T. H. NELSON : A VISIT TO CHILLINGHAM PARK. 



Mr. Hindmarsb, in 183S. says: — 



'No sight could be more beautiful than they were when we saw 

 them retreating in regular order into their forest sanctuary. Their 

 perfect symmetry, pure white colour, and fine crescent horns, render 

 them, when moving in a body, a very imposing object. When they 

 calve they hide the young for a week or ten days, and if any person 

 should happen to approach the hiding-place, the calves clap their 

 heads close to the ground and lie in form like a hare.' 



Lord Ossulton, in 1850, says : — - 



' It is not always safe to approach within sight or smell when the 

 cows are rearing the calves, as they will then assume the offensive 

 <igainst an intruder without hesitation.' 



In 1873 ^Ir. Chandos-Pole-Gell, and Mr. Booth of Warlaby, 

 visited Chillingham ; the former gentleman remarks : — 



'As far as I could judge their form bore most resemblance to the 

 unimproved Yorkshire Cow of former days, on a smaller scale; but 

 iliis especially struck me in the shape of the hind-quarters, which I 

 thought were long in proportion to the size of the animal. The 

 hair also seemed somewhat similar to shorthorn cattle, and this 

 opinion was further confirmed by Sir E. Landseer's pictures at the 

 Castle. I have sometimes seen Black Welsh Cattle not unlike the 

 ChiUingham breed, and the horns in this case were finished in the 

 same way, but not set on the head in the same peculiar manner, — 

 as if they were constantly expecting an attack from some enemy ! 

 In these opinions iMr. Booth concurred.' 



Numerous stories are told of the fierce nature of the Cattle, and 

 the hair-breadth escapes and accidents in connection with the 

 shooting and trapping of the animals. On one occasion Lord 

 Ossulton went on horseback to give the quietus to a Bull which had 

 been shot at, and, it was supposed, mortally wounded. The animal 

 charged furiously at him, and before the horse could be turned 

 round, he was gored and disembowelled ; he galloped away for some 

 distance, and then fell dead. Lord Ossulton himself was in great 

 danger from the enraged Bull, but, fortunately, the attendants 

 -attracted the beast's attention to themselves, and his lordship made 

 good his escape. ' The Death of the Bull,' a picture painted by 

 Sir E. Landseer, now in the dining-room of the Castle, represents an 

 encounter which nearly proved fatal to one of the park-keepers, who 

 had trapped a Bull which charged at the fence and nearly got 

 through, when it was confronted by the man and his dog ; the Bull 

 rushed at them, tossed the keeper into the air, and commenced to 

 gore him with its formidable horns ; another keeper ran to the 

 Castle for Lord Ossulton's assistance, and he was soon on the scene 



Aug. 1887. 



