The Original home of the

Transcription

1 Valley Of the Tees By Esther Lynn Beal Reprinted from The Shorthorn World 55th Herd Bull August 15, 1970 The Original home of the Shorthorn breed of cattle is in northeastern England, in the counties of York, Durham and Northumberland. The North Sea borders this section on the east, with the Cheviot hills of Scotland the boundary on the north. Winding its way through a beautiful grazing country, the river Tees forms the dividing line between Durham on the north, and York, the largest county in England, on the south. Here in the valley of the Tees, the Shorthorn received its early development and improvement, form which it spread out over the rest of Great Britain and the civilized world. This valley country has beautiful, long stretches of rolling grass lands and fields of grain and roots, but farther north in Northumberland and south in York the land becomes rougher and more hilly. (Charles S. Plumb) Little is known of the type of cattle from which the Shorthorn breed originated. It is presumed that the invaders of England - the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes and finally the Normans - brought with them cattle native to their homelands which were crossed with the original British stock. Charles and Robert Colling There were two early races of cattle in the British Isles. In Ireland and western England, the cattle had long horns, thick skins, and abundant hair. The cattle of the eastern districts had thinners skins, shorter hair, and shorter horns. (Henry W. Vaughan). In the seventeenth century there were three distinct types of this eastern race: The pied stock of Lincolnshire which were nearly white the red stock of Somerset and Gloucestershire, and the Holderness of Yorkshire. (Hilton M. Briggs) The Holderness type resembled the cattle of Denmark, Holstein and northwestern Europe in size, and shape and color. They were of extraordinary size, had coarse heads, with short stubbed horns; heavy necks; high, coarse shoulders, flat sides, the chine falling back of the shoulders; the hips wide; the rumps long; the thighs thick, and cloddy. Yet with all these undesirable points which rendered them large feeders and late to mature, they took on flesh rapidly and fattened into heavy carcasses. Their flesh, however was coarse-grained, dark in color, and less savory to the taste than that of the smaller breeds. Their colors were light dun or yellow red, deep red, pure white, red and white in patches, roan mixed of both red and white, and no uniformity in the laying on of either one of those colors prevailing as accident might govern. The cows were large milkers yielding quantities, with generous feed, beyond any others yet known. Lewis F. Allen This Holderness type was improved and was called the Teeswater breed from which descended the Shorthorn breed. Whether outside blood was introduced in this improvement has been a matter of much conjecture. It has been said that about the middle of the eighteenth century Michael Dobinson of Durham and Sir William St. Quintin of Scampen, Yorkshire, imported Dutch cattle and used the bulls to improve their cattle. Charles S. Plumb There is no customs record of this importation in any of the ports along the eastern coast of England. Also, at this time, an act of Parliament forbade the importation of cattle into England. (Lewis F. Allen) The Teeswater type emerges In the eighteenth century there also, along with the older Holderness, was developed the Teeswater type. These cattle had great size and scale, were wide-backed, had deep forequarters, were soft and mellow in their hair and handling, were average milkers and fattened well. They lacked uniformity, smoothness in their hips and shoulders, length of rump, width of chest floor, fullness of forerib, and fleshing in the shoulder area. They were paunchy and too rangy. They were uneven in their fleshing and had too fine a hide. They tended to be a dual purpose, rather than strictly a beef type. At this time many people worked on the improvement of the breed. As early as 1580 there existed a type of Shorthorned cattle on the estates of the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland. They varied in color, but some of the more common colors were light dun, yellow, yellowish red, deep red, red and white patched, white and roan. In Northumberland, along with the Perceys, who were titled nobles, the Aislabies of Studley Royal and the Blacketts of Newby Hall were important breeders. Mr. Millbank of Barningham, Sir William St. Quintin 36 shorthorn country = july 2015

2 The Durham Ox of Scamham, Sir James Pennyman of Yorkshire were some of the more important breeders before There are a few animals bred at this time that are still remembered because of their quality and the achievements of the progeny. The most important early bull was the Studley bull (626). He was bred by Mr. Sharter of Chilton and was calved in He is described, by one who often saw him, as having possessed wonderful girth, depth of forequarters, very short legs. a neat frame and light offal. (Lewis F. Allen) The Studley bull was the sire of several noted animals including Dalton Duke (188), Lakeland s bull, and the cow Tripes. During the time before 1780 it is obvious that Shorthorns were kept as a pure breed and that some improvement was wrought. Not until after 1780, however, was any systematic plan used in their improvement. It was not until this time that accurate records of breeding and pedigrees were kept. This change in the attitude of the breeders marked a new era for the cattle of the Tees Valley and the actual beginning of the Shorthorn breed. During this period, much of the activity of the breeders centered around the town of Darlington in southeastern Durham. A cattle market was held there, and many of the breeders purchased their foundation stock at this market. Came Robert Bakewell and the Collings About this time Robert Bakewell began his experiments with livestock improvement. His methods of inbreeding and his application of the principle that like begets like were to have a profound effect on the Shorthorn breed. These principles were applied first by the Colling Brothers and later by the breeders that followed them. Robert Colling was the older brother and was born in His brother Charles was a year younger. Charles lived at Ketton and Robert at Barmpton which were four and three miles northeast of Darlington, respectively. Although they were both important breeders, Charles is the better remembered of the two. In 1783, Charles Colling went to Dishley in Leicestershire to the home of Robert Bakewell. There he studied Bakewell s methods of inbreeding and the results he achieved. The next year, in June Charles purchased the cow Duchess at the Darlington market of $65. She was a massive, short-legged beast, breast near the ground, a great grower, with wide back, and of a beautiful yellowish-red flaked color. (Lewis F. Allen) Duchess was the foundation cow of the Duchess family which later became important in the herd of Thomas Bates. The first bull of importance used in the herd of Charles Colling was Hubback (319). He was sired by Snowdon s bull (612) and was a descendent of the Studley bull. His dam was a small cow with a lot of quality. She was bred by Mr. Stephenson and was of an old Teeswater line. Hubback was first used by Robert Colling and Mr. Waistell who bought him from Mr. Fawcett in April of 1783 for about $52. The following November, Charles Colling purchased the bull for $42. He used the bull for two years and then sold him to Mr. Hubback in Northumberland. shorthorn country = july

3 Hubback was described as being a yellow-red color with some white. He was smaller than the average Shorthorn of the day and this may have accounted for his many owners. Despite his small size, he passed his quality on to all his calves. After Hubback, Charles Colling used the bull Foljambe (263) by Richard Barker s bull (52). He was a descendent of Hubback through his dam Haughton. Charles then used Bolingbroke (86) by Flojambe. For the 13 years following 1795, Charles Colling used the bull Favorite (262) almost exclusively. He was used indiscriminatively in an inbreeding program, even to the fifth and sixth generations, with seemingly no ill effects. Favorite s best son was Comet (155) and his pedigree shows the intenseness of the inbreeding that Charles Colling practiced. He traces twice to Favorite and five times to Flojambe. The Durham Ox The White Heifer That Travelled Since shows, as we now know them were non-existent at this time, Charles Colling fitted the Durham Ox in order to publicize t h e Shorthorn b r e e d outside the Tees River area. The D u r h a m Comet (155) - The first bull ever sold for $5,000 Ox was one of the f i r s t calves by Favorite and was calved in the year At the age of five years he weighed 3,024 pounds, In February 1801, he was sold to Me. Bulmer of Hamby for $700. Five weeks later John Day purchased him for $1,250. In the next few months, Mr. Day refused offers of as high as $10,000 for him, which is proof of his quality and excellence. He was exhibited for six years in all parts of England and Scotland. He was killed at the age of 11 years and at that time he weighed 3,400 pounds. Robert Colling lived about a mile from his brother at Barmpton. He used many of the same bulls and followed the same practice of inbreeding as did his brother Charles. In some cases, he may have even inbred closer than did Charles. This can be seen in the pedigree of the cow Clarissa that carried 63/64ths the blood of Favorite. The White Heifer That Travelled Even though their breeding programs were closely related, Robert Colling did raise some notable cattle of his own. The most famous of his cattle was a free-martin heifer called The White Heifer That Travelled. She was bred by Robert and was calved about Her sire was Favorite and her dam descended from Hubback. Robert fed her to a weight of 2,300 pounds and exhibited her in the principal agricultural counties of England. Robert also raised some important bulls and cows, among them The American Cow that was imported to America and later brought back to England. Charles and Robert Colling, in their breeding careers of 30 and 40 years, 38 shorthorn country = july 2015

4 respectively, did their best to collect and breed the Shorthorns in Britain. They both ended their careers by selling their herds at public auction. These sales distributed the cattle throughout England. Charles Colling sold his entire herd of 48 animals at public auctions in early October of Forty-seven animals sold for a total of $35,579. The 29 cows and heifers averaged $701 and the 18 bulls averaged $847, for an overall average of $757. The top bull was Comet that brought $5,000. The top selling cow was a Gallowaycross named Countess that brought $2,100. Three-fourths of the animals were by Favorite or his son Comet, showing the intenseness with which he followed the practiced of inbreeding. On September 29 and 30, 1818, Robert Colling had a herd reduction sale and sold 61 head. The cattle sold for $39,265, for an average of $643. The 51 cows and heifers averaged $558, and the 10 bulls averaged $1,079. The half-sister and brother Lancaster (360) and Nonpareil, both by Wellington, topped the sale at $3,260 and $2,042, respectively. Robert Colling held his final sale on October 3, At this second sale, he sold 47 animals. They brought a total of $11,369 for an average of $247. The eight bulls averaged $554, and the 38 cows and heifers sold for an average of $183. The prices of cattle were lower at this second sale because there was a general agricultural depression. At his two sales, Robert Colling sold 107 animals for $50,633 and an average of $473. The Colling brothers were the chief improvers of Shorthorns in their time. Not only did they improve the quality of the stock, but they advertised, through the Durham Ox and, The White Heifer That Travelled, the breed throughout England. In their breeding programs they collected and concentrated the blood of the best cattle available. In doing this they secured uniformity of type and a prepotency of desirable characteristics. Through their three sales they spread their cattle over all of northeastern England and provided a foundation for further improvement by the breeders that followed. The Colling brothers were not the only Shorthorn breeders at this time. In Yorkshire, about 15 miles south of Darlington, Thomas Booth owned the estates of Killerby and Warlaby. On these farms he started a herd of Shorthorn cattle sometime prior to Thomas Booth selected cows that were large-framed with plenty of body capacity and a tendency to fatten easily. He bought several cows of the Fairbolme family from Mr. Broader which seemed to fill his qualifications. He bred these cows and others of this type to moderate-sized bulls of Colling breeding. He perferred the blood of Hubback and Favorite in the bulls. Some of the bulls he used were Twin Brother to Ben (660), Suworrow (636), Albion (914), Pilot (496), and Marshal Beresford (415). His herd was developed along the lines of four cow families, the Fairholme or Blossom family, the Halnaby or Strawberry family, the Ariadne or Bright Eyes family, and the Bracelet family. The Fairholme family descended from the cows purchased from Mr. Boarder of Fairholme. Richard Booth bred many cows of the Bright Eyes and Strawberry families. The twin heifers, Necklace and Bracelet, that will be discussed in more detail later, descended from Suworrow and were of the Bracelet family. The rest of the history of the Booth s breeding can be divided into the history of three herds. These are the herds at Studley, Killerby and Warlaby. Richard Booth was in charge of the Studely herd and later the one at Warlaby. John Booth bred Shorthorns at Killerby. Richard and John Booth were both sons of Thomas Booth. Richard Booth moved to Studley in He brought with him, from his father s herd at Killerby, the cow Bright Eyes, from which descended Adelaide, that brought the top price at his sale in Possibly the best cow raised by Richard Booth was Isabella. She was considered by some to be as nearly a perfect specimen of the Shorthorn breed as existed at this time. Her descendants had heavily-muscled forequarters and good, straight underlines, which were an improvement over the other cattle in the herd. The first truly superior bull bred by Richard Booth was Julius Caesar (1143). He was a prepotent bull that gave true Shorthorn characteristics to all of his calves. He traced six times to Twin Brother to Ben. which accounts partially for his transmitting ability. Pilot (496), bred by Robert Colling and purchased in the sale of 1818, proved to be one of the Booths better herd bulls. In 1834, he was forced to sell the entire Studley herd because his best pastures were needed by their owner for other purposes. He moved to Sharrow, near Ripon, In his sale he did not sell the cow Isabella. In 1835, Richard Booth inherited, upon the death of his father, the farm and herd at Waralaby. The herd there had been bred for a number of years along purely practical lines, and, Thomas Booth had made no attempt to exhibit th animals. Richard Booth had many good cattle which he showed at the English Royal Show. One cow, Queen of May, was so beautiful that he was offered 1,500 guineas for her by an American importing company. This offer he refused because she was more valuable to him. Richard died on October 31, 1864, at the age of 76. His nephew inherited the herd and carried on the breeding programs. While Richard was carrying on breeding programs at Studley and Warlaby, his father and brother bred cattle at Killerby. Richard s bother John bred Shorthorns on the Killerby estate after After Richard left in 1814, Thomas Booth added cows to the herd that were the foundation of the Farewell, Broughton, and Dairymaid or Moss Rose families. In 1819, Thomas Booth moved to Warlaby leaving Killerby in charge of John. He took with him parts of Fairholme, Old Red Rose, and Halnaby families. Little is known of these two herds for the next 15 years because of a general depression in agriculture prices and, for this reason, a lack if interest in Shorthorn breeding. After the Royal and Yorkshire shows were started in 1839, John Booth became a well known showman. His most famous show cows were the twins, Necklace and Bracelet. Bracelet won 17 prizes including, in 1841, first prize for extra stock at the Yorkshire show. Necklace won 16 prizes, one gold medal and three silver medals during her show career. In her last showing at the Smithfield Club in 1846, she won first prize in her class and a gold medal for the best cow exhibited. The Killerby herd was sold at auction in July of At this time there was general depression in agriculture prices and cattle sold for comparatively low prices. The Booth family practiced inbreeding as much as did any of the other breeders of their time. Many of their cattle traced to Favorite as many as 2,399 times, but this is not much more concentrated than some of the Colling or Bates cattle. The Booth cattle were raised for their beef-making qualities and were generally thick-fleshed animals that fattened easily. They also possessed a good amount of quality but were more robust than the general Shorthorns of that period. Famous along with the Collings or the Booths, and pronounced in his effect on American Shorthorns was Thomas Bates. He was born in 1775 at Ovington Hall on he river Tyne in shorthorn country = july

5 Northumberland. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and agriculture at Aydon Castle. He became a tenant farmer at Parks End on the North Tyne, under his father. In 1800, he moved to Halton Castle where he began a herd of West Highland cattle. After seeing the cattle bred by Charles and Robert Collings, he decided he would become a breeder of Shorthorn cattle. At this time, he purchased his first cow of the Duchess family, which was to make him so famous. She was Duchess by Daisy Bull (186). She was a heavy milker. The first calf she produced for Thomas Bates was the bull Ketton (709) by Favorite. He sold Duchess in 1809 to a Mr. Donkin. In Charles Colling s sale he purchased the two-year-old heifer, Young Duchess by Comet, from whom almost all his future Duchesses descended. In 1821, he moved to Ridley Hall and in 1830 he moved to Kirkleavington in the valley of the Tees. He used only bulls of Duchess breeding on his Duchess cows. This close inbreeding had the ill effect of producing a lack of productivity in the cows. Evan with the decreased productivity he did not cease his inbreeding program because he could not find any other bloodlines to his liking. In 1831, he broke this tradition of strict inbreeding with the purchase of Belvedere (1706). He paid approximately $250 for the bull. Although Belvedere was not closely related to the Duchess stock, he did trace several times to Favorite. Thomas Bates used Belvedere freely in his herd, not only with Duchesses but also with the other families. When bred to his own daughter, Duchess 34th, Belvedere produced Duke of Northumberland (194). Duke of Northumberland was shown and became Champion of England. He was also the greatest breeding bull of the Duchess family. In 1831, Thomas Bates purchased the Matchem Cow. When bred to his bull, Duke of Cleveland, she produced the Oxford Premium Cow that was the foundress of the Oxford family. Through the years the Oxford and Duchess families were mixed so that there was little, if any, difference between them. He died on July 26, His herd was sold at auction on May 9, The 68 animals sold for $22,240 and an average of $327. By families, the averages were: Duchesses $581, Oxfords $313, Waterloos $297.50, Cambridge Roses $247, Wild Eyes $241, and Foggathorpes $235. Thomas Bates wrought great improvement on the Shorthorn breed through his Duchess family. Unlike the Booths, he strove to produce a dualpurpose type of Shorthorn and was quite successful. After the Thomas Bates sale the period of Shorthorn breeding in the valley of the Tees came to a close. The Americans were coming into their own as breeders and improvers of cattle, and farmers were developing a rugged type of Shorthorn able to withstand the rigors of the Highland life. Thus, with the passing of the Collings, Booth, and Thomas Bates the valley of the Tees was no longer the major seat of Shorthorn improvement. = 40 shorthorn country = july 2015