286 
Hise and Progress of Hereford Cattle. 
liorse or cattle, is heavily discounted by so many previous bargains 
in private. 
Hereford Groat Fair takes place on the third Tuesday and 
Wednesday of October, simultaneously with the Herefordshire 
Cattle Show. " The red line tipped with white " begins ijearly 
at the station, and extends right through the heart of the town 
as far as the " Cornewall Lewis " statue, and also branches off past 
the Cathedral. Eight thousand bullocks have been brigaded 
there, but since the new Cattle Market was opened, seven or 
eight years ago, the muster-roll has barely reached five. Car- 
wardine the elder was once wont to fill Eign Street with his lot, 
and his son still comes with a goodly number, and supports the 
family name, as he marches up and down their ranks in his long 
coat and with his trusty ashen plant. The younger steers are 
generally offered at Leominster Fair on or about October 17th, 
and there in old times the Midland graziers would meet Carwar- 
dine, Pardington (who still pitches some large lots at Hereford), 
Knight, and Jones, to learn from them privately what lots they 
had, and to "take a feeler for the big day." Hereford seems 
fairly invested by " white-faces " for the time being ; windows 
are barricaded against them, and trap-doors burst in by them ; 
but still the inhabitants acquiesce gracefully, and feel thankful 
that such an invasion comes but once a vear. Many of the first 
Midland and West-Midland graziers hail from this great Bullock 
'Change each October, and chaffer with double zest for a lot, if it is 
headed by something that looks likely to " train on for Christmas 
year." " A real topper " has reached 50 guineas, if sold singly ; 
and the late Mr. Monkhouse, who delighted to go through the mar- 
ket on " Sam's " arm, and to put his hand on all the prime beasts, 
more than once headed the quotations with a lot of his " Chieftain " 
(930) on "Madoc" (899) blood. The unsold lots are at their 
places again by dawn on the second day, and sometimes a 
show-beast bears them company, with his prize ribbons or 
his show-card for a token on his head. A large number are sent 
off by rail ; but the high road to the Midland pastures by Wor- 
cester and Stratford-upon-Avon is still vocal for many days after 
with the drover's cry. 
Mr. Pusey once quoted, to the amusement of a Royal Agri- 
cultural Society dinner audience, the dictum of a foreigner, that 
" the English grazier rides in his coach, clad in a velvet coat, 
and with chains of gold about him." The idea was a magnifi- 
cent one, although it lost somewhat of its force from one of the 
reasons given for such affluence, " because they rear cattle with 
such big bone." Even Mr. Westcar, of Creslow, could not have 
realised it, although he averaged lOUZ. Gy. each (according to his 
