more jealously than ever the purity of the polled race. The men who had taken the lead in preserving the Angus doddies are mentioned in an earlier portion of this chapter.

In the county of Aberdeen, one man, the late Mr William M'Combie of Tillyfour, M.P., stands ahead of all others as the great deliverer of the polled race. He was among the first to discover its threatened extinction; and knowing full well its value to the country, he resolved to do what in him lay to protect it from the danger to which it had become exposed. It is doubtful, we think, whether any other single individual has ever done more to improve and popularise any breed of live stock than the late Mr. M'Combie did to improve and make known his pet race of polled cattle. Taking up the good work so systematically commenced by Mr Hugh Watson, Mr William M'Combie carried it on with a skill and success that have few equals, and that will hand down his name to posterity as that of the chief improver of the polled Aberdeen or Angus breed. It has been said that what the Collings did for Shorthorns, Mr Hugh Watson did for the polled breed. It might be said with equal truth that what the Booths have been to the "red, white, and roan," Mr William M'Combie was to the "glossy blacks." Than that, higher credit could be paid to no breeder of live stock; and every one who has any acquaintance with the subject will admit that it is due to the memory of the late Laird of Tilly four.

Mr M'Combie was born at Tilly four in 1805, and died in the spring of 1880. His father, who owned the small estate of Tillyfour, was for many years one of the leading cattle-dealers in the north of Scotland; and young Mr M'Combie, before he had completed his "teens," also devoted himself to trading in cattle. About 1829 he became tenant of the farm of Tillyfour, and immediately after he gave up dealing in lean stock, and commenced the formation of a polled herd. It would seem that his

father, who of course had exceptional opportunities of knowing the value of the breed as compared with others, had held the native polled cattle in high favour. Mr William M'Combie, in replying to the toast of his health at a banquet to which he was entertained in Aberdeen in 1862, said: "I was led by a father whose memory I revere, to believe that our polled cattle were peculiarly suited to our soil and climate, and that, if their properties were rightly brought out, they would equal, if not surpass, any other breed as to weight, symmetry, and quality of flesh. I resolved that I would endeavour to improve our native breed." The Tilly four herd dates from 1830, and was finally dispersed in 1880, a few months after the death of its worthy owner. The material used and produced by Mr M'Combie, as well as the system of breeding which he pursued, will be so fully described afterwards, that a few sentences will suffice here. He started his herd with cattle bred in the county, some on Tillyfour itself, and some by the Messrs Williamson, St John's Wells, Fyvie; Mr Walker, Wester Fintray, and others. With these old local strains he worked for some years, producing many excellent animals, and gaining numerous prizes. At Mr William Fullerton's sale at Ardovie in 1844 he purchased Queen Mother 348 as a yearling heifer for £12, 10s., and from her he built up his celebrated Queen tribe, which has probably done more than any other to spread and enhance the good name of the breed. It will be shown. in our account of the Tillyfour herd that Mr M'Combie pursued close breeding to a considerable extent, and that with much ingenuity he blended the material which ultimately produced such excellent results as the progress of his herd displayed.

Mr M'Combie's success in the show-yard has few parallels in the history of farm-stock. In the third edition of his volume entitled Cattle and Cattle-Breeders,' no fewer than seventeen pages are occupied by a mere record of

the premiums won by animals belonging to the herd prior to 1875. Not content with a large share of Scotch and English honours, he several times entered international contests in France, and on all occasions returned with new laurels and fresh fame for his favourite blacks. Probably the crowning victory of his life was achieved at the great International Exhibition held at Paris in 1878. On that occasion, in addition to several leading "class" honours, he carried off, with a group of beautiful young polled cattle, all bred at Tillyfour, not only the £100 prize for the best group of cattle bred by the exhibitor in the Division foreign to France, but also the £100 prize "for the best group of beef-producing animals bred by the exhibitor." In fat stock as well as breeding shows, Mr M'Combie has often proved invincible; and altogether, it may safely enough be said that the high reputation which the breed has deservedly gained beyond the bounds of the British empire has to a very large extent been fostered by the remarkable show-yard achievements of the Tilly four herd.

The show-yard career of "Black Prince," one of Mr M'Combie's many fine polled oxen, deserves special mention. This animal, bred at Tilly four, was exhibited at the Birmingham and Smithfield Fat Stock Shows in 1867, when four years old, and at both shows made almost a clean sweep of the special honours. At Birmingham he won the £15 and silver medal as the best in his class; the Earl of Powis's silver cup, value £25, for the best steer or ox bred and fed by the exhibitor; two special prizes for the best Scot; the Hotel and Inn keepers' thirtyguinea cup for the best animal in all the cattle classes; and the gold medal or £20 for the best steer or ox in the show. At Smithfield he won the first prize and silver medal as the best in his class, and the £40 silver cup for the best steer or ox in the show, along with the £20 gold medal to his breeder. From Birmingham the ox was, by

the Queen's desire, forwarded to Windsor for her Majesty's inspection; and her Majesty was afterwards graciously pleased to accept from Mr M'Combie her Christmas baron of beef from the carcass of this fine animal, of which her Majesty had expressed great admiration. A year or two afterwards her Majesty visited Tilly four, mainly for the purpose of inspecting Mr M'Combie's herd of celebrated. polled cattle, and she was interested in finding, in Mr M'Combie's dining-room, the head of the beautiful animal she had seen at Windsor. Black Prince was sold by Mr Giblett to Messrs Lidstone & Scarlet, Bond Street, London, for £120, the head having been retained by Mr M'Combie, who had it stuffed and placed in a prominent position in his dining-room at Tillyfour.

The important work to which Mr M'Combie devoted himself so assiduously for nearly half a century has been helped forward in a very substantial manner by many other enterprising agriculturists in the county of Aberdeen, both landlords and tenant-farmers, who have also devoted much money, time, and attention to the improvement of the native polled cattle. The operations of most of these will be referred to when we come to notice extinct and existing herds. The following (in addition to those already named) deserve to be mentioned here, as having specially distinguished themselves as improvers of polled Aberdeen or Angus cattle-namely, Mr William M'Combie of Easter Skene; Colonel Fraser of Castle Fraser; Mr Harry Shaw, Bogfern; Mr James Reid, Greystone; Mr William Anderson, Wellhouse; the late Colonel Gordon of Fyvie; the late Mr Dingwall Fordyce of Brucklay, M.P.; Colonel Ferguson of Pitfour; the late Sir Alexander Bannerman, Bart. of Crimonmogate; the late Dr Robertson of Indego; the late Mrs M'Combie, East - Town; Mr Farquharson, East-Town; Mr Walker, Ardhuncart; Mr Walker, Westside of Brux; Mr Lumsden of Clova; Mr Farquharson of Haughton; the Marquis of Huntly; the

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Earl of Aberdeen; Mr P. Davidson of Inchmarlo; Mr Reid, Baads; the late Mr M'Combie, Cairnballoch; Mr Hunter, Confunderland; Mr P. Cran, Old Morlich, &c. The contiguous counties of Banff and Moray have in no small degree contributed to the improvement of the polled Aberdeen or Angus breed. In fact, the premier polled herd of the present day-that belonging to Sir George Macpherson Grant, Bart. of Ballindalloch, M.P.-has its home on the borders of these two counties, near the junction of the rivers Spey and Aven. The origin of the Ballindalloch herd has been lost in the mists of antiquity. Of its early history nothing more definite is known than that (as described by Mr M'Combie) it is "perhaps the oldest in the north," and that it has been "the talk of the country" for very many years. present Baronet is an enthusiastic and accomplished breeder. For many years he has given close personal attention to the management of his large and valuable herd, and the success achieved by him has been so remarkable that we believe no one will dispute the title of the Ballindalloch herd to the premier position, which, since the dispersion of the Tillyfour herd in 1880, has been generally assigned to it. The influence which the Ballindalloch herd has exercised in the improvement of other stocks could hardly be overestimated. Sir George has been specially successful in the rearing of bulls; and these have been eagerly sought after by breeders throughout the country, in whose herds they have given undeniable testimony of their choice breeding. In a word, the fame of the Ballindalloch herd is equally great in the breeding paddock, the show-yard, and the sale-ring; and this is probably the highest tribute that could be bestowed upon any herd. The other leading improvers of polled cattle. in Banff and Moray have been the late Mr George Brown, Westertown; the late Mr Robert Walker, Montbletton; the late Mr Morison of Bognie; the Earl of Fife; Mr W.