In the Highland of Scotland they have a breed of cattle which are a little smaller and have a shaggy coat and long horns. They have been bred to suit the harsh conditions of the Scottish Highlands. The coats keep them warm in severe winters, and the long horns enable them to scratch inn the snow for covered grass and plants. These cattle will also fed on the low branches of shrubs and trees. Back in the eighteen century they came in a variety of colours -black, brindle, red, yellow and dun.
The cattle were a valuable income for the Highlanders. Drovers would take them to a meeting, known as a tryst, down at Crief or Falkirk. Here they were sold as meat for the English towns or to be salted as beef for the English navy. The drovers would move the cattle 10 to 12 miles a day to get to these meetings. They would move along tracks which Government and Jacobite troops probably used to move troops along during fighting in Scotland. Because cattle stealing was so common these drovers were allowed to carry weapons when everyone else was disarmed after the Jacobite Risings.
Although a group of cattle are called a herd, a group of Highland cattle are referred to as a fold, or in Scots a kyloes. Individuals stand about .9 to 1.1 metre in height and weight between 400 to 1,000 kilos. Their meat is slow-maturing and lean. It is low in cholesterol and fat but high in flavour and protein. Today Highland cattle can be found in Finland, North and South America and Australia. I have seen them in Victoria and Tasmania.
