RIGGIT GALLOWAYS
The Riggit Galloway is a well-documented archaic strain of Galloway, easily identified by the white stripe, running down its back. As with other Galloways, the main body colour can be black, red or dun. White markings may also cover the keel and may include other white flashes amongst the solid colour. Riggits should have good beefy Galloway conformation including a medium frame, the typical “teddy bear” face and a thick shaggy coat. They are naturally polled and can thrive on rough moorland.
Having almost died out, a handful of enthusiasts are bringing the breed back from the brink of extinction. There are no records of any being kept for breeding from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1980s. However, George Gerrard’s painting of a Red Riggit female, identified as ‘A fat Galloway heifer’, dated 1804, confirms the breed’s historic origins. In the 80s, The Honourable Flora Stuart persuaded White Galloway breeders to retain Riggit throwbacks and there are now several established herds in Cornwall, Devon, Yorkshire, Northumberland and, of course, Suffolk as well as in their native Scotland.
RESURRECTING THE RIGGIT
Fashions in livestock breeding come and go. Since the concept of breed standards and herd books, unusual strains of stock that aren’t in favour, get left behind and sidelined. One of the most striking incidences has been the evolution of the Galloway breeds of southwest Scotland. The black Galloway breeders established a herd book in 1877, leaving behind the Belted, Duns, Whites and Riggit animals that were all part of the base. The desire to breed neatly marked blue grey crossbred heifers was a significant factor.
The Belted cattle continued outside the herdbook, until the 1920s, when they and the duns started their own herdbook. The White Galloways remained on a few farms until the 1980s, when their register was finally begun. The Riggit animals, despite centuries of recorded presence, simply faded from the scene.
After decades of only persisting as occasional throwbacks, usually taken out of breeding herds as anomalies, and fattened, the occurrence of riggit marked Galloways was becoming rarer and rarer through the twentieth century.
Yet they kept cropping up, amongst other strains. For close on a century, they were ‘hidden in plain view’. Then by great good fortune, a pair of throwbacks, one male and one female, were retained on 2 Scottish farms in the 1980s. Championed by The late Miss Flora Stuart, and John Corrie, a nucleus of animals was bred from these animals, bringing in occasional fresh blood from White and Belted cattle. Then their fate was once more in the balance, when Miss Flora sadly passed away, and her Riggit stock was dispersed. John Corrie decided to sell his herd, luckily to 2 separate interested parties (one in Derbyshire, one in Gloucester).Meanwhile, it was known surplus bulls had been sent on to interested farmers as far afield as Northumberland and West Cornwall, prior to Miss Flora’s death, and one or two sporadic throwbacks had appeared elsewhere.
The Riggit Galloway Society was formed in 2007, finally securing a place for one of Britain’s last unsung original cattle breeds. Breeding groups have been established all over the country, and have been found amongst Galloway breeders the world over. The Society has kindly been granted the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales, well known for his gracious support for rare breeds and sustainable farming.The TwoMills Herd is seeking to take the resurrection of the Riggit one stage further by breeding red Riggits. Both the red colour and the Riggit marking can be masked by black and solid / belted markings and therefore this project could be regarded as the ultimate cattle conservation challenge.The TwoMills herd is very appreciative of the support of the Spicer family at Newe House, the Crossman family in Assington and the Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket in this fascinating period of establishment and development.
