The Yorkshire Blue and White pig, also known as the

Bilsdale Bilsdale is a dale in the western part of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England. The head of the dale is at Hasty Bank, and the dale extends south to meet Rye Dale near Hawnby. The dale is the valley of the River Seph, formed wher ...

Blue,Porter, V. ''Pigs: a handbook to the breeds of the world'', Comstock, 1993, p.107 or as the "Blood Breed",Hartley and Ingilby (1972). ''Life in the moorlands of North-East Yorkshire''. J M Dent. p.28 was a breed of

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

originating in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It is now considered

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Characteristics and history

The Blue and White was a small breed of pig originating in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

, where it had some relationship to the

Large White ''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris ra ...

pig which was developed in the same county.Porter, V. ''Pigs: a handbook to the breeds of the world'', Comstock, 1993, p.107 As its name suggested it had retained prominent blue spots on the skin that had been progressively bred out of other white pigs. Until the mid 20th century, the Blue and White remained popular with small farmers due to its hardy characteristics and the fact that the sows made excellent mothers. However, it was little known outside the North Riding and was nationally rare. By 1954 there were only three boars licensed,The Decline of Traditional Breeds
, British Pig Association and by 1963 only one. The breed appears to have become extinct before the 1973 establishment of the

Rare Breeds Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to prese ...

. A Bilsdale Blue sow is one of the animals shown in the classic 1952

British Transport Films British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues (extolling the virtues of places that could be visited via th ...

documentary ''Farmer Moving South'', showing a farmer transporting his stock from Stokesley station. ''Bilsdale Study Group Newsletter'', 8 Oct 2013, 2

References

Extinct British pig breeds {{Pig-stub