kashmiri Goats by sandysmith
Great Orme Capra Markhor, the Kashmiri goats, whose ancestors came from the mountains of India, may well be spotted on the Great Orme. They have large crenulated horns, with large ridges unevenly spaced along their length. A shaggy fringe covers their forehead and the beard grows long.We saw many such goats on on both our ascent and descent of the Great Orme.
Also in the evening we saw a herd down by the west Shore , tucking into a gorse bush!The origin and arrival of these goats in Britain is an interesting story:
In the early part of the last century, Squire Christopher Tower, from Essex, discovered a large herd recently imported from Kashmir into France. The idea was to create a profitable woollen industry. Squire Tower purchase two of these goats, and took them to Weald Park in Brentwood. The goats flourished, and soon produced kids, from which the Squire was, eventually, able to manufacture a cashmere shawl. George IV was highly impressed by this article, and was happy to accept a pair of the goats presented to him by Squire Tower.
So began the Windsor herd, which increased rapidly, and in the reign of Queen Victoria, cashmere shawls became extremely fashionable. It is often said that Queen Victoria was presented with the goats by the Shah of Persia, and it may be that these were added to the already existing herd.
Later in the century Major General Sir Savage Mostyn acquired two of the Windsor goats, and took them to Gloddaeth Hall and later taken to the Orme.
