It is usually black, is of average size, is naturally polled and has a thick coat suitable for the harsh climate of Scotland.

[5] Polled black cattle were known in Scotland by the sixteenth century at the latest; one is mentioned in an instrument of sasine dated 1523.

[6]: 224 [a] The Galloway breed comes from the cattle native to the south-west region of Scotland, first fully developed in the seventeenth century.

They did not recognise dun coloured Galloway cattle, which was met with outrage and this ban was later lifted.

[10] In the 1950s, the breed enjoyed much success because the beef market demanded low input (feed) cattle with high quality meat.

[11] From the early nineteenth century, in south-western Scotland and north-western England, Galloway cows were commonly put to Shorthorn bulls to produce a vigorous hybrid.

In the later nineteenth century, selection of the Whitebred Shorthorn was begun specifically for production of white sires for these calves.

[7] This breed's shaggy coat has both a thick, woolly undercoat for warmth and stiffer guard hairs that help shed water, making them well adapted to harsher climates.