169 
History and Traditions of Short Horn Cattle. 
among them some one will yet be induced 
to give the world, fearlessly and honestly, 
every thing that can now be gathered up re¬ 
specting their origin, gradual improvement, 
and, indeed, their whole minute history. Mr. 
Berry, alludes to u floating traditions/’ and 
although there was much, doubtless, some¬ 
what apocryphal in them, still they contain¬ 
ed grains of truth, which might have been 
sifted out ; and even if this were impossible, 
we must confess ourselves so enthusiastic in 
the cause, that we should have copied them 
down verbatim, allowing the public to esti¬ 
mate them at their own value. We acknow¬ 
ledge that we have a profound respect for 
this same “ tradition ; ” gleams of light can 
always be found in its records, and what else 
is the early profane history of man, and every 
thing connected with him ? 
The popular belief about Short Horns is, 
that they were all a large, coarse, though 
somewhat valuable race of animals, existing 
on the banks of the Tees, till Messrs. Robert 
and Charles Colling, of Durham, appeared 
upon the stage as breeders, and that we are 
indebted to these gentlemen for their chief 
excellence and improvement; nay, that such 
was their genius and such their plastic power 
over the animal creation, that they took up 
the most common and ordinary animals of 
the country, and with a sort of enchanter’s 
wand, converted them, in the space of a few 
years, into the superb, improved Short Horns 
that now prevail in Great Britain and Ame¬ 
rica. But tradition says, the best tribes have 
existed in great excellence for more than 
two centuries, making them in reality an an¬ 
cient race of animals, carrying the same pre¬ 
eminent qualities from generation to genera¬ 
tion, with continued improvements on the 
part of their indefatigable and scientific 
breeders, till at length they have reached a 
state of excellence which may be pronounc¬ 
ed almost perfection. 
As an evidence of the ancient excellence 
of this race, let us now turn to the pamphlet 
of Mr. Berry, who seems to have received 
and set down most of his particulars with 
great caution. 
As early as 1745, living witnesses inform¬ 
ed him that a breed of cattle existed on the 
banks of the Tees, in color resembling what 
is called the improved breed of the present 
day, except that the fashionable roan was 
not quite so prevalent; possessing a fine 
mellow touch, good hair, light offal, particu¬ 
larly wide carcases, and deep fore quarters 
they were also justly celebrated for extraor* 
dinary proof when slaughtered, resembling 
thus closely their descendants of the present 
day. One trifling difference alone is worth 
recording, the horns of the old Teeswater 
breed were rather longer, and turned gaily 
upwards. About this time Sir William St. 
Quintin, of Seamps*on, imported cows and 
bulls from Holland, which were soon crossed 
upon the Teeswater stock, and became dis¬ 
tinguished, as te uniting in a wonderful de¬ 
gree, good grazing and dairy qualities.” 
In 1740, Mr. Milbank, of Barringhanq 
stood pre-eminent as a Short Horn breeder ; 
and it is on record, that a five year old ox of 
his weighed, dressed the four quarters, 2,100 
lbs. beside 224 lbs. of rough tallow ; and a 
cow of the same stock, a daughter of the old 
Studley bull, weighed upwards of 1,540 lbs. 
The Studley bull was described to Mr. Berry, 
by a person who had often seen him, as pos¬ 
sessing “ wonderful girth and depth of fore¬ 
quarters, very short legs, a neat frame, and 
light offal.” Had he added mellow handling, 
which no doubt the animal possessed, noth¬ 
ing more essential could be said of the good 
Short Horns of the present day, and yet this 
bull existed long before the Messrs. Colling 
appeared as breeders, for he was the sire oi 
Dalton Duke, sold at the u then high price 
of 50 guineas to Messrs. Maynerd and 
W r etherell, in whose possession he served 
cows at half a guinea each.” From the old 
Studley bull are also descended William anc 
Richard Barker’s and Mr. Hill’s bulls, a... 
animals of the highest reputation of their 
day, and the originals of the improved Short 
Horns. These circumstances forcibly prove 
that Mr. Milbank mnst have possessed a 
very valuable stock of cattle, even at that 
early period, namely, one century since. 
From Sir W r illiam St. Quintin, Sir James 
Pennyman stocked his estates in the counties 
of Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland, 
and from these came the celebrated Snowden 
bull, bred by one of his tenants at Hurworth, 
which was the sire of Hubback. 
As a proof of what the Short Horns did 
before, and about the time, the Messrs. Col¬ 
ling commenced their career of breeding, 
Mr. Berry records the following facts of their 
great weight and early maturity. 
Sir Henry Grey, of Howick, bred two 
oxen, which weighed, at six years old, 
1820 lbs. each. 
Miss Allen, of Grange, bred a three year 
old heifer, fed on hay and grass alone, which 
weighed 1260 lbs. The same lady also bred 
two three year old steers, fed in a similar man¬ 
ner, weighing respectively 1288 and 1344 lbs. 
Mr. Waistell's four year old steer weighed 
