352 
Polled Aberdeen and Angus Cattle. 
Scotland — the " Doddies " of Angus and the " Humlies " of 
Buchan. During recent years much discussion has taken place 
as to the origin and improvement of the breed, the main point 
at dispute apparently being whether Aberdeenshire or the 
ancient county of Angus, now embraced in Forfarshire, ought 
to be regarded as the original home or cradle of the breed. 
Viewing the subject from the standpoint of an outsider, as an 
ardent admirer of the breed, but not in the slightest degree 
personally interested on either side, I have always regarded this 
discussion as not only unwise, but also utterly worthless. In 
that belief I have hitherto studiously avoided taking part in it ; 
and on the present occasion I pass it over with this brief 
reference. In the opening sentence of this paragraph I have 
stated the real origin of the improved Polled breed ; neither 
Aberdeenshire nor Forfarshire has any special claim to the credit 
of being the original home or cradle of the breed. It belongs just 
as much to the one as to the other, and is not enjoyed even by them 
alone. It is also shared by the counties of Kincardine, Banff 
and Moray, for, as I have said, the improved polled cattle are 
the lineal descendants of the ancient polled cattle, not of any 
particular county, but of the north-east of Scotland. 
Going back as far as history and tradition can be trusted to 
guide us, we find that in that part of the north-east of Scotland 
comprising the counties of Forfar, Kincardine, Aberdeen, and 
Banff, there existed two distinct races of cattle. The higher 
ground was occupied by a horned race ; and the lower districts 
partly by the same horned race, partly by a polled breed, and 
partly by crosses between the two. It is to be regretted that the 
earlier writers on rural subjects were not more precise in their 
descriptions of the various breeds of cattle. In several of these 
early works we find the breeds of cattle in many parts of the 
country simply described as being large or small, or as useful 
and docile ; or wild but handsome. There is, unfortunately, 
some ambiguity of this kind in regard to the early history of 
the Polled Aberdeen and Angus breed, and that is perhaps to 
some extent to blame for the discussion just referred to. Of the 
existence of polled cattle in Forfarshire, or in the ancient county 
of Angus, we have written proof from the eighteenth century. 
The Rev. James Playfair, in his report on the parish of Bendochy, 
near Coupar-Angus, which is dated 1797, and which appears in 
the ' Old Statistical Account of Scotland,' states that many of the 
cattle in the parish at that time were " dodded, wanting horns." 
In a volume entitled 'A General View of the Agriculture of 
Angus,' dated 1813, it is stated that "a great proportion of the 
permanent stock are himlies — that is, they have no horns." 
Coming next to Youatt's well-known work on ' Cattle, their 
