Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/70

 there were polled cattle in Sutherland: only this time our authority is none less than Dr. Samuel Johnson himself, who made his famous tour to the Highlands in 1773: "The cattle of Sky are not so small as is commonly believed. &hellip; Of their black cattle some are without horns, called by the Scots humble cows, as we call a bee an humble bee, that wants a sting. Whether the difference be specifick, or accidental, though we inquired with great diligence, we could not be informed. We are not very sure that the bull is ever without horns, though we have been told that such bulls there are. What is produced by putting a horned and an unhorned male and female together, no man has ever tried that thought the result worthy of observation." The colour of the cattle in Skye in Johnson's time is not recorded, but dun and yellow, the colours produced by crossing black and red with light dun are common among Highland cattle; and light dun itself is not unusual. At the present day, light dun and dun occur more frequently among the Highlanders of Skye and the neighbouring islands than among those of the mainland; and an inspection of the foundation entries in the "Highland Herd Book" indicates that at one time these colours were of more frequent