Cattle & Milch-Kine

14th January 2024

Conservation Grazing on Broadstone Heath, Dorset

There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter,

Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest

Doth all the wintertime, at still midnight,

Walk round an oak, with great ragged horns,

And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,

And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain

In a most hideous and dreadful manner.

MISTRESS PAGE: Merry WIves of Windsor, Act 4, Scene 4

CATTLE (Bos taurus)

Cattle were a well known and highly valued domesticated animal in Shakespeare’s world. They appear under several different names including Cow, Bull, Kine, Neat, Calf and Calves, Heifer, Ox and Oxen, Cattle, and Steer. This perhaps reflects the different reasons and means of keeping cattle including traction animals, milk and meat. Beef is also mentioned in the plays.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust in the UK is working to conserve and promote the benefits of well-adapted local domesticated animal breeds. As well as continuing to provide milk and meat cattle are also used in conservation grazing programmes to maintain or restore biodiversity. You can find out more information about conservation grazing techniques and benefits through the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

The Chillingham Wild Cattle of Northumberland are a remarkable survival and offer an opportunity to see cattle in a different environment.

More Information

Chillingham Wild Cattle: Visit Site

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Bos taurus

Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST): Cattle Watchlist, Conservation Grazing, Manifesto for Native Livestock

Topsell, E., 1607 A History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents (accessed via Archive.org)