Farming of Cumherland. 



261 



most of his capital — or, it may be, his credit. But, worst of all 

 is his drive from the tryst called (from the lateness of the season 

 when it is held) the " Snowy Doune." The small cattle shown 

 there from the north will seldom afford the. cost of transit by rail, 

 and they must be up to Carlisle Sands by a certain day in 

 December, or the market may be missed. They are often 

 crippled by long driving-, and lame from the hoofs being worn 

 through. The weather is commonly very stormy at that season, 

 in which case the men's clothes are wet through day and night; 

 or hard frost, when the cold is almost unbearable. If provender 

 can be had at a reasonable rate, the cattle take least harm when 

 there is snow upon the ground, it being soft for their lame feet 

 to walk upon. 



Shoeing the lame cattle is sometimes resorted to, and, when 

 necessary, is often more costly than would appear from the simple 

 nature of the operation : for, to save the trouble and cost, the 

 cattle are often driven to the very last stage of lameness, and 

 during that time are rapidly losing condition. Then comes the 

 delay of the whole drove while the invalids are being shod — an 

 operation which the fidgety little creatures refuse most obsti- 

 nately. This occurring daily, occasions m ich loss of time, and 

 consequent hurrying and overdriving to re ich the market ; and 

 frequently the drove is either sold at a loss, through their jaded 

 condition, or cannot be sold at all. 



Contingencies such as these may be thought common to the 

 trade, and so they may be at all other seasons ; but the latter, or 

 "Snowy Doune," seems to be almost the Cumberland drover's 

 own ; the dealers from the more southern counties having invariably 

 supplied their customers sooner in the season, and the Scotch 

 dealers seldom coming forward to Carlisle at that inclement 

 season, the native dealer almost thinks himself in honour bound 

 to support the home show, which the strangers do not provide for. 



Very many thousands of cattle change hands on the sands at 

 Carlisle annually, and indeed a few thousands weekly at some 

 seasons. The principal show on the great fair days consists of 

 highland cattle ; next in number are Irish, then Galloway, 

 Fife, and Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, short-horn, and county-bred 

 mongrels. 



The great shows at Carlisle, which are held to follow the 

 Scotch and Highland trysts, are well attended by both buyers and 

 sellers of cattle, and it is there chiefly that the jobber first acquires 

 a passion for dealing, by a small profit, from his early attempts 

 in trade. With the great facilities for trading, and the frequent 

 opportunities afforded at Carlisle, there need be no wonder that 

 the small farmers of the neighbourhood are tempted to make or 

 mar their fortunes by a turn at cattle-dealing. 



