Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-05-21
some Facts in Relation 10
short Horns.

valuable and so widely scattered over
the country, something IF their history
may be interesting to your readers
There is but little known about their
origin and that little comes down to us
more by tradition than by any authentic
history. 80 far as known with any
certainty we find them originally in
habiting that portion of England origi'
nally know as Northumbria, now the
counties of York, Lincoln, Durham and
North CUMBERLAND, and it was along the
river Tees which divided York and
Durham they were mostly found and
principally cultivated and improved
All four of these counties are a rich
fertile country, well adapted to grazs
and grazing, fit home for cattle, and
the Valley of the Lees was the heart oil
il. For some centuries previous to the
conquest by the Normans, under
William the ConquerOr, which was IN
l066, the warhke Scandinaviaus OF
Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in
yaded the northeastern portion Of
England, comprising the above men,
toned counties and held them for
longer or shorter terms. These
Scandinayians were skillful warriors and
cold seamen, and also conquered along
about this time Utrlch, Holstein, and
the northern part of Holland. As these
countries enjoyed a milder climate and
and a more productive soil, they prof.
ted much by their conquest, extended
heir commerce not only with these
subiugated people, but with other
nations also, One Of their chief arti-
cles of traffic was cattle. Along the
coast of Sweden, Denmark and south
ward through these subjugated coun-
tries toward Holland, the cattle were a
large, rawboned breed, strong and use
iul auimals for work, large mixers,
course flesh, peculiar in color and short
in horn. 1t is fair to presume that these
cattle were carried across the narrow
sea between England, Denmark and
Holland and became the permanent
stock of the country. But, be this as
itmay, the statue Of the COW erected
in the Cathedral of Durham in about
1898, is evidently the statue of short
horn, though not so refined, neat and
handsome as the shorthorns Of the
present day, she has many OF the points
of the present shorthorns. The statue
shows that this race of cattle has long
existed in England, no matter how 1t
got there, and Is Of very ancient origin.
There was a tradition existing in
1870 among the shorthorn breeders in
the countries Of Durham and York,
living near the Tees, that there was a
breed Of cattle many centuries back on
their borders, chiefly in Holderness, a
district OF York, much resembling in
color, size and shape many of the cattle
ofDenmark, Holsteln, and northwes-
tern Europe at that day. 1t is not
known at what particular time they
were first found in England. They had
extraordinary size, coarse heads with
short, stubbled horn, heavy necks, high,
coarse shoulders, fat sides, the chine
falling back Of the shoulders, hips wide.
rumps long, thigh thick aud clOddy. OF
course all these undesirable points
made them large feeders and late to
mature, but they took on flesh rapidly
and fattened into heavy carcasses Of
beef. Their flesh was coarse grained.
dark colored and less pleasant to the
taste than that of smaller animals
Their colors were light dun or yellow
red, deep red, red and white, pure
white, and roam mixed with red and
white, and no uniformity in the laying
on of these colors. The COWS were
large mixers, yielding quantities with
generous feed beyond any other yet
known. That these cattle were direct
descendants from those brought over
from Denmark by the Scandinayians
there can be little doubt.
The agriculture of England progressed
very slowly from the date Of the con
quest by the Normans down to the ex-
pulsion of the Stuarts from the throne
in 1868, and the Improvement in cattle
would naturally be slow, too. From
this time England enjoyed a long
period Of quiet, with only occasional
interruptions, which gave great i'm
pulse to the thrift and progress of every
branch Of her industry, advancing her
to high position among the nations Of
Europe, both in commerce and manu-
features. AS a matter Of course her
agriculture was greatly improved and
no doubt much attention had been paid
to the Improvement Of cattle as well as
horses and other domestic animals. No
one will at this day doubt the fact that
any race Of animals can be greatly i'm
proved by careful breeding and good
keep. Some shorthorn writers seem 10
think that the white color in the race
came from cross of the Chilllngham
Park cattle of Northumberland, white
breed of cattle which were high horned
black nosed, long-legged, light-bodied
and as wild and untamable as bufialoes,
and seem 10 have inhabited the parks
in Chilllngham IN Northumberland, Of
Yorkshire from time immemOrial. ALI
these characteristics are exactly OPP
poslte 10 those Of the shorthons, and
it is much more likely that the white
came from the white cattle which exis-