Black, hornless, cattle had been grazing the Highlands since the 12th Century. From the 16th Century onwards various types of hornless cattle were being bred in the North East of Scotland. By the late 1700s two local breeds had come to prominence: the old ‘Doddies’ of Angus and the ‘Hummlies’ of Buchan. Both breeds have a strong claim to being forerunners of the Aberdeen Angus.
In the 1820s Aberdeenshire farmer and member of parliament William McCombie, along with (but working separately from) Hugh Watson of Keillor Farm in Angus, through line breeding and selection for type, began producing a breed of cattle noticeable for the quality of its meat and the ease of its rearing.
Their pioneering work was taken up by the 3rd Baronet of Ballindalloch, Sir George Macpherson-Grant, who upon inheriting Ballindalloch Estate, set about the refinement of the breed: a labour of love that was to become his life’s work for almost half-a-century.
Today the Aberdeen Angus is one of the most recognisable and popular beef breeds in the whole world.