A brief history of British Pigs
January 17, 2018 2:10 PM   Subscribe

The United Kingdom has a unique genetic heritage of pig breeds, but in 1955, facing pressure from the Danish, Dutch and Irish pig industries, the Howitt Report recommended that British pig operations needed to be based on only three breeds, Large White, Landrace and Welsh, narrowing the pool of British Pigs from 16. In the subsequent years, four breeds went extinct: Cumberland, the Dorset Gold Tip, the Lincolnshire Curly Coat and the Yorkshire Blue and White. Rare breeds are now faring better than before, but still not great. For more on these breeds and the efforts to maintain them, see the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. British pig history side-story: The Pig War of 1859, which was really about which country controlled San Juan Island.
posted by filthy light thief (13 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
slightly off topic - obituary for Empress of Blandings
posted by BWA at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2018 [3 favorites]


If the Berkshire breed was good enough for the Royal Family, then it's good enough for me (baby Berks from the last litter). They are amazingly lovely animals--easy to work with, sweet-tempered, and (reluctantly) compliant with the right combination of treats and coaxing tones.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:02 PM on January 17, 2018 [6 favorites]


“Officials on both sides of the Atlantic were shocked that a dispute over a pig had grown into a stand off involving as many as 3 warships, 84 guns and over 2,600 men.”

Then, having come to their senses, they went back to arguing about who had the bigger nuclear launch button.

The Pig War, technically, was not about San Juan Island but a by-product of the long-standing disagreement about where to draw the border line between the U.S. and Canada. In the 1840s, this included the 54°40’ Or Fight controversy (also in the Pacific Northwest) and, over on the other end of the continent, what turned turned into the (also bloodless) Aroostook War, when Maine – by itself – decided to attack Canada.

p.s. When I think of British pigs I think of Pink Floyd and especially the cover of Animals.
posted by LeLiLo at 3:21 PM on January 17, 2018


baby Berks from the last litter

scream
posted by poffin boffin at 4:30 PM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wait does this thread give us an excuse to demand more pig stories from MonkeyToes because I had a hard day and it's been a long time since a good pig story...
posted by Wretch729 at 5:33 PM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


…included the 54°40’ Or Fight controversy (also in the Pacific Northwest…

The eventual outcome of which left us with the delightfully odd placement of Point Roberts, an exclave of the U.S. attached to Canada just south of Vancouver, B.C.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:32 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


the delightfully odd placement of Point Roberts...

Even more odd: the Northwest Angle in Minnesota. And not too far down the road from me, they’re still squabbling about whether Canada or the U.S. owns Machias Seal Island. A fight over puffins (and lobsters), not a pig.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:53 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Okay, two things:

1) I went to college with a guy from Pt. Roberts.

2) When anyone says British pigs, I think of this.
posted by Relay at 10:28 PM on January 17, 2018


For you, Wretch729...Because the standards, they have fallen, I used to consider a good day one in which 1) nothing caught on fire that shouldn't have, and 2) nothing died that shouldn't have. Low bar! I had a run of these days, and was feeling pretty good about daily responsibilities being squared away, so I decided to live dangerously and go visit a friend in another state. Back before sunset, no problem.

And when I rolled in, my husband looked like he's been through the wars: hangdog expression, slumped shoulders, an aura of I SURRENDER, OK, ARE YOU HAPPY? and I cackle and ask if the kids made him insane. Nope, he said, they were fine. It's just...

It's just that a fence failed in the pig pasture, and he was kneeling down trying to fix it when Tiggy, in full estrus, tried to mount him. He's trapped and yelling, the neighbors aren't home, the kids are inside, and the sow is like HEY HEY HEY, MISTER. He wriggled out and she gave up, and after he recovered sufficiently, he fixed the breach, having first put the pigs behind a gate.

So now the new standard for a successful day is 1) nothing caught on fire that shouldn't have, 2) nothing died that shouldn't have, and 3) an amorous 600-pound sow did not try to have sex with my husband.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:21 AM on January 18, 2018 [9 favorites]


the delightfully odd placement of Point Roberts

My office is in Anacortes, WA. When we were a Kyocera copier dealer, about once a year I'd get a call from a random Kyocera mucky-muck asking us to service a major account machine in Point Roberts. "It's right there on the map," they'd say, "surely one of your techs can just stop by on their route."

At which point I'd tell them that, unless they were willing to pay hourly for travel time (including two international border crossings--each way), or to charter a boat or plane, then no, sorry but we would not be stopping by today. If you've never had to clear a border crossing with a car full of precision tools, parts, and electronics, well... you can imagine how it goes. Now do it four times in a trip.

I did learn that there was some obscure but Legally Relevant Reason why they couldn't just have a Canadian tech pop in and do it, but yeah... always got a chuckle, and never did take the service call.
posted by xedrik at 7:07 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]


I love pigs but I also grew up eating pork and I'm trying to drastically cut down. It is a constant battle between deliciousness and cuteness and guilt. This post made me feel better about not using a coupon for free bacon. "It's free!" I said, but not for the pig. So thanks for the extra shot of impulse control.
posted by nakedmolerats at 10:30 AM on January 18, 2018


Yaaaaaas!
posted by Wretch729 at 2:43 PM on January 18, 2018


I got super excited about seeing MonkeyToes' pig babies and was going to go cheer about it, because I still remember this fabulous comment she left about the end of a hoped-for potential sow--and then I read it again, and marveled, and was sobered.

I'm really glad that Wretch begged or I would have had to. Pigs are great, and I love your stories, MonkeyToes. There's nothing quite like them--you should write a book one of these days.

And holy god, I'm glad your husband wasn't injured by that sow!
posted by sciatrix at 4:50 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]


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