86 
Shorthorns  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
The  north-eastern  connties  have  long  been  the  chief  centre  of  Shorthorn 
breeding  in  Scotland.  Probably  in  no  other  part  has  the  inherent  good 
qualities  of  the  breed  been  more  fully  developed  or  made  more  thoroughly 
useful  to  the  country.  The  pioneer  in  this  district  was  the  late  Captain 
Barclay,  of  Ury,  near  Stonehaven,  in  the  county  of  Kincardine,  who  carried 
to  the  north  the  noble  work  which  had  been  commenced  on  the  Borders  by 
Mr.  Robertson,  and  taken  up  in  the  Lothians  by  Mr.  Rennie.  Captain 
Barclay  began  to  breed  Shorthorns  in  1822.  Little  is  known  as  to  his 
earliest  purchases.  At  the  Chilton  sale  in  1829  he  secured  “Lady  Sarah” 
(No.  20)  for  150  guineas,  the  highest  price  paid  for  a female  at  the  sale. 
“ Lady  Sarah  ” was  got  by  “ Satellite  ” (1420),  and  when  brought  to  Scotland, 
was  in-calf  to  Mason’s  “ Monarch  ” (2324).  The  produce  was  “ Monarch  ” (4495), 
and  he  in  turn  was  mated  with  his  own  dam,  the  offspring  in  1836  having 
been  “Mahomed”  (6170).  In  the  following  year  the  bulk  of  the  herd  was 
dispersed,  and  most  of  the  animals  were  purchased  to  enlarge  or  to  establish 
herds  in  the  north-eastern  counties.  To  recruit  the  herd  after  this  sale,  ten 
heifers  selected  by  Mr.  Wetherell  were  brought  north.  Captain  Barclay 
having  had  evidence  of  the  great  excellence  of  the  stock  of  “ Lady  Sarah,” 
procured  as  the  stud  bull  of  his  fresh  herd  her  son  “Mahomed”  (6170), 
which  had  been  sold  to  a Ross-shire  farmer.  Mainly  through  the  use  of  this 
closely-bred  bull,  another  fine  lot  of  cattle  were  reared ; and  these,  when  sold 
a few  years  afterwards,  the  last  of  them  in  1847,  still  further  increased  the 
strength  and  improved  the  character  of  the  Shorthorn  herds  in  the  north  of 
Scotland.  The  early  improvement  of  northern  Shorthorns  has  been  attri- 
buted chiefly  to  the  blood  of  “ Lady  Sarah,”  so  successfully  concentrated  and 
used  by  Captain  Barclay ; and  of  the  Shorthorn  stock  at  present  in  the  north 
of  Scotland  a very  large  proportion  trace  back  to  the  Ury  bred.  Of  “Lady 
Sarah’s  ” produce,  “ Mahomed  ” was  the  most  closely  bred.*  Among  the  more 
valuable  females  (besides  “ Lady  Sarah  ”)  purchased  by  Captain  Barclay  were 
“Rose,”  by  “Satellite”  (1420),  “Lucy,”  by  “Mars”  (411),  and  “Marshal 
Leopold,”  all  from  Phantassie  in  1827  ; “ Magnet,”  by  “ Magnet  ” (392),  “ Rose- 
bud,” by  St.  Leger”  (1414),  “Julia,”  by  “Paganini”  (2405),  “Emily,”  by 
“Reformer”  (2509),  and  “Mary  Anne,”  by  “Sillery”  (5131).  “Invalid” 
(4076),  also  by  “Satellite”  (1420),  was  one  of  the  earliest  sires  used,  and 
to  him  “Lady  Sarah”  brought  forth  three  daughters,  “Julia”  in  1831, 
“Cicely”  in  1834,  and  “Ellen”  in  1835.  The  other  early  sires  were 
“Champion,”  bought  at  Phantassie  in  1827  for  100  guineas Commander” 
(3439),  and  his  son  “ Young  Commander ” (3443),  and  “Monarch”  (4495), 
and  his  two  sons  “ Mahomed  ” (6170),  and  “ Emperor  ” (3716).  In  the  second 
herd  at  Ury,  “ Mahomed  ” was  used  three  years,  and  afterwards  passed  into 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Ladds,  of  Ellington,  and  Mr.  Yorke,  of  Thrapston.  To 
succeed  “ Mahomed,”  Captain  Barclay  hired  “ Second  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land ” from  Mr.  Bates ; but  his  produce  not  having  been  satisfactory,  he  was 
sent  away  to  make  room  for  “ The  Pacha”  (7612),  a son  of  “ Mahomed.” 
The  shrewd,  practical  agriculturists  of  Aberdeenshire  had  been  in  search  of 
an  improved  breed  of  cattle  even  before  the  advent  of  the  present  century. 
Many  varieties  were  tried,  including  the  old,  ungainly,  unimproved  “Tees- 
waters.”  More  than  a hundred  years  ago  Mr.  Udny,  of  Udny,  had  a stock  of 
Northumberland  cows  and  an  English  Shorthorn  bull,  which  are  highly 
spoken  of  in  Mr.  Wight’s  ‘Survey  of  Aberdeenshire,’  drawn  up  in  1779.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  the  Improved  Shorthorn  was  introduced  that  the 
* “Satellite"  (1420)  was  the  sire  of  both  “Lady  Sarah  ” and  “Monarch” 
(2324),  while  the  dams  of  these  two  were  by  “ Cato  ” (119).  “ Monarch  ’ (2324), 
more  than  half  brother  to  “Lady  Sarah,"  was  put  to  that  cow,  and  produced 
“ Monarch  ’’  (4495),  which,  put  to  his  own  dam,  produced  “ Mahomed’’  (0170). 
