The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1899-01-13
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origin Of tho Galloway.
In a pamphlet on the "Histoy Of the
Galloways," Col. d. McCrae says:
Galloways are a hardy hornless breed
of beef cattle, which take their names
from an old district in the southwest
of Scotland. Near the sea, and along
the valleys of the rivers are many glens
Of rich fertile land. On the higher
ground the surface is more undulating
and irregular with numerous small
lakes, wide stretches of messy moor
land. rocky hills, and high heathery
mountains. The climate is mild and
moist. and while cattle usually have
winter shelter provided, they some
times winter we'll without any, and
sheep are out all the year. In the days
OF the Romans it contained dense for
ests. largely of oak, and many traces of
the Roman occupation may still Dc
seen. The forests have disappeared.
but there is still in many sections con-
siderable wooded shelter.
Much has been written about the or
tgin or our modern breeds of cattle. The
Romans when they came into Britain
found the great Bos Urus roaming
through the forest. Caesar, says this
animal resembled the domestic cattle,
but in size was more like an elephant,
and exceeding wild and fierce, with i'm
mense horns. Professor Low says their
skeleton indicates an animal NEARLY
three times the bulk of the oxen of tie
present time" Much has been writer
to show that our modern breeds are de.
scended from this savage wild OK, but
the oulk OF opinion seems to be against
this supposition. Youatt in his work
on the cattle of Great Britain says:
There appears to be the remnants Of
two DISTINCT breeds Of aboriginal cattle,
one In the parks of Chillingham, in
Northumberland; the other at Chatel-
herault in Lanarkshire. The first are
middle-horned, and the second are poll
ed. In continuation of the first we
nave the Devon. the Hereford, the Sus-
sex. and the Highland cattle. The
Others would appear to survive in the
Galloways, the Angus humlies, the SUI
folks and the Norfolks." This may be
feasible supposition, but it is just as
likely that these wild cattle are the de-
scendants of the domestic animals cs-
capped into the forest, and become wild
there Youatt says: I'm the compare
tive rowing and uncertain life which
our earlier and later ancestors led,
these cattle would sometimes stray and
be lost The country was then over
grown with forests, and the beasts be-
LOOK themselves to the recesses of the
woods, became wild, and sometimes fe-
roclous. They, by degrees, grew so
numerous, as to be dangerous to the
inhabitants of the neighboring district.
AS civilization advanced, and the for
ests became thinned and contracted,
tnese animals were seldom seen, and at
length almost disappeared. They are
stllI to be found in few parks" In
stead of attempting to domesticate the
Du1alo we have brought with us the
breeds of cattle used by our forefathers
IN Europe. The buffalo is readily tam
ed and has been more than once used
as the OK in the pillow. To judge by the
historical accounts he is meek and
mild animal compared with the ancient
Urus. When the white man came to
America the horse was unknown, now
there are many bands of wild horses de-
scended from those escaped from set
tiers both in North and South America.
The most likely theory is that our mod
ern breeds of cattle are descended from
the domestic cattle brought into Eu-
rope by the early settlers. The Scots
are said to have come across Europe
and through Ireland into Scotland,
from Scythia, and it is a singular fact
that Heroditus, the historian. who
wrote about B. c. 400, says: In Scy-
thia 1.-The oxen have no horns" 1t is
therefore probable that the Galloways
are the direct descendants of the old
Scythian breed of polled CATTLE