Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/46

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34
EVOLUTION OF BRITISH CATTLE

little more than time to think of settling down when the Saxon was upon them. They managed to take possession of some of the cattle left behind by the Romans, but the rest were bound to have become feral. Then, as the natives were pushed westward and northward, the Roman cattle they had been unable to secure were left behind to fend for themselves in the forests. For some centuries more, the country from which the Celts had been expelled was the arena of strife and war, by no means thickly populated, and exposed on the western border to continual rieving and raiding. And, so, when the Normans came in, they found the Roman cattle no longer quiet and uncomplaining animals of burden, but wild and ferocious beasts of chase.

In connection with these white cattle, there is a series of facts which corroborates in a remarkable manner the views which have just been set forth. It is well known that the Romans had no hold upon Scotland north of the Grampians, and none at all upon Ireland. It is also well known that the English pressed into England from the Southern and Eastern coasts. That being so, these Roman cattle ought to have been confined to Wales, the North-west of England, and the South of Scotland. It is also well known that, while a large part of England was sunk in struggle and strife, during the Saxon period, Wales stood aside in comparative quiet. That also