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Three hundred years old and steeped in history, this hill-top pub in the centre of Crayke shares the limelight with it's namesake.
It is the beast itself that is perhaps best known. Pictures of the Durham Ox beast are said to have been the most frequently reproduced images of any livestock animal in British history. In its life, from 1796 to 1807, this ox was a model for the Shorthorn breed at the time of its improvement. The Ox was eventually acquired by a Mr. John Day, a travelling showman of Harmeston near Lincoln, in May 1801.
He exhibited the beast throughout the country until its demise in 1807 and was largely responsible for its fame. During its prime it was painted by several renowned artists including Thomas Weaver 1774-1843 and John Boultbee 1753 –1812. The picture hanging in the bar is a coloured engraving by I.Whessel of the original Boultbee painting of 1802. Some two thousand copies of this engraving were sold to the public by Day in 1802. This copy was obsequiously dedicated to Lord Somerville by Day. The inscription reads: - “ to the Right Honourable Lord Somerville, the print with great respect, humbly dedicated by his Lordships obedient humble servant, John Day.”
The breeders of the Durham Ox and pioneers of the modern Shorthorn breed were two brothers, Robert and Charles Colling, who farmed at Ketton Farm on the River Skerne near Barmpton just to the north of Darlington in County Durham. In 1784 Charles Colling had been a student of the renowned Robert Bakewell of Dishley near Loughborough, Leicestershire. Bakewell (1725-1795) is generally credited with the introduction of systematic livestock breeding. Prior to his work the animals that fattened easily were slaughtered and the poorer ones retained for breeding. Bakewell began to demonstrate that the performance of breeds could be dramatically and permanently improved by carefully selecting breeding stock and controlled inbreeding.1
The original cattle of this area were long horned blacks that were big and lean, more suited to the plough than the butcher, but by the 1750’s imported Dutch Shorthorns had become popular and were fetching high prices. In the Vale of York and the valley of the Tees these were known as Teeswater Shorthorns, while the paler or pied Shorthorns to the south were called Holderness cattle.
Shortly after his return from working under Robert Bakewell in 1784, Charles Colling was dining with his brother Robert and a friend who jointly wanted a bull. Previously Charles had spotted a “little roan” Teeswater Shorthorn bull near Haughton-le-Skerne church; “it had a mossy coat, looked like putting on fat and was mellow to the touch.” It belonged to a small farmer and bricklayer and Charles was duly authorized to buy it for eight guineas. But Robert did not care for it very much, and after some time, Charles who still had faith in it, bought it back at the original price. He named it “Hubback” and with the help of his wife hunted around for suitable mates eventually purchasing four cows which were named “Duchess,” “Cherry,” “Daisy,” and “Favourite” from four different farmers in the area. 2 From this small herd all our Shorthorns are descended and it became as necessary for a superior Shorthorn to claim descent from Charles Colling’s bull “Hubback” as for a racehorse to boast the blood of the Godolphin Arabian.1
Obviously with such a small herd at the outset there was much inbreeding. One of Huback’s sons sired a cow named Phoenix from Favourite. Phoenix was bred with another bull and birthed a bull named Favourite. The bull Favourite was bred back to his mother and sired a cow named Young Phoenix. Favourite was then bred with Young Phoenix (his daughter begot out of his own mother) and in 1797 produced a bull calf, which Charles had castrated. This calf grew to be known as the Ketton Ox and later as the Durham Ox. The Durham Ox was probably the most famous stock animal of all time although a bull named Comet born in 1802 from the same parents became the most sought after bull of the nineteenth century.
The immense size and weight of the Durham Ox was the product of this selective inbreeding and castration, no doubt assisted by copious amounts of fodder and little exercise. Nevertheless, this form of animal fulfilled the needs of the Industrial Revolution; meat with which to feed the workers, and fat worth 50% more than the meat, which was used for the production of the tallow used as industrial grease and in the manufacture of candles. Originally known as the Ketton Ox it was sold by the Colling brothers to a Mr. Bulmer in 1800 for ₤140. Bulmer had a horse drawn carriage specially built to carry the Ox and displayed it to the public around the North of England where it came to be known as the Durham Ox.
On 14th May 1801 Bulmer sold the Ox together with the carriage for ₤250 to a travelling showman, a Mr. John Day. By this time the Ox was a celebrity and it is reported that Day could have doubled his money if he had sold on that same day and by July 1801 had declined an offer of ₤2000 for the beast.3 This was an enormous price for those days being the equivalent in value of a country estate or a house in Mayfair.4
In 1802, at six years old, the Durham Ox was in his prime as can be seen in the paintings of Weaver and Bounty. Various measurements and weights have been given; the engraving of the Boultby painting in the bar records a height at the shoulder of 5ft.6in.a length from the nose to the base of the tail of 11ft. 0in and a weight in the region of 1 ¾ tons (1780 kg). By way of comparison today’s beef cattle rarely exceed a live weight of ½ ton.
Day continued to exhibit the Durham Ox, sometimes referred to as the Wonderful Ox, throughout England and Scotland for five years during which it covered over 3000 miles “exhibiting to the eyes of thousands of farmers a truer standard of shape than their ancestors had achieved and convincing them by personal interviews of the excellence of the improved breed.”1 The example was followed in many parts of the country, other breeds were similarly improved and the creation of pedigree herds became a favourite pastime of the landed gentry.
In February 1807 the Durham Ox dislocated a hip while being led out of its carriage at a show in Oxford and had to be slaughtered two months later. Day, who is reported to have made ₤97 in a single day of an exhibition of the Ox in London in 1802, determined to extract the last pound of flesh from this event, had a tent erected round the animal and charged extra to the public to witness its dying moments. He also sold pieces of hide as souvenirs.5
Acknowledgements:
1. English Farming, Chapter VIII; “The Stockbreeders Art and Robert Bakewell”
2. English Farming, Sir John Russell, 1947
3. Love, Labour & Loss, 300 Years of British Livestock Farming in Art, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, 2002.
4. The Sunday Telegraph, 4th August 2002. “Arcadia is worth dying for” John McEwan.
5. Farmers Weekly, 16th August 2002. John Gall as interviewed by Wendy Short.
