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Quote by William Alexander

“An intelligent and industrious crofter was proud to show our commissioner a cart of his own particular invention, and which, though furnished with what is proverbially regarded as a superfluity in the shape of of a 'third wheel', seemed exceedingly well adapted to its purpose. It was in use at the time for the purpose of driving home turnips from the field, the team consisting of the owner's two cows; and a more tractable or docile team it would have been difficult to imagine, indeed the assurance was given by a neighbour that not only did they obey their owner readily and efficiently in the draught, but that one of them, in particular, would come from the most distant part of the holding whenever he chose to call and wave his hat as a signal that her presence was wanted for business!”

Book:Rural life in Victorian Aberdeenshire

Work

Rural life in Victorian Aberdeenshire

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Author

William Alexander

William Alexander was a renowned painter, born on April 2, 1915, and passed away on January 24, 1997. His works are known for their unique style and profound understanding of color. more

“Talk about attitude. Where they were most trouble, though, was in the close confines of the cattle yards. When you stepped into the pen with a code 4, in pretty short order they would have you climbing the fence. ‘Dancing the top rail’, as it became known, was a common occurrence in the early days and for many years to follow.”

Cattle

Book:Muster Dogs

Source: Muster Dogs

“Jeanie Deans, to our thinking, is the cream and perfection of Scott's work. She is tenfold more, because in all ordinary circumstances she would be much less interesting to us than a score of beautiful Rowenas, than even Flora or Rebecca. She is a piece of actual fact, real as the gentle landscape in which she is first enclosed, true to her kine that browse upon the slope - and yet she is the highest ideal that Scott has ever attained. A creature absolutely pure, absolutely truthful, yet of a tenderness, a forbearance, and long-suffering beyond the power of man, willing to die rather than lie.”

Purity Truthfulness Cattle Forbearance Walter Scott Heart Of Midlothian Jeanie Deans

Author:Mrs. Oliphant

“From an environmental point of view I have always believed that some of our native hardy breeds of cattle, such as Highlanders and Galloways, could be used in many nature conservation areas to replicate the activities of the ancient ox. This would be especially true if they were bred back to be capable of surviving all year round on natural vegetation, and were not to receive supplementary feeding or medicines.”

Cattle Nature Conservation Aurochs Galloway Cattle Highland Cattle Native Breeds

Book:Restoring the Wild: Sixty Years of Rewilding Our Skies, Woods and Waterways

Source: Restoring the Wild: Sixty Years of Rewilding Our Skies, Woods and Waterways

“Earlier this year I visited the township of Bragar on the Isle of Lewis to research shielings. I was told the story of a local resident, Mr. Campbell, who lived through the end of transhumance on the island in the 1950s. Mr. Campbell readily recalled that the summers of his youth, spent at the family's àiridh on the Lewis moor, were the happiest time of his life; yet, when his family ceased to keep dairy cows on their croft, he refused to go out to the shieling any more: without the cows, what was the point? The essence of life at the shielings was gone.”