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ON THE LIVESTOCK.

There are various traditions about the origin of this breed.It is said to have been much improved by English cows, sentby Henry VII, to his daughter, the consort of James IV ,who usually resided at the Palace of Falkland in this coun-ty. Because there is some resemblance between the cattle ofFife and Cambridgeshire , they are supposed to have beenbrought originally from that county: While others ascribethe origin of the present breed to bulls and cows sent byJames VI. (James I. of England), in payment pf the moneywhich his obliging neighbours in Fife are said to have ad-vanced for his equipment, when he went to take possession ofthe English throne *.

Whatever may have been the means of improving thisbreed in former times, it is asserted that no crossing can nowbe otherwise than injurious; that all “ foreign and mixedkinds should be extirpated as fast as possible, and that thefarmers of Fifeshire ought to confine themselves entirely tothe native stock f.” When the handsomest males and fe-males are selected for breeders, and proper attention paid tofeeding and management, these cattle, like the Galloways andWest Highlanders, are so much in request in the English markets, that it would probably be injudicious to introduceany considerable change; and even when they are fattened athome, they are found by no means defective in all the mostessential properties.

The following are considered as the chief characteristicmarks of the Fife breed: “ The prevailing colour is black;nor are they less esteemed, though spotted or streaked withwhite, or of a grey colour. The horns are small, white, ge-nerally pretty erect, or at least turned up at the points, bend-ing rather forward, and not wide spread like the Lancashire long-horned breed. The bone is small in proportion to the

Report of Naim and Moray, p. 305,Fife Report, p. 258.