Shorthorns  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
81 
well  they  might,  for  few  herds  contained  so  much  of  the  best  and  purest 
of  the  blood  of  the  Collings  and  other  noted  early  improvers,  as  that  at 
Ladykirk.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  the  improving  and  breeding  of 
Shorthorns,  Mr.  Robertson  rendered  noble  service  to  his  country,  and  his  name 
will  live  as  that  of  the  first  Scotch  patron  of  the  breed.  Mr.  Mason,  of 
Chilton,  went  to  him  for  a change  of  blood,  and  having  selected  the  bull 
“ Satellite  ” (1420)  he  used  him  with  good  results,  when  his  herd  was  in  want 
of  fresh  material.  Then,  through  the  free  use  of  Mr.  Robertson’s  bull, 
“Caliph  ” (1774),  in  the  herds  of  the  Hon.  C.  Arbuthnotand  Sir  C.  Knightley, 
the  valuable  properties  of  the  Ladykirk  herd  have  been  transmitted  to  a large 
number  of  modern  Shorthorns. 
From  the  Ladykirk  herd  a grpat  many  Shorthorns  were  spread  throughout 
the  south  as  well  as  the  north  of  Scotland.  Wherever  they  went  the  stock 
they  produced  gave  the  utmost  satisfaction,  far  exceeding  any  variety  of 
cattle  formerly  known,  alike  in  regard  to  precocity  and  yield  of  meat ; while 
they,  as  a rule,  also  proved  well  fitted  for  dairy  purposes.  Mr.  Robertson 
gave  a good  deal  of  attention  to  the  rearing  and  fattening  of  Shorthorn  steers 
and  oxen  ; and,  with  the  view  of  making  known  the  rare  beef-producing  pro- 
perties of  the  breed,  he  sometimes  published  the  results.  An  ox,  one  of  the 
first  Shorthorns  bred  by  him,  when  slaughtered  in  1794,  at  the  age  of  four 
years  and  ten  months,  was  found  to  weigh  145  stones  (8  lbs.  per  stone)  3 lbs. 
of  meat,  with  24  stones  7 lbs.  of  tallow.  Afterwards  he  seldom  kept  on  any 
feeding  animals  to  so  great  an  age,  and  the  weights  he  was  able  to  show 
for  younger  animals  were  perhaps  still  more  astonishing  to  those  hitherto 
unacquainted  with  Improved  Shorthorns.  A steer  bred  at  Ladykirk,  and 
slaughtered  in  1802  at  the  age  of  three  years  and  six  months,  yielded  123 
stones  of  meat  and  21  stones  of  tallow. 
The  late  General  Simpson,  of  Pitcorthie,  Fifeshire,  was  the  next  in  Scot- 
land to  take  up  the  systematic  breeding  of  Improved  Shorthorns.  Compara- 
tively little  is  known  as  to  his  operations  as  a breeder.  Doubt  exists  as  to 
the  date  of  the  foundation  of  his  herd.  At  the  outset  he,  like  Mr.  Robertson, 
went  to  the  fountain-head,  and  it  is  stated  that  in  the  years  1789  and  1791  he 
hired  bulls  from  the  Messrs.  Collings.  A few  years  later  General  Simpson 
would  seem  to  have  decided  to  go  into  Shorthorn  breeding  energetically,  for 
from  C.  Colling  in  1806  he  not  only  purchased  a female  for  the  then  almost 
unprecedented  price  of  300  guineas,  but  also  hired  a bull  for  two  seasons  at  a 
fee  of  100  guineas  per  season.  The  former  was  " Mary,”  out  of  “ Venus  ” (the 
daughter  of  “ Phoenix  ” and  “ Ben  ”),  and  got  by  “ Favourite,”  being  thus  own 
sister  to  one  of  the  cows  purchased  from  C.  Colling  by  Thomas  Bates  in  1800. 
The  bull  bred  was  “ North  Star  ” (458),  own  brother  to  the  1000  guineas 
bull  “Comet”  (155).  When  selected  by  General  Simpson,  “North  Star” 
was  only  a calf,  and  he  was  not  removed  to  Scotland  till  the  spring  of 
1807.  General  Simpson  persistently  refused  to  allow  this  bull  to  return  to 
England,  notwithstanding  urgent  pressure  from  R.  Colling,  who  had  bespoken 
him  from  C.  Colling  before  the  latter’s  sale  in  1810.  General  Simpson  had 
1 only  a very  few  cows  to  mate  with  “ North  Star,”  and  yet  at  the  substantial 
figure  of  100  guineas  per  season  he  retained  him  till  he  died  in  his 
possession  in  the  spring  of  1811,  at  the  age  of  five  years.  “North  Star” 
■ proved  himself  an  excellent  sire,  and  he  has  left  his  mark  on  the  pedigrees  of 
many  good  Scotch  Shorthorns.  From  the  stock  of  “North  Star,”  Mr.  Grey 
of  Millfield  (latterly  of  Dilston),  established  his  herd  ; while  from  “Rolla,”  by 
“North  Star,”  a great  many  good  Shorthorns  will  be  found  to  trace.  As 
illustrating  the  enormous  value  set  upon  the  blood  of  these  two  famous 
sons  of  “ Phoenix  ” and  “ Favourite  ” (252),  it  may  be  mentioned  that  when 
“ North  Star  ” died,  the  owners  of  “ Comet  ” had  an  offer  of  1500  guineas  made 
to  them  for  that  sire,  then  in  his  eighth  year.  It  has  been  stated  that 
VOL.  XIX. — S.  S.  G 
