found near Newstead, Roxburghshire. 137 



pertingent ab Argoelia (e) ad Dinevoram, et cum singulis 

 vicenis vaccis taurum ejusdem coloris. Aurum nemini pen- 

 ditur nisi Regi Dinevorae vel Regi Aberfravise." — " (e) Loci 

 nomen prope Dinevoram, sibi ubi praecise situs sit ignoratur." 

 — It seems very evident that such numbers of living wild 

 cattle could never be exacted as payment of a fine, but that 

 beyond all doubt domesticated cattle are here referred to, 

 and apparently, from the special character of the notice, a 

 favourite variety, highly prized for their beauty and peculiar 

 colour. And to shew how highly this breed of cattle had 

 been valued at a very early period, I may quote several pas- 

 sages from Mr Youatt's well-known work " On Cattle." He 

 says, (p. 478,) " Howel dha, or Howell the Good, describes 

 some of the "Welsh cattle, in the tenth century, as being 

 ' white, with red ears,' resembling the wild cattle of Chil- 

 lingham Castle. An early record speaks of a hundred white 

 cows with red ears being demanded as a compensation for 

 certain offences against the Princes both of North and South 

 Wales. If the cattle were of a dark or black colour, one 

 hundred and fifty were to be presented. When the Cambrian 

 Princes did homage to the King of England, the same number 

 of cattle, and of the same description, were rendered in ac- 

 knowledgment of sovereignty. Speed tells us that Maud de 

 Breos, in order to appease King John, whom her husband 

 had offended, sent to his Queen a present from Brecknock- 

 shire of four hundred cows and a bull, all white, and 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 preserved in the parks 

 of the nobles, we are unable to determine. The latter is the 

 more probable supposition ; and the same records that de- 

 scribe the ' white cattle with red ears,' speak also of the 

 ' dark or black- coloured breed, ' which now exists, and which 

 is general throughout the principality." It appears to me but 

 natural to suppose that these were all domesticated, and 

 surely not wild cattle, to which reference has been made in 

 these various passages ; and that they were a highly-prized 

 variety, is shewn by their colour being specially mentioned, 

 as well as their being valued at a half more than the dark- 



