Agricultural History Review, Volume 36 Part 2 (1988), pp. 162–171

This paper argues the need for a greater understanding of the size, weight and carcass composition of cattle and sheep in early modern Scotland. These questions are then addressed through a consideration of modern 'unimproved' breeds, archaeological evidence regarding bone measurements, eighteenth-century household accounts, and contemporary agricultural commentaries. On the basis of these four sources, working estimates of the carcass-weight and composition of pre-improvement cattle and sheep are proposed and their usefulness illustrated through a calculation of the nutritional contribution, and cost relative to oatmeal, of meat in the diet of masters and students at St Leonards College, St Andrews, in 1671. 

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