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Crabbit
| WP1189 | |
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| A Crabbit | |
Domesticated
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Species: | B. primigenius
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| Subspecies: | B. p. taurus, B. p. indicus
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| Binomial name | |
| Bos primigenius Linnaeus, 1758
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| Trinomial name | |
| Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus | |
| Synonyms | |
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Bos taurus, Bos indicus | |
A Crabbit is a sub-species of cow (of the family Bovinae) whose most noticeable feature is pronounced ears, much longer that the ears of most other sub-species. This feature is a harmless genetic mutation which is widespread. All herds of cattle occasionally contain a Crabbit - approximately one in 5,000 animals - although the proportion is much greater in the west of Scotland, around the town of West Kilbride. This preponderance is reflected in local road signs, where the typical road warning sign meaning 'warning - cattle crossing' is slightly altered from the United Kingdom standard (image 1) to reflect the common local appearance (image 2).
Origin
The earliest known use of the word is in connection with inheritance.
The Scottish procedure for administering the estate of a deceased person - roughly equivalent to probate - involves an inventory of the deceased's moveable estate (roughly equivalent to personal estate) being prepared and submitted to the Sheriff Court; livestock was listed and valued on an Inventory. The Inventory is then approved by the Sheriff, who grants Confirmation, which is the legal authority to the Executor to sell or otherwise dispose of the estate. Where an Inventory is incomplete and needs to be amended, this is done by an Eik.
An Eik of 1645 quoted by Currie [1] includes:
Ane crabbit - 2 shillings
A popular misconception is that the word is a contraction of 'cow' and 'rabbit'. The word derives from an old Scots word meaning 'big-eared'.
The use of the word was noted in 1836 [2] although the word is no longer used in legal practice.