The Bagpipe - American Highland Cattle Association

2
BREED CHARACTERISTICS
HIGHLAND BREED CHARACTERISTICS
Angus Mackay
What are Highland Breed Characteristics?
I am of the opinion that they can and should be divided into two distinct categories.
The first and most important category is for characteristics that have evolved over many hundreds of years:
hardiness and longevity. Neither of these are mentioned in the Breed Standard, published in 1885 in the first
Highland cattle herd book of Scotland.
The second category is for fashionable characteristics, which man has created over many years through the use of
genetic modifications. These characteristics are adequately described in the Breed Standards, already referred to above.
Most of these characteristics can be used to describe any breed of beef cattle.
In order to fully appreciate what I consider to be the Highland breed’s unique characteristics of hardiness and
longevity, you must first of all consider the land, climate and conditions (the habitat) in which the Highland breed
evolved over many centuries.
The Highlands of Scotland are the most northern and inhospitable part of the British Isles, as up until 200 years
ago there were few roads, no bridges over rivers and the only way to travel was on foot or by boat around an equally
dangerous and inhospitable coast line.
This is the land the Romans came to conquer, saw the Grampian mountains and decided to go home or at least back
to England’s green and pleasant land.
This is also the land that the Vikings sailed around the coast of, where they occasionally landed to rape and plunder!
It was only after their defeat at the Battle of Largs in 1263 that King Haakon of Norway on his way home and refusing
to leave empty-ended, stole 300 cattle from the Island of Islay. Suffice to say, just like the Romans they did not stay.
So who were the people who lived in this remote and inhospitable land? They were hardy-like warriors, rearing
cattle as best they could in conditions where only the very hardiest could survive. They utilized to the best advantage
lush summer pastures in the high mountains for milk and cheese production and struggled through the long harsh
winter to keep as many cattle alive as possible, even though on occasion, they would have to bleed their cattle and use
the blood to supplement the family’s meager rations of oatmeal. They lived in very close proximity to their cattle and
in the winter, they shared the same low turf roof dwelling, known as “Black House”. There the temperament of the cattle
would never have been a problem and where these people developed an understanding of cattle that we in the twentyfirst
century could never hope to attain. It was in an environment such as this that hardiness evolved in the cattle that
became known as the Highland breed.
It was hardy Highland cattle that first brought commerce to the Highlands of Scotland. Arguably, it could be said
that cattle brought about the end of the clan system and the traditional Scottish way of life.
There are accounts of the droving trade in Highland cattle as early as 1359 and this was to continue well into the
nineteenth century. This highly lucrative and dangerous trade was at its height from 1760 to 1820. At that time, tens
of thousands of 2 - 3 year old cattle left the Highlands and Islands throughout the autumn and made their long and
treacherous journey south to the great cattle fayres in Muir of Ord in the northeast Highlands. From there, they went
on, gathering in numbers, to the major fayres in the towns of Crieff and Falkirk in the southern Highlands and then
travelled a further 300 miles south, across the border to be fattened in the lush pastures of England. Eventually, these
cattle were sold as prime beef in ever expanding cities such as Manchester and London.
Good feet and legs were essential as the cattle were expected to travel between ten and fifteen miles in one day over
the roughest terrain and even, on occasion, swim rivers that had swollen after days of torrential rain. The drovers were
every bit as hardy as the cattle under their care. They slept with their droves at night just in case they should stray or
be stolen in the dead of night by the likes of Rob Roy MacGregor or the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, to name but a few. They
also drove the hardest of bargains when selling their cattle to English dealers at the annual fayres.
The drover’s descendants helped to establish the great cattle trails of the western United States, through the long
journeys to the rail heads during the nineteenth century, at a time when only the very toughest men and cattle would
survive. One of the earliest pioneers in America to develop commercial cattle droving was called John Chisholm whose
forefathers drove cattle from the Isle of Skye to the Lowlands.
With regard to longevity, I personally believe that three hundred years ago all cattle would have had much longer
productive lives, as they were allowed to develop at a more natural rate. It was only when livestock improvers began
to select local types of cattle for particular traits, whether for beef or milk production, that longevity became affected.