124 Animal Husbandry 
many local names, the two common ones being “‘ Buchan humlies ” 
from the Buchan district, and the “ Angus doddies”’ from the 
Angus district. The words “ humle”’ and ‘ dodded” are the 
Scotch terms for polled or hornless. 
Improvement of the Aberdeen Angus began early in the nine- 
teenth century under the leadership of Hugh Watson, of Keillor, 
Forfar. Watson was to the Aberdeen Angus what the Colling 
brothers were to the Shorthorns, and the Tompkins family to the 
Herefords. In his improvement, Watson emphasized family 
lines, and bred each family rather within itself. His most famous 
cow, Old Grannie, was one of the most noted cows of which we have 
record. She lived to be thirty-six years old, and gave birth to 
twenty-five calves, the last one in her twenty-ninth year. 
The early Aberdeen Angus was still further perfected by William 
McCombie of Tillyfour, Aberdeen, who laid special stress upon 
individual merit in mating, as well as superior pedigree, and by Sir 
George Macpherson Grant of Ballindalloch, whose herd was re- 
garded as the premier one of Scotland. 
200. Aberdeen Angus families. — There are a number of im- 
portant strains or families of Aberdeen Angus such as the Queens, 
descending from Queen Mother, the Ericas from Erica, the Black- 
birds from Lady Ida, the Nosegays from Nosegay, the Heather 
Blooms from Heather Blossom, and the Prides descending from the 
Pride of Aberdeen. 
201. Aberdeen Angus compared with Shorthorn. — The former 
is not so large as the latter. The striking difference between the 
two breeds is the absence of horns, and the black color of the Angus. 
Thé Aberdeen Angus head is short, forehead prominent and taper- 
ing at the poll. While the ribs are well-sprung, they are somewhat 
rounded, giving a cylindrical body, and thus lacking the broad back 
and loin of the Shorthorn. The rump often slopes considerably 
and the thighs are frequently rather thin, thus the Aberdeen Angus 
lacks the squareness and the depth in hindquarters of the Short- 
horn. The claim is made that the quality of the Aberdeen Angus 
