees valley, approximately three miles from the city of Darling- 

 ton and the historic Darlington Market. This was the center of 

 the old Shorthorn country, the home of the Holderness and 

 Teeswater stocks. It was on these foundations that the CoLLiNG 

 brothers labored and their most popular subject of discussion 

 was the methods and means of eliminating some of the most 

 obvious faults of both strains. One of Lady Maynard's daughters 

 was mated to her grandson through another daughter, and pro- 

 duced the bull calf called Favorite, the cornerstone of the blood 

 concentrations that builded so firmly Ketton's success. Favorite 

 was mated back to his own dam Phoenix producing Young 

 Phoenix. He was then bred to Young Phoenix and produced 

 the bull Comet 155, the bovine hero of his time and the first 

 cattle beast to sell for $5,000. The incestuous methods that 

 produced Comet, the notable price received for him, and the 

 fame of such wondrous exhibition cattle as the Durham Ox 

 (133) and the White Heifer that Traveled (128) gave Charles 

 Colling a notoriety that no breeder in the north of England 



