120 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
April, 
45— DEVON BULL. 
SHffercnt tkrietics of tl)e ©*. 
The Middle-Horns. 
It is easy to trace our own breeds of cattle to the 
stocks of Europe. With the exception of those of 
South America, which sprung from animals taken from 
Spain, (see current vol. page 59,) they have been de¬ 
rived almost entirely from England. But our ideas of 
the origin of British cattle, must be in a degree con¬ 
jectural. The progenitors of several of the present 
breeds were found in the possession of the ancient in¬ 
habitants of Britain, at the time of its invasion and 
conquest by Caesar, fifty years before the Christian era. 
At what period, or in what manner those people, or 
their animals reached that country, cannot be told; they 
are events so remote that neither history nor tradition 
afford any light in regard to them. 
In our remarks on the ancient Roman ox, (Feb. No. 
page 59,) we have alluded to the hypothesis that this 
primitive race formerly extended itself over a large 
portion of Europe, and that it may have been the ori¬ 
gin of some of the British breeds. In the characteris¬ 
tics of these cattle, so far as we can judge, there is 
nothing which-conflicts with this idea. 
But whatever may have been the origin of the cattle 
of the British islands, it may be said that from the ear¬ 
liest times, two or three distinct tribes and stocks have 
existed there: viz. 1, the Long-horns, which originally 
occupied the low flat lands of England, and similar 
parts of Ireland, and were remarkable for the enormous 
length of their horns, their bulky frames and thick hides. 
2, the Middle-horns, represented by the cattle of De¬ 
vonshire, Herefordshire, Wales, and the Scottish High¬ 
lands; of which the semi-wild cattle of Chillingham 
- Park, Northumberland, may be taken as the type. 3, 
in addition to these may be mentioned the Polled or 
hornless cattle, represented by the Galloway and other 
breeds without horns, which may have been derived 
from the semi-wild stock of Chatelherault Park, Lan¬ 
arkshire, Scotland. Martin observes that these three 
breeds “ are of untraceable antiquity in our islands 
[Great Britain and Ireland,] so that we may call them 
original , without entering into the question as to their 
primaeval source.” 
In regard to the two wild stocks mentioned, and the 
relation they bear to the domestic British breeds, there 
has been considerable speculation. Some have suppos¬ 
ed that they were originally wild,have never been domes¬ 
ticated, but that the domestic breeds of which they are 
considered the type, have been derived from them. The 
conclusion, however, which has latterly been more ge¬ 
nerally adopted, is, that these cattle are descended 
from a domestic stock, which in early times were al¬ 
lowed to roam in a great degree unrestrained, and final¬ 
ly became emancipated from the control of man. 
It is admitted that there is a great similarity between 
these wild stocks and some of the tame breeds. All 
the middle-horns, especially the Devon and West-High¬ 
land breeds, show ah evident affinity with the Chilling- 
ham stock; while the Galloways are evidently closely 
allied to the Chatelherault cattle. The latter are lar¬ 
ger and more robust than the Chillingham, and are 
mostly without horns; which, with their likeness to the 
Galloways in shape, gives support to the idea that they 
had a common origin. But we shall recur to this, in 
noticing the Galloways. 
The middle-horns are found in Devonshire and the 
western counties of England, in Wales, Scotland, and 
parts of Ireland. They are believed to have constitu¬ 
ted the stock of the ancient Celtic inhabitants of those 
districts; while the long-horns, another original stock, 
probably occupied the low, flat lands of both islands. 
As to the short-horns, we shall show, in the proper 
place, that they are not of British origin. 
Circumstances connected with the history of Britain, 
have tended to preserve the middle-horned breeds of 
cattle in great purity. The country in early times was 
often subjected to the inroads of invading enemies. The 
property of the natives, in those days, consisted princi¬ 
pally of their cattle; and as the encroachments of the 
conquerors forced them to retire to the mountain fast¬ 
nesses, they naturally took with them their animals, on 
which their subsistence in a great degree depended. In 
these inaccessible regions, the people remained with 
their herds , in comparative security and independence. 
<• They were proud of their country, and proud of their 
cattle, their choicest possession.” “It thence resulted,” 
says Youatt, “ that in Devon, in Sussex, in Wales, and 
in Scotland, the cattle have been the same from time 
immemorial.” 
That the middle-horns have all descended from a 
common stock, is evident from their general characters. 
u The slightest observation,” observes Youatt, “will 
convince us that the cattle in Devonshire, Sussex, 
Wales, and Scotland, are essentially the same. They 
