large for tilling their land and for other field-work. The native cattle were not only submitted to better treatment, but were also crossed with bulls of larger breeds, some being taken from England-notably of the Holderness breed some from Holland, and some from the south of Scotland. Satisfactory results were not obtained until bulls of the Fife or Falkland breed were introduced. This breed (said to be descended mainly from some English cows which Henry VII. sent as a dowry to Margaret, his eldest daughter, who in 1502 was married to James IV. of Scotland, then residing chiefly at Falkland Palace, in Fifeshire) was large and handsome; and between bulls of it and cows of the native breeds of the north-east of Scotland, excellent varieties, both of work and butcher cattle, were reared.

At length, however, in the increasing prosperity of the country, and the advancement of skilful farming, the true function of the ox- the production of beefcame to be recognised and developed. The demand for beef grew rapidly; and therefore, by degrees, the ox was withdrawn from the plough, and put instead into the feeding - stall. It was then found that development of bone and muscle was not so essential or so valuable a property as a capacity to produce, at an early age, a heavy carcass of beef of the highest quality. The production of beef had in fact become the main object to be aimed at. Bone and muscle were discounted, and the new ideal was a maximum of beef with a minimum of bone, little offal, and prime quality.

The farmers of the north-eastern counties abandoned the rough big-boned varieties of cattle they had formerly found suitable to their wants, and cultivated instead the smaller, broader, and better fleshed sorts that were less useful in earlier years when oxen had to do the work of horses. Cattle were more liberally fed and more carefully housed, and thus the north-east of Scotland rapidly became famous

for its beef-producing cattle-a distinction which in recent years it has pushed into still greater prominence.

In this new demand for beef-producing cattle the progenitors of the polled Aberdeen or Angus breed were not long in having their excellent fattening-properties duly recognised. We have seen that in Aberdeenshire the "native low country breed "-the ancestors of the Buchan humlies-had nearly a hundred years ago become quite famous among the leading cattle dealers and feeders for having "flesh of the finest grain," and for being better payers, "in proportion to the goodness of their keep," than any of their contemporary varieties. Then, from Youatt and others, we learn that in Angus the doddies had at an early date developed similar qualities—" their natural fitness for stall - feeding, and the rapidity with which they fattened." The discovery of these valuable properties in the native polled race naturally enough induced its owners, both in Angus and Aberdeen, not only to strive to maintain its purity, and develop still further its better qualities, but also to effect improvement in points where defects were apparent. We cannot fix the precise date when these systematic efforts to improve the breed within its own limits actually commenced, either in Angus or Aberdeen. We have good reason to believe that in both they had been begun some time before the advent of the present century.

It will be convenient, and in accordance with the order in the preceding chapter, to notice first the progress of the breed in Angus. The late Mr Hugh Watson, farmer, Keillor, Meigle, Forfarshire, if not the first, was certainly the most systematic and most successful early improver of the breed. Both his father and grandfather were ardent admirers of the Angus doddies. The late Mr William Fullerton, Mains of Ardestie, in a manuscript document (which has been kindly placed at our disposal by his son, Mr James Fullerton, Dundee), states that Mr Hugh Wat

son's grandfather "had the breed for upwards of forty years, which leads us back to 1735." We understand that the Watson family is in possession of a letter from the late Mr Henry Stephens, author of The Book of the Farm,' from which it would seem that at a still earlier date the great-grandfather of Mr Hugh Watson had for a long period reared doddies on his farm of Cattie, in the parish of Bendochy, near Cupar-Angus. Mr Hugh Watson was born on his father's farm of Bannantyne, of Newtyle, in 1789, and became tenant of the neighbouring farm of Keillor in 1808. It is stated that from his boyhood he loved the Angus doddies, and he certainly lost no time in devoting his energies to their improvement. When he entered Keillor he received from his father six of his "best and blackest cows, along with a bull, as a nucleus for an Angus doddie herd." It is recorded, however, by his son, Mr William Watson, now in the United States of America, that he was not satisfied with the merits of these, and that "he started in the same summer for Trinity Muir Market, Brechin, and purchased the ten best heifers and the best bull he could procure showing the greatest characteristics of the breed." Mr William Watson says: "The heifers were black, brindled, and black with brown muzzles and brown streak along their back. The bull was black, and all black my father stuck to, thus working the other colours out of fashion." Mr Fullerton states that Mr Watson, in selecting these animals, had the assistance of Mr Mustard-"likely Mr William Mustard, Fithie, his brother, Mr James Mustard, not having been tenant of Leuchland till 1811,"-and adds that the heifers came from "near Farnell, which points to either the late Mr Ruxton, tenant of Farnell, or to the late Mr David Aymer, tenant of East Carcary, as their breeders. Both these gentlemen were long keepers of this breed, and Mr Aymer's stock had a peculiar style of their own. I purchased his two-year-old heifers in 1834. They were par

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ticularly good, had extraordinary coats of hair, and peculiarly large, hairy, well-set ears." With these sixteen females and two bulls, Mr Hugh Watson commenced the systematic improvement of the Angus doddies—a work which he prosecuted with distinguished vigour and success till near the close of his life in 1865. It will be more convenient to notice in a subsequent chapter the leading families tracing to Mr Watson's herd. Several of these have become extinct in the female line, but eight still survive, although some are not generally recognised as Keillor tribes.

Mr Watson was eminently fitted for the important work he took in hand. He was a man of surpassing intellect, unlimited perseverance, and accurate judgment. In many ways he would seem to have presented a striking resemblance to his great prototypes in the Shorthorn world, the brothers Colling, who had commenced the improvement of Shorthorn cattle just twenty-eight years (in 1780) before the famous Keillor polled herd was founded. It has often been remarked with truth that what the Colings were to the Shorthorns, Mr Hugh Watson was to the polled Aberdeen or Angus breed. The late Mr William M'Combie of Tillyfour, M.P.-the only man who could be set up as a rival to Mr Watson-bears the most generous testimony to his eminence. In his work on 'Cattle and Cattle-Breeders,' Mr M'Combie says: "Among those who have distinguished themselves as breeders of Aberdeen and Angus polled cattle, the late Hugh Watson, Keillor, deserves to be put in the front rank. No breeder of Aberdeen and Angus will grudge that well-merited honour to his memory. We all look on him as the first great improver, and no one will question his title to that distinction. There is no herd in the country which is not indebted to Keillor blood."

Unfortunately, there is little known of Mr Watson's operations as a breeder. In his wide circle of intimate

friends he included the late Mr John Booth, Mr Wetherell, Mr Anthony Maynard, Mr William Torr, and other noted breeders of Shorthorns; and there is good reason to believe that in many points connected with the building up of his herd of improved polled cattle, he was to some extent guided by the experience of these great patrons of the rival breed. Mr H. H. Dixon, in 'Field and Fern,' says Mr Watson "was purely catholic in his cattle tastes. Bracelet, Charity, and one or two more of the pure Booths, were the models he kept in his eye in building up his blacks; and even in a shire so strongly wedded to its own breed, he did not shrink from saying so." His motto would seem to have been, "Put the best to the best, regardless of affinity or blood." He bred from none but the choicest specimens at his command, and did not hesitate to follow the example of the Collings, the Booths, Thomas Bates, and other celebrated Shorthorn breeders, in mating animals closely related to each other. It is evident that he practised inand-in breeding to a considerable extent. It is also clear that he aimed at building up particular lines or families, and that to some extent he bred each of these families within itself. He did not pursue persistently that intricate system of in-and-in breeding adopted by most of the noted early improvers of Shorthorns; but in this point he so far followed their example. Perhaps the truest description that could be given of his method of breeding is, that he bred from none but the best-those that came nearest to his ideal-and that he did not care whether these were closely related or not. He no doubt discovered that under his improved system of breeding, which may truly be called a system of "selection," he could raise better animals than could be found on Trinity Muir, or anywhere else in those days; and that of course led him to breed in closer relationship than he might otherwise have done. He may not have approved of in-and-in breeding in principle, but, like the earlier improvers of Shorthorns, he frequently