3-047-001 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Chillingham wild cattle, 1872. 'The village and castle of Chillingham, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, are situated in the northern part of Northumberland, five miles east of Wooler, near the banks of the river Till, which runs by the battle-field of Flodden and enters the Tweed at no very great distance...the most remarkable object here to be seen is the unique breed of wild cattle, sometimes called the white Scottish bison, which exists nowhere else. These animals still resemble those described by the old historian, Hector Boece, in the fifteenth century. They are of middle size, but have long legs, and in colour they are perfectly white; only the muzzle is black, and the tip of the ear is red; the large horns, bent upward, are white, with black tips; the orbit of the eye is also black. Some of the bulls have a thin upright mane, an inch and a half high; but most of them are maneless. It is the practice for large parties of horsemen to hunt them; and when a single bull has been separated from the herd, one of the hunters dismounts, with a rifle, walks towards the bull standing at bay, and shoots him. This chase is apt to be rather dangerous, for the bulls are extremely fierce'. From "Illustrated London News", 1872.