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It was not until 1797 that a surviving document would record detailed descriptions of the cattle themselves. The court records of Shetland contain an account of a dispute between a large landowner and one of his tenants, who at the end of the tenancy argue over an inventory of farm goods. Contained in this inventory is a full list of the cattle on the farm, their colours, names, ages and importantly their heights. This reveals a herd remarkably consistent at least in size with earlier archaeological finds; these were still small beasts of a very similar shoulder height to those of the Iron Age. |
One of the fullest descriptions of the breed is by John Shirreff in 1808. His theory regarding size was as follows “smallness is due to the scantiness of their food as neither artificial grasses, nor green crops are cultivated, nor are there any inclosures [sic] capable of protecting such crops from the multitude of sheep, cattle and horses.” |
At this point in history the human population was growing, thereby placing greater pressure on the already marginal farming systems by forcing more people to keep more stock. Most of the records written about this time dwell on the poverty and hardship of the common people along with their dependence on a form of agriculture which was ultimately unsustainable. To explain the predicament further, Shirreff comments “little attention has been paid to improvement of any kind.” This should not be seen as a denigration of the population, but a result of the social and landholding structure under which they lived. |
Small farms or crofts were subdivided again and again as the numbers of potential crofters grew and this level of demand for land led to attempts to break out new crofts on the hill ground. To compound the problem, the open scattalds were unregulated, and the numbers of animals were not restricted as they are today. To eke out a living the menfolk of Shetland spent more time away from home at sea where they could earn a meagre wage fishing, whaling or serving on merchant ships and leaving the womenfolk, children and elderly to work the land. |
People and cattle alike had to adapt to changing circumstances; the production of milk and dairy products now became critical to the survival of the families, more so than the rearing of a calf for beef. The smaller crofts could not grow sufficient fodder to maintain small herds with bulls, therefore the priority was the milking cow. Less care was taken on the selection of a proven sire; the imperative was to get the cow back in milk to provide sustenance for the small children. John Shirreff thought these small cows were inferior to those of the western highlands of Scotland, though they produced a considerable amount of milk. The cows, presumably the milking animals, were put inside at night summer and winter. |
He estimated there to be around 15,000 head of cattle in the islands at the time, a number he marvelled at. He found that the natives had to graze beasts on the many ‘holms’ or small islands around the coast in order to fatten them. Any surplus beef was salted and shipped south to Britain. |
The British trend of agriculture improvement was only just appearing in Shetland by the first half of the nineteenth century as Shetland had up to then been seen as an island fishing station of little agricultural merit. Shirreff reported that “attempts made to introduce breeds of sheep from England and Scotland have been followed with the most ruinous consequences.” Unfortunately these importations of stock brought a number of diseases, which once established devastated the native sheep, killing thousands. |
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