The Orkney cattle of the early 19th century certainly don't seem to have been what we regard as Highland cattle today. From Alexander Fenton's "The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland": "In 1808 it was estimated that Shetland had about 30,000 milk cows, 1,000 oxen and 10,000 young cattle, a ratio which by no means squares with the figures given for 1845. In fact, an estimate made about 1814 amounted only to 15,000 of all ages. The cows were small, weighing at most 2 to 3 cwt when fat... "In Orkney, the cattle were very similar to those of Caithness. Improvements were being made by individuals like Captain Sutherland of Burray, who was concentrating on the Dunrobin breed from Caithness. Crosses with native cows did well. Mr Baikie's farm in Egilsay, Cliffdale in Shapinsay and Melsetter in Hoy all had good cattle, but these were isolated examples... The small Shetland cow, with long narrow horns and short legs, produced sweet and tender beef. Orkney cattle, however, got little praise. They were also small and at one time had been smaller than those in Shetland. In 1814 they were described as being of various colours, though black was common, with low heads, high backs, thin buttocks, and horns that were 'short and contracted, with their tops bending down toward the forehead'. Overstocking was one of the factors in keeping the quality low." Orkney cattle, then, sound like a poor lot and, indeed, in the early 19th century agriculture in Orkney was in a pretty backward state. No doubt the cattle improved during the agricultural revolution later in the 19th century. Probably Aberdeen Angus cattle and other breeds would have been introduced at that time. I suspect that in any case cattle breed standards weren't particularly defined until the advent of the various breed societies, mostly in the late 19th century. Anyway, enough of cows; there's rugby coming up on television. Norman Tulloch