202 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July 
are found in various parts of the old continent, inclu¬ 
ding Britain, and compares their characters with the 
races at present existing. He examines the idea which 
has formerly been entertained, that our domestic cattle, 
including the wild stock alluded to, are the descendants 
of the ancient Urus, a huge and fierce species of 
wild ox, which formerly inhabited the uncultivated dis¬ 
tricts of Europe; and he shows clearly that the present 
races are not only entirely distinct from the Urus, but 
from every other species of fossil ox which has hitherto 
been discovered. 
Mr. M. is inclined to regard the Chillingham and 
Chatelherault cattle rather as feral than as originally 
wild, being in a similar condition to the semi-wild cat¬ 
tle of South America, which are known to have sprung 
from a tame stock, introduced and turned loose in that 
country by the Spaniards, soon after its first settlement. 
We think this opinion is based on very reasonable 
grounds. His principal arguments against the position 
that this is a wild species, naturally, are, that it “ex¬ 
ists no where as a free denizen of the forest—is not 
found in the wilds of Central or Eastern Europe”—is on¬ 
ly kept in England like deer, within the bounds of a park 
and that it is, beyond doubt, specifically identical with 
the domestic race, the ancestors of which, in remote 
times, are believed to have roamed over the whole of 
Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia. 
Some of the circumstances connected with the posi¬ 
tion that these cattle were formerly emancipated from 
a domestic state, are given in the following extract : 
“ Let us remember that there was a time in which 
Western Europe received its first tide of colonization, 
and that at that time man possessed flocks and herds. 
When Cresar landed on our shores, he found the Celtic 
tribes in the possession of the dog, the horse, the ox, 
and even the domestic fowl. Had they not carried 
these animals along with them in their early migrations, 
sedulously preserving them while they hunted down the 
wild and ferocious ? We think so; the urus is extirpa¬ 
ted; it was so in Britain in Caesar’s time; and the au¬ 
rochs [Lithuanian wild ox or bison] is reduced to a 
few individuals, protected by imperial mandate. But 
the ancient Britons had tame cattle in abundance, and 
among these a white breed peculiarly valued ; this breed 
was long maintained, and, as may be expected, princi¬ 
pally in the mountain fastnesses, never entirely subjec¬ 
ted to the dominion of the Romans, nor yet to that of 
the Saxon invaders.” 
Authorities are quoted showing that in the tenth cen¬ 
tury, some of the tame cattle in England were white 
with red ears, resembling those of Chillingham Park; 
and it is mentioned that on one occasion a person who 
had offended King John, sent to his queen a present of 
four hundred cows and a bull, all white with red ears. 
It is shown further that the same records which des¬ 
cribe the white cattle with red ears, speak also of the 
dark- colored and black breeds. 
Mr. Martin concludes, therefore, that in these old 
accounts, we have evidence of the existence of a valu¬ 
ed breed of white cattle; and he remarks that “the 
descendants of these might, at various times, have be¬ 
come feral; that is, might have roamed in the wild for¬ 
ests, and returned to a natural state of independence; 
* * and of these feral herds, the Chillingham wild 
cattle may be the lineal descendants, if, indeed, not of, 
the tame race once so much esteemed.” 
These views are strengthened by the fact that breeds 
similar to the Chillingham exist, (though not in a 
wild state,) in other parts of Europe. “ In Italy,” 
it is observed, “ there is a noble breed of white cattle, 
(the bujls being models of beauty; such indeed, as the 
sculptured figures of antiquity portray with spirit and 
fidelity. Herds of this breed graze in the wild solitudes 
of the Campagna of Rome, tended by vaccari, or herds¬ 
men.” It is from this breed that bulls are obtained 
to gratify the savage taste of the population, by the 
exhibition of bull-fights * 
The characteristics of the Chillingham cattle are 
given by Gulley, in his “ Observations on Live Stock,” 
as follows: “ Their color is invariably of a creamy 
white, muzzle black; the whole of the inside of the ear, 
and about one-third of the outside, from the tips down¬ 
wards, red; horns white, with black tips, very fine, and 
bent upwards; some of the bulls have a thin upright 
mane, an inch and a-half or two inches long. The 
weight of the oxen [not bulls] is from thirty-five to 
forty-five stone, fourteen pounds to the stone,— [490 to 
630 lbs.] The beef is finely marbled and of excellent 
flavor. From the nature of their pasture, and the fre¬ 
quent agitation they are put into by the curiosity of 
strangers, it is scarcely to be expected they should be 
very fat; yet the six-year old oxen are generally very 
good beef; from whence it may be fairly supposed that 
in proper situations they would feed well.” 
Their habits are thus described by Mr. Martin:—- 
“ Thes; cattle are extremely shy and savage; and at 
certain times the bulls are very ferocious. The cows 
conceal their young in the dense fern and underwood; and 
it is dangerous to approach the lair; for should the mo¬ 
ther pereieve the approach of an intruder, or the herd be 
alarmed by the bellow of the calf, an impetuous attack 
from the former, or even the whole troop is the imme¬ 
diate consequence. Formerly these cattle were hunted 
with all the pomp and circumstance of the chase in the 
olden time: but from the frequent occurrence of acci¬ 
dents, the practice has now been adopted of the park 
keeper selecting his individual, and striking it down 
with a well-directed rifle-ball.” 
The semi-wild cattle of Chatelherault Park, Scotland, 
(the Bos scoticus of some writers), are somewhat 
different in their characters from those of Chillingham. 
“ These feral cattle,” says Mr. Martin, “are larger 
and more robust than the Chillingham; the body is dun 
white; the inside of the ears, the muzzle and hoofs black 
instead of red, and the fore part of the leg from the 
knee downwards is mottled more or less with black; 
. he roof of the mouth and the tongue are black, or large¬ 
ly spotted with black. The cows, and also the bulls, 
are generally polled or hornless.” Those which are 
castrated generally have horns. Though dun is the 
prevailing color, it is stated that calves are sometimes 
dropped which are “ off the markings,” as it is termed, 
and in such cases the color is black, or black and white 
mixed. It is said the breed never shows but these two 
colors. 
On comparing this stock with the Galloways, there 
is evidently considerable affinity between them, and it 
is not improbable that they had a common origin. In 
the latter breed the dun color was formerly not uncom¬ 
mon and is even now occasionally seen; while, as has 
been mentioned, the black sometimes appears in the 
wild stock. 
There can be no doubt of the antiquity of the Cha¬ 
telherault or Hamilion breed of cattle; both history 
and tradition inform us of a similar race which in re¬ 
mote times inhabited the forests of Scotland. They 
were hunted as “ beasts of chase,” and the noble, 
though somewhat perilous sport has been thus alluded 
to by Scott: 
“ Mightiest of all the beasts of chase 
That roam in wcody Caledon, 
Crushing the forest in his race, 
The mountain bull comes thundering on. f * 
* Dr. Knox, in the ninth volume of the Scottish Quarterly Jour- 
nal of Agriculture, gives it as his opinion that the Chillingham cat- 
lie are descended from an ancient Italian breed, introduced by the 
Romans. 
