Omaha daily bee., 1886-08-28

Lewis f. Allen in Harpcrs' Magazine
for September: This noble breed of bo-
vines is of remote origin. For some cen
turies previous to the conquest of Eng.
land by the first William, in the wear
1OC6, the wariKe Scaudinayians of Den
mark and Sweden had made frequent pre-
datory incurSions into Northumbril.
The object of these lncursions was con
quest, plunder, trade and subjection of
the Britons to their rule and domination.
Many of the maraudcrS settled in North.
umbrla, and became Incorporated with
the natives by marriage and succession
of their families, and so remained until
the invading forces were driven back to
their own shores under the power of the
new cOnqueror. AS consequence of the
scandinavian mvaSiOnS commerce be-
tween them and the Northumbr!ans be-
came frequent, and the cattle of the
ncighb0rinG continent were more or less
Introduced on British soil. So far rs we
can learn from imperfect history and
tradition, those cattle were large in size
short in the horns rather coarse frames,
the cows giving abundance of milk, and,
when fatted for slaughter, heavy weights
of beef rather than coarse quality. Their
colorS were either pure white, or pale
red, or red and white more or less inter
mixed with roam, or brlndled, sometimes
red, no other cOlOrS prevailing.
LII lilS Dttll iioli liiill uiISlthl SlOCh, III
all probability, that the grand breed of
improved short-horns has decended. The
ancestors of them trace back to no other
parts of England Than the counties of an
cient Northumbria where the Scandina-
vians held rule previous to the Norman
conquest A striking evidence OF the eN-
lstcnce of these cattle at an early date is
now seen in piece of statuary in an
arched niche of Durham cathedral,.
Tnat nDnVn the DrpInI
, The figures are fair resemblance of n
| short-hOrn cow of her day with two milk
| maids attending. The present sculpture
| is of comparatively modern date, prob
ably between the years 17S0 and 1900,
when some parts of the tower were taken
| out and repaired. The original statute
| was too much broken to be replaced and
the present one is said to be an exact
counterpart of the original. Even this
has been somewhat mutiated, The ca
| thedral was finished about the year 1900.
Why the statue was so inserted in the
tower is explained by an ancient monkish
legend existing some centuries previous
! to its original erection. Its condensed ac-
count may be given rs follows:
''St, Cuthbert, famed for royal descent
and many great virtues, died on the Goth
of March, 6S7, and was buried in Holy
! lsland--a meet place for so worthy and
sanctifed man. There his body res tea
for two hundred years, but fearing that
it would be disturbed by the devastations
of the Danes, it was eXhumed for rein
| terment few miles from Dunholme (now
Durham), where 1T remained for one
hundred years. Then the remains were
removed to Rlpon, in Yorkshire, and
after four months again taken for final
resting place TO Dunholme. On their way
thither, Bishop Aldwinus and the monks
| having charge OF the removal, when a
few miles from their destination, lost
their way, when they stopped in despair,
not showing exactly where Dunholme
lay, Soon, however, they heard woman
calling TO another whom she met that
her COW had strayed away, and asked if
she had seen her. Yes was the reply;
just beyond Dunholme,' Thus guided
by the women, they found their way, and
deposited the remains in rude tenn,
porary cathedral, constructed for the
purpose, until the year 1093 when the
cornerstone OF the present cathedral
was laid"
This stature may be criticised as not
representing correctly modern short
horn cow but as it does not repres NJ
one of any other known breed, it affords
quite probable evidence of that at an
early period. The agriculture of Eng
land for some centuries after the con
quest was rude, and progressive stock
breeding was in like condition. The
clergy and monks of those early DAYS
were altogether superior in learning Ia
the better classes of the people or even
the nobility, and as they had appropri
ated many of the choicest selections OF
land on which 10 build the monasterie;
and abbeys, ii may be supposed that the
limited agriculture in which they en-
gagged was of n much higher order than
that OF the rude peasantry around them