of Tillyfour on that occasion purchased the bull Angus 45 for £36, and Mr Bowie bought Old Favourite, the dam of this bull and of Old Jock, for 40 guineas. The bull Old Jock 1 was also offered at Mr Watson's sale in 1848, and Mr Ferguson, Kinnochtry, informs us he was taken in at 180 guineas.

Mr M'Combie of Tillyfour held his first public sale at Bridgend on 26th September 1850, and through the kindness of Mr Auld, Bridgend, we have obtained a full price list of it. Mr Walker, Montbletton, bought for £35 the Highland Society's first-prize cow Young Charlotte 103, that founded a well-known family in his herd; Anabella, bred by Mr Walker, Wester Fintray, was bought by Sir Alex. Burnett for 29 guineas; Matchless (out of Matilda, bred by Mr Williamson, St. John's Wells) was bought by Sir John Macpherson Grant, Bart., of Ballindalloch, for 30 guineas, and Sir John also acquired the cow Young Mary and the bull Victor 2nd 47. Among other purchasers at this rather famous sale were Mr M'Combie of Cairnballoch; Mr Taylor, Wellhouse; Mr M'Combie of Easter Skene; Mr M'Innes, Dandaleith; Mr Brown, Westertown; Mr Scott, Balwyllo; Mr Morison of Bognie; Mr Ruxton, Farnell, etc. The next sale was at Auchtertyre in 1853, when Mr Hugh Watson disposed of a number of fine animals. Of this sale we have a copy of the catalogue priced by Mr James Ferguson, Ballunie. The highest price was paid by the Earl of Southesk for lot 8 (Octavia 331), the dam of Mr Ferguson's Young Jock 4. The price was 44 guineas. Lot 20 was a oneyear-old heifer, entered in the catalogue as "by Old Jock, dam Beauty, the dam of Sir T. Burnett's famous bull." Lord Southesk bought this heifer for 39 guineas, and she was registered in the 'Herd Book' as Emily 332. Emily, as our readers are aware, became the dam of Sir George Macpherson Grant's celebrated Erica 843. Sir Alexander Burnett, Bart., held a sale at Crathes Castle in May 1856.

At it Mr Walker, Portlethen, purchased for £32, 5s. the cow Nightingale 262 (entered in the catalogue as Jenny Lind), after Strathmore 5, and out of Mary of Wester Fintray 21. She had at foot the calf Princess Philomel 269. Nightingale was the first-prize cow at the Highland Society's show at Glasgow in 1857, and has left many noteworthy descendants.

Mr Bowie's sale at West Scryne, in 1857, was remarkably successful in its financial results, the average of for fifty-one animals exceeding £28. The highest priced cow was Caroline 562, bought by the Earl of Southesk for £67, and the highest priced bull was Standard-Bearer 229, bought by Mr M'Combie of Tillyfour for £89. This animal was winner of the first prize at the Highland Society's show in 1858. In 1857, Mr Patrick Davidson's herd at Inchmarlo was dispersed. Mr Paterson, Mulben, here obtained for £34, 15s., Jean of Inchmarlo 522, "after Mr Walker's (Portlethen) bull, and out of Calder by Mr M'Combie's bull." The cow was ancestress of the Mulben Ellen family. At Mr M'Combie's sale at Bridgend in 1857, Fair Maid of Perth 313 of the Queen tribe, a very successful prize cow, was sold to Mr Collie, Ardgay, for £86; Lady Clara 4 out of Old Grannie 1, to Mr Shaw for £20, her daughter Mariana 622 going to Dr Garden, Balfluig, for £27; Jenny of Tillyfour 353 (a yearling heifer, the foundress of the Mains of Kelly Jennet family) to Mr Bowie for £21; Napoleon 257, "out of the best cow and after the best bull in the world in the opinion of the exposer," was bought by Mr Tayler of Glenbarry, for £42; Young Panmure 232, afterwards the first-prize bull at the Highland Society's show at Dumfries in 1860, was purchased by Mr Bowie for £20, being then three months old. The Keillor herd was dispersed in 1860. The most notable transactions there were the sale of Beauty of Tillyfour 2nd to Mr M'Combie, and President 3rd to Mr Leslie, The Thorn.

Mr M'Combie's next sale took place at Dorsell in 1860. Lord Southesk bought Empress of France 578, a daughter of Charlotte 203 and full sister of Pride of Aberdeen 581, for 60 guineas. Three wonderful old cows were sold at this sale. Lola Montes 208, one of the most renowned of polled matrons, was offered, being then fourteen years old, and was bought by Mr Bowie, Mains of Kelly, for 29 guineas. Windsor 202, her sister, as famous as a breeder of bulls as Lola Montes was of heifers, was sold in her tenth year to Mr Wemyss of Wemyss Castle for 40 guineas. Jean Ann 206, one of Mr M'Combie's purchases at Ardovie in 1844, and that had done good service at Tilly four by producing the Victors, was sold in her seventeenth year to Mr Watson, Keillor, for 15 guineas. Nightingale 262, that had by this time been bought at one of the Portlethen sales for £68, 5s., was now sold to Sir George Macpherson Grant for 47 guineas. Heiress of Balwyllo 461 went to Mr Walker, Montbletton, at 53 guineas, and the money proved to have been well invested. Mr Barclay, Yonderton, took out at 32 guineas the yearling heifer Matilda 1712, after Hanton 228, and out of Lola Montes 208. It was at this sale also Mr Brown, Westertown, acquired for 19 guineas Duchess 927, the foundress of the Duchess branch of the Queen tribe, the animal being then a mere calf. Two very fine bulls were sold; Garibaldi 707, out of Pride of Aberdeen, going to Mr Farquharson of Haughton for 33 guineas, and Tam o' Shanter 491, stated in the catalogue to be out of Maid of Orleans 508, but entered in the Herd Book' as out of Lola Montes 208, to Mr Walker, Montbletton, for 47 guineas.

The Earl of Southesk had an important sale at Kinnaird Home Farm in 1861. Some excellent animals were disposed of; but it is a lamentable circumstance that only a few of them are now represented in the female line. This is doubtless due to the fact that many of the cattle were

retained in Forfarshire, and became victims to rinderpest a few years afterwards. The highest-priced animal at the sale was Erica 843, bought by Sir George Macpherson Grant for 50 guineas. The Balwyllo cow Keepsake 427 went to Mr Collie, Ardgay, for 30 guineas. Perdita 848, by whom the Nightingale family at Portlethen is preserved, was bought by Mr Walker for 25 guineas. Among the bulls sold were five very superior animals-Delaware 457, who went to Easter Skene; Draco 338, to Ardhuncart; Don Fernando 514, to Tillyfour; Damascus 495, to Rothiemay; and King Henry 390, to Easter Tulloch. The first four were of the Dora family. At Mr Walker's sale at Montbletton in 1862, the highest price (60 guineas) was paid by Mr M'Combie of Tillyfour for the prize - cow Mayflower 614, the foundress of the Mayflower family. The remark in reference to the Kinnaird sale of 1860 applies with even increased force to the Balwyllo dispersion in 1863. Alice Maud 724, the highest-priced cow, sold for 63 guineas, is almost the only animal that has living female descendants. Eugenie 458, sold to Sir Thomas Gladstone, is also worthily represented in the Fasque herd. Mr Cran, Morlich, bought at this sale the bull Balwyllo Eclipse 781. The low prices at the Earl of Southesk's sale in 1865 are explained by the fact that the auction took place while rinderpest was raging in the county. Empress of France 578, then eleven years old, was sold to Mr Scott, Easter Tulloch, for 26 guineas. A more fortunate purchase by Mr Scott was the cow Formosa 186, of the Fanny tribe. We should notice that at this sale a cow named Ella, out of Emily 332, the dam of Erica 843, and after Windsor 221, was sold to Mr Alexander, Bent, for 23 guineas. An examination of these Forfarshire sales awakens melancholy reflections as to the havoc wrought to the breed by cattle plague.

At the Tillyfour sale in 1867, Mr Skinner, Drumin,

bought Dandy 949, of the Empress branch of the Queen tribe, for 46 guineas; Sir George Macpherson Grant, Jilt 973, for 70 guineas (highest price of the sale); General Forbes of Inverernan, Sylph 1774, of the Queen tribe, for 45 guineas; Mr Walker, Portlethen, Chaff 855, of the Crinoline branch of the Queen tribe, for 48 guineas; Mr M'Combie of Easter Skene, Miss Watson 987, granddaughter of the Keillor cow Favourite 2, for 33 guineas. Normahal 726, from whom descends the Zaras, went to Mr M'Knight, Boghead, for 34 guineas; and Keepsake 427, to Sir George Macpherson Grant, for 27 guineas. At the Portlethen sale in 1869, the Earl of Dunmore purchased several of the highest-priced animals. Sir Thomas Gladstone bought as a calf, for 27 guineas, Adrian 439, that subsequently became a first-prize bull of the Highland Society. The highest-priced animal at the Castle Fraser sale in 1870 was Lively 1164, bought by the Marquis of Huntly for 67 guineas. The famous Sybil 974 was acquired by Sir George Macpherson Grant for 63 guineas, her twin daughters going to Mulben and Bognie. This sale is notable as furnishing the nucleus of several distinguished herds, such as the Aboyne Castle, Duff House, Brucklay, etc. At the Thorn sale in 1871, Colonel of Castle Fraser 443 was sold to Mr Cartwright of Melville for 48 guineas, and won the Highland Society's first prize. Among the noteworthy sales at Tillyfour in 1871, was that of Dora 1282 to the Marquis of Huntly for 49 guineas. This cow afterwards gained the first prize at the Highland Society's show. Here Pride of Mulben 1919 was sold as a calf to Mr Paterson, Mulben, for 29 guineas, and Madge 1217, as a calf, to Mr Walker, Portlethen, for 15 guineas.

The highest average that had up to this time been obtained was realized at Mr Tayler's sale at Rothiemay in 1872, when 30 head made £32, 6s. The highest price was 60 guineas, for the cow Nicety 1076, bought