Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/77

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THE NORSE CONTINGENT
65

their military followers, who, when they had ousted the English landlords, put themselves in their stead, and therefore had no need to bring over cattle from their Norman lands. Besides, the hornless cattle were found chiefly in parts of Scotland and Ireland where the Normans did not penetrate. We are therefore driven to the conclusion that the importers of the hornless cattle were the Norsemen. But, if further proof were required, there are still the facts that cattle of the same race were taken to other Norse settlements, and that others still remain in Norway. These cattle may be identified, not only by their hornlessness but also by their colour, size, and shape. In most places, some of their original characters have been lost by crossing with other cattle. But if, in likely places, we find cattle bearing some of the original Norse characters, the presumption that they are of Norse descent is clear: more especially as some of the original characters were peculiar to the Norse cattle only. Thus the cattle of the Channel Islands can be identified as of the same race by the presence of light dun—called silver grey and so on—and yellow; by their shapes; and also by the quality of their milk. There are still dun-coloured cattle in Orkney and Shetland, and fifty years ago there were many more, especially in Shetland. Low was absolutely clear that they were of Scandinavian origin, after