A Bit of British Friesian Doggerel

In the year of our Lord, 1344,

A jocular monk listed the cows he saw

munching away on the Zuider Zee

Ja, my Friesians love zis grass, said he.

In 1600 or so, the Dutch pulled their digits out from their dams

And brought their livestock and several large hams

To plug up our Lincolnshire fens instead

As our sodden land kept their cows well fed.

Friesians, of course, were what made the trip

Sick to their four stomachs aboard that ship.

But once they were back on terra firma

They took to the land without a murmur.

By Victorian times, our cows were pretty well-travelled,

Once the Dutch had Type all unraveled.

To South Africa and other fledgling colonies went they

And in America, of course, their cows got bigger in every way.

Herd books began to pop up all over the globe

and cows were addled with being bought and sold.

Canadians brought hundreds over the border

And in 1905, 7,000 was the New World order.

Over here, keen not to be left behind

The birth of a UK Society was officially signed

First called Holstein, then a mix of the two

Name changes would cause a lot of ballyhoo.

Since then those cows have gone their different ways

with Yankee Holsteins so tall they always amaze.

But Friesians are perfect for farmers over here,

Always fertile and milking well, year after year.

We felt so strongly that our cow needed protection,

And to ensure that it went in the right direction,

that we set up our Club, and that was when

big hair and handbags left Number Ten.

In 2004, after a bit of a fight,

we got our Breed Code, as was only right.

And our cows are still grazing wherever there’s grass

Because British Friesians have been bred to last and last.