92 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
and the mountains of Wales cattle were always reared 
for the sake of their flesh, milk, and hides, but in the 
lowlands of England oxen were formerly largely 
employed for ploughing and other kinds of draught, 
and for this purpose large and heavy animals, with 
plenty of bone, were essential. On heavy ground 
and bad roads these draught oxen were of special 
value, for, although slow, they have great strength, 
and will continue to pull in cases where most breeds 
of horses would refuse to work. 
As mentioned in an earlier chapter, British cattle, 
apart from the Channel Islands breed, are either 
black, black and white, white, red and white, or red, 
passing into reddish brown on the one hand or dun 
on the other. Brindles are occasionally met with ; 
but these appear in all instances due to crossing. 
There are now no silver-grey or pale fawn-coloured 
breeds comparable to those of Italy. The mountain 
breeds are generally whole-coloured — either black or 
red or reddish brown ; but those of the plains dis- 
play, as a rule, a more or less marked tendency to 
albinism, either on the head and limbs, or all over the 
body. 
The first breed for notice is that of the Shetlands 
and Orkneys, the members of which, like the local 
ponies, are of small size and hardy constitution. 
These cattle, although smaller, are near akin to 
those of Norway — of which kingdom the Shetlands 
were formerly a part — and markedly distinct from 
those of the Scottish Highlands. Low describes them 
as being of good shape, with short horns, a soft skin, 
and a coat varying in colour and frequently parti- 
coloured, its tint being usually lighter than that of 
the Highland breed. Strange to say, they come to 
