A complete history can be reviewed in the book A Taste of Lincoln Red: The History of a Hundred Years of the Breed Society by Mona Skehel. The genetic base goes back to the Bos Urus cattle introduced into Britain by Scandinavian invaders between 449 and 660 A.D. Little is known from that time until 1695 when Gervaise Markham in his book A Way to Get Wealth, remarked on the quality of Lincolnshire cattle. In the late 18th and 19th century, select bulls from Durham and York were crossed with these native Lincolnshire cattle and the resultant progeny became known as the Lincoln Red. In 1799, the British Board of Agriculture described the Lincoln Red as “a breed of cattle which is unsurpassed in this country for their disposition at any age to finish rapidly.” This breed was recognized in the first Coates Herd Book in 1822 and the Lincoln Red Association subsequently was formed in 1896.
In 1964 Dr. Shaver imported some of the first Lincoln Red cows to Canada. The largest of the cows, Driby 325 tipped the scale at a delicate 1925 lbs. Her son, Camson Pandrama grew to an enormous 2900 lbs. Following are Dr. Shaver’s comments regarding why he decided to import the Lincoln Red. . .
From; Donald McQ. Shaver, O.C., D.Sc.
"My cattle breeding activities were profoundly influenced
by experience as a primary international poultry breeder.
As a boy of 15 I had won the Canadian Egg Laying
contest, which was open to competitors from around the world. This winning
pen of layers was the result of crossing two unrelated strains of
layers, and capturing the full economic benefits of heterosis. This
discovery was quite by accident. For a few years different crosses
were made, but none performed as spectacularly as that first cross. In
other words, I
learned that you simply couldn't make any cross and
produce a winner.
The next step was to set up a test structure capable of
assessing multiple crosses, simultaneously. Annually we tested 30
different
crosses, and over time it became clear that a very few
strains were exceptional. We found two that regardless of how they
were crossed, their progeny would perform significantly above average.
When these two lines were crossed, we had the combination that took
our name around the world.
I reasoned that this same procedure applied to other
species, would likely also express thee benefits of heterosis. I
searched the world
for cattle breeds that were likely to be unrelated to
the main beef stocks in North America, which at the time were
Hereford, Angus and Shorthorn. Breeds imported included Charolais, Maine
Anjou, Salers, Lincoln, North and South Devon. Many others were
identified, but for health reasons were not importable.
In the countless breed crosses that were made, the
distinctive Lincoln emerged as the breed whose crosses consistently
performed above average, in economic terms. The Lincoln was not a flashy
breed of cattle, but they were large, adapted to rugged
conditions, easy to handle, and possessed a coat of a pleasing red shade. Of
importance to me in the 1960"s was that genetically it remained a
closed (pure) population, that could be traced back to Nordic
invaders, and therefore probably to the Russian steppes. Moreover, the
traditional cattle breeders of East Anglia had devoted themselves to
preserving the purity and rusticity of the Lincoln Red, while steadily
enhancing its growth rate.
Today, some of the purest stocks of the Lincoln Red
breed are located in North America. Our breeders in Canada and in the USA
recognized that they could not for health reasons, rely on the
regular importation of breeding animals and semen from overseas
sources.
In a move highly unusual in beef cattle breeding
circles, the members of the North American Lincoln Red Association have
banded together to jointly and systematically preserve the genetic
integrity of the breed. Obviously, without this disciplined approach, the limited
number of foundation animals would quickly degenerate into an
inbred collection of dubious merit. Instead, the breed's gene pool value
has been enhanced by the creation of several distinct new lines
and this process continues.
Beef cattle breeders who choose to utilize the Lincoln
Red as one of the key lines in their final crossbred carcass animal
will have
incorporated unparalleled rusticity, feed economy,
growth rate and heterzygosity (exceptional vigor)".
