Highland cattle

“ Thus many of the Highland cattle were starved to death in their calf’s skin.
A custom prevailed among the Highlanders of old, common to them with other mountainous pastoral countries, e.g., Switzerland. During winter the tenants of a farm with their families, cottars, and servants, lived in the Bailte Geamhre, or winter town, in the midst of the arable land; but in summer, after all the sowing was done, about the middle of June, a general migration was made to the hills along with the cattle, the arable ground with all its appurtenances being allowed to take care of itself. ”

“ After the ground was cleared of the crops, the animals were allowed to roam promiscuously over the whole farm, if not over the farms of a whole district, having little or nothing to eat in the winter and spring but what they could pick up in the fields. It seems to have been a common but very absurd notion in the Highlands that the housing of cattle tended to enfeeble them; thus many cattle died of cold and starvation every winter, those who survived were mere skeletons, and, moreover, the farmer lost all their dung which could have been turned to good use as manure. ”

“ In former times there were far more of these blackish-brown cattle in the Highlands than now. Indeed, early in the nineteenth century they were found wherever the old Celtic black cattle were found in Scotland, the north of England, Wales, and Ireland—but, since the establishment of pure breeds, and perhaps before that, they have gradually disappeared: the Highland breed being the last of the Celtic breeds to give them a lodging. There are still a few among the non-pedigreed Irish black cattle, but very few in the territories of the Welsh, the Galloways, or the Aberdeen-Angus. ”

“ Sheep, latterly so intimately associated with the Highlands, bore but a very small proportion to the number of black cattle. Indeed, before sheep-farming began to take place upon so large a scale, and to receive encouragement from the proprietors, the latter were generally in the habit of restricting their tenants to a limited number of sheep, seldom more than one sheep for one cow. This restriction appears to have arisen from the real or supposed interest of the landlord, who looked for the money part of his rent solely from the produce of sale of the tenants’ cattle. ”

“ But by all accounts much of the country is unsuited to the pasturage of black cattle, and as cattle and sheep do not thrive well together, the only alternative seems to be the introduction of sheep alone into those districts unsuited for cattle. “More than one-third of the country consists of mountains and declivities too steep and abrupt for black cattle, and the grass they produce too short and fine to afford them a tolerable pasture except in the height of summer. ”

“ LEGEND OF JOHN MACKAY OF ROSS-SHIRE, CALLED IAN MORE ARRACH, OR BIG JOHN THE RENTER OF THE MILK OF THE COWS.
My old Highland major told me, what perhaps you know better than I do, I mean, that some half century or more ago, before sheep were quite so much in fashion in the Highlands as I believe they now are, and when cattle were the only great staple of the country, the proprietors of the glens had them always well filled with cows. In those times it was the custom in Ross-shire to allow one calf only to be reared for each two cows of the herd. ”

“ It may not be indifferent to the reader to know, that the Highland cattle are peculiarly liable to be taken, or infected, by spells and witchcraft, which judicious people guard against by knitting knots of peculiar complexity on the the tuft of hair which terminates the animal’s tail. ”

“ It must not be imagined, however, that the surface of the Highlands is one universal expanse of green and brown fragrant heather; every tourist knows that in almost every glen, by the side of many lochs, streams, and bogs, patches of cultivated land are to be met with, bearing good crops of oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips. These productions chiefly belong to the large sheep farmers, and are intended for the use of themselves, their servants, and cattle, and but seldom have they any to dispose of. ”

“ Before 1829 the exports of the county consisted of black cattle of an inferior description, pickled salmon, and some ponies; but these were precarious sources of profit, as many died in winter for want of food; for example, in the spring of 1807, two hundred cows, five hundred cattle, and more than two hundred ponies died in the parish of Kildonan alone. Since that time the measures pursued by the Duke of Sutherland, in introducing improved breeds of cattle, pigs, and modes of agriculture, have produced results in exports which tell their own story. ”

“ The followers are the calf, a one-year-old, a two-year-old, and a three-year-old, making in all with the cow five head of black cattle. By frequent deaths among them, the number is seldom complete, yet this penny land has or may have upon it about twenty or twenty-five head of black cattle, besides horses and sheep.” The halfpenny and farthing lands seem to have been allowed a larger proportion of live stock than the penny lands, considering their size. ”

“ The greater part of the pasture is therefore lost, though it might all be beneficially consumed with sheep. A flock of sheep will thrive where cows and oxen would starve, and will go at all seasons of the year to such heights as are inaccessible to black cattle.... In a situation of this kind the very wool of a flock would amount to more than the whole profit to be obtained by black cattle. ”

“ In summer their cattle are dispersed about the sheelings, and almost all the rest of the year in other parts of the hills; and, therefore, all the dung they can have must be from the trifling quantity made by the cattle while they are in the house. ”

“ We are not very sure that the bull is ever without horns, [29] though we have been told that such bulls there are. What is produced by putting a horned and an unhorned male and female together, no man has ever tried that thought the result worthy of observation." [30] The colour of the cattle in Skye in Johnson's time is not recorded, but dun and yellow, the colours produced by crossing black and red with light dun are common among Highland cattle; and light dun itself is not unusual. ”

“ Its shores may be made the seats of extensive fisheries, and the whole of its interior parcelled out into productive sheep farms. All is waste in its present state; it has no fisheries, and two-thirds of its internal produce is consumed by the inhabitants. It had contributed, for the use of the community and the landlord, its large herds of black cattle; but the English family saw, and, we believe, saw truly, that for every one pound of beef which it produced, it could be made to produce two pounds of mutton, and perhaps a pound of fish in addition. ”

“ Of the cattle the principal breed is the Highland, the largest and best herds of which are in the Western Isles. Polled and shorthorns are also reared, and 721 Ayrshires are kept for dairy purposes. Great numbers of the hardy Highland ponies are raised on the hill farms, and the breed of agricultural horses was improved by the introduction of Clydesdale stallions. Where pigs are reared they appear to be kept, especially amongst the crofters, for domestic consumption. ”

“ Nor are his cattle in a better situation; in summer they pick up a scanty support amongst the morasses or heathy mountains; but in winter, when the grounds are covered with snow, and when the naked wilds afford neither shelter nor subsistence, the few cows, small, lean, and ready to drop down through want of pasture, are brought into the hut where the family resides, and frequently share with them the small stock of meal which had been purchased, or raised, for the family only ”

“ Scotland is famous for a small kind of black cattle, with fine white upright horns tipped with black, called Highland Stots, or Kyloe Cattle. Having great celebrity for the fineness and sweetness of their beef, as well as the facility with which they are fattened, these cattle are in such esteem as to be driven into the southern counties of England, and occasionally to supply even the London markets. The cows, in proportion to their size, yield a great quantity of rich milk. ”

“ Sixty or seventy years ago these phenomena were all common, and horned and hornless cattle, many of the former the ancestors of the present-day hornless cattle, competed together for prizes even at the shows of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. A century ago the horned and the hornless grew up side by side not only on neighbouring farms but in the same fields, claiming frequently to be children of the same parents. ”

“ But Short-horns have been so generally bred for beef qualities that the demand for them is almost exclusively on that line, and they are no longer classed as dairy cattle. Ayrshires from Scotland, Holstein-Friesians from North Holland, and Jerseys and Guernseys from the Channel Islands, are the breeds recognized as of dairy excellence, and upon which the industry mainly depends for improvement of its milch cows. ”

“ Milch Cows.—When dairy-farming is conducted on pure pastures, the cows are altogether dependent upon the grasses; and in winter, the animals suffer much from scarcity of food. This is the very worst system of cow-keeping, but it is prevalent amongst many small farmers in Ireland, and is to be met with even in England and Scotland. I am strongly of opinion that it would be far more economical to keep cows (and other cattle) altogether in the house, and feed them with cut grass, than to allow them to remain out altogether in the field. ”

“ The long-horned black Welsh Cattle grow to a great size, as do the polled Angus breed of Scotland. The polled or hornless cattle include the red Suffolks, a most valuable breed, hardy, and wonderful producers of milk. The cows often give milk every day of the year. The Longhorn breed is almost disappearing, as the horns are a disadvantage both in the fields and when the animals are carried on board ship or in the train. The Humped Cattle of India and East Africa belong to a race different from European cattle, of which the parent stock is not known. ”

“ They were now coming in from every side, bringing about a thousand cattle in all—the object being to separate—“cut out”—the cows with young calves for branding and the merchantable steers for shipment to the east. The herd was assembled in a level plain near a corral and the cowboys, some three or four dozen in number, dashed furiously about, dexterously singling out the proper animals and turning them into the corrals. Sometimes a calf, bawling wildly, would bolt for the hills, followed by his terrified mama. ”

“ The truth is that mountain beef, being fed nothing but grass and browse, with barely enough corn and roughage to keep the animal alive through winter, is blue-fleshed, watery, and tough. If properly reared, the quality would be as good as any. Almost any of our farmers could have had a pasture near home and could have grown hay, but not one in ten would take the trouble. His cattle were only for export—let the buyer fatten them! It should be understood that nobody had any provision for taking care of fresh meat when the weather was not frosty. ”

“ The Red Polls are a comparatively new breed, resembling the Devons, hornless, and inclined to the beef form. They are only fair dairy cattle, being in the class of breeds which aim to serve the dual purpose of milk and beef production. The Shorthorns, described above as beef cattle, although a typical beef breed, are to some extent dual-purpose animals, and some families have been notable for milk-production. ”

“ During that strife the herds of the southwest were neglected to such an extent that thousands of cattle grew to maturity without ear-mark or brand to identify their owner. A good mount of horses, a rope and a running-iron in the hands of a capable man, were better than capital. The good old days when an active young man could brand annually fifteen calves—all better than yearlings—to every cow he owned, are looked back to to this day, from cattle king to the humblest of the craft, in pleasant reminiscence, though they will come no more. ”

“ As a profitable beast to the grazier, and the feeder, nothing can equal them in early maturity and excellence. For this purpose, the short-horns are steadily working their way all over the vast cattle-breeding regions of the west; and, for the richness and abundance of her milk, the cow is eagerly introduced into the dairy, and milk-producing sections of the other states, where she will finally take rank, and maintain her superiority over all others, on rich and productive soils. ”

“ The native cattle, like the horses, are small and wild, but are hardy and make good rustlers. The native stock has been greatly improved in recent years by cross breeding with thoroughbred Durham and Hereford bulls. Grade cattle are better suited for the open range than are pure bred animals, which are more tender and fare better in fenced pastures. By cross breeding the quality of range cattle has steadily improved until the scrub element has been almost bred out. ”

“ These cattle are not mentioned by any writer till within a few years of the close of the eighteenth century, and it is not likely they were known outside their own territory a hundred years earlier. Early in the eighteenth century there sprang up in England a demand for hornless cattle which was responded to first in Galloway, and considerably later in the north-eastern counties. The result was that breeders elected to breed from hornless cattle; and hornlessness, which had hitherto been practically confined to the country near the coast, moved farther and farther inland. ”