black; the muzzle is brown, the inside of the ears red or brown, and all the rest
of the animal white. Even the bulls have no manes, but only a little coarse
hair upon the neck; and they fight for supremacy until a few of the most
powerful subdue the others, who submit to the rule of superior physical strength.
I f by accident a bull gets separated from the herd for a day or two, his settled
relation seems to be forgotten, for on his rejoining it a fight ensues, and the
conflict continues until the previous amicable understanding is re-established. The
cows generally commence breeding at three and continue to breed for a few years.
When they calve they hide their young for a week or ten days, and repair to the
place of concealment two or three times a day for the purpose of suckling them.
Should any person happen to approach their hiding place, the calves clap their
heads close to the ground and lie in form like a hare.
‘ They bear the winter well, but in severe weather will come into a field to eat
hay, although they will not taste turnips,,. They are seldom allowed to live more
than eight or nine years, at which period they begin to go back. When slaughtered
the steers are usually six years old, and weigh about 5 cwt. (40 st.). The beef is
finely marbled, but in taste scarcely distinguishable from that of the domestic ox
when fed on grass. By taking the calves at a Very early age and treating them gently
the present keeper succeeded in domesticating an ox and a cow. They became as
tame as domestic animals, and the ox fed as rapidly as a shorthorn steer. He
lived eighteen years, and when at his best was computed at 8 cwt. 14 lb. (65 st.j;
The cow only lived five or six years. She gave little milk, but the quality was rich.
She was crossed ;by a country bull; but her progeny very closely resembled herself,
being entirely white, excepting the ears which were brown, and the legs which
were mottled.
‘ In their wild state few die from disease, and in the present keeper’s time few
from calving. It is remarkable that during the thirty-three years Mr. Cole has
been keeper he has perceived no alteration in their size or habits from in-breeding,
and that at the present time they are equal in every point to what they were
when he first knew them. About half a dozen within that period have had small
brown or blue spots upon the cheeks and necks; but these, with any defective
ones, were always destroyed.’
During recent years the deaths average ten per annum, death being due to old
age, drowning in the marshes, injuries received in fighting, ruptures, cancer, fall,
and want of proper nourishment, and in calves the failure of the dam’s milk.
A few are also shot. They will not eat turnips, but have taken to ensilage.
In 1692 more of the cattle were black-eared than red-eared, but now, by
selection, all of them are red-eared. The cattle on the whole present a more
washed-out and deteriorated appearance than those of Cadzow or Vaynol. A bull
retains the mastership of the herd for two or three years and is then beaten out
by some younger and stronger rival. One of these fights, in which the lookers on
seem also to have taken a part, is thus described by A. C. in the ‘ Field’ : 1
‘ In the late spring of 1901 the second and third bulls of the herd fought one
of the toughest fights that it has ever been the fortune of observers to witness.
They were enemies of old standing, and they settled their differences by a battle
royal at feeding time. The appearance of the hay, suggesting as it does the
vexed question of which shall feed first, started them off, and they fought for
thirty-five minutes. Though they charged each other in the most determined
manner, neither was gored, and the contest developed into a test of endurance.
The rest of the herd stood round and watched, the cows with silent interest, but
the nine remaining bulls bellowing incessantly. At length when one of the
combatants began to show signs of getting the worst of it, the other bulls began,
most unfairly, to join in and attack the beaten animal from behind, pushing
him about and otherwise impeding him. Finally, choosing the moment when he
was staggering after a heavy charge, a young bull, who ought to have been an
impartial spectator, ran in on him and knocked him over. He fell with such
a crash that the keeper thought his neck was broken, and when he struggled up
again he ran to a brook about two hundred yards away and had a long drink of
water. This beaten bull was banished from the herd, and eventually on his
again becoming quarrelsome was turned into the smaller park. Every care is
taken at the present day to prevent the risk of any human being meeting with
injury from any of the cattle. Visitors on foot are kept, and quite rightly, at
a respectable distance, not only to avoid danger to themselves, but also to
avoid scaring the herd. For, when the cattle stampede, the calves are very
liable to injury. They join the herd when they are three or four days old, and
may be easily trampled under foot in one of these mad rushes.
‘ In former times these precautions do not seem to have been exercised, and
when it was deemed advisable to shoot a bull the perilous practice was to separate
him from the herd and then ride him down on horseback. In those days the
gate of the present park was left open at night, and the cattle were free to
wander into the grassland lying in front of the castle. This ground, being more
1 1904, p. 818.
VOL. III. D D