FOUR-HORNED SHEEP IN SCOTLAND 105 



district. But, in addition, a new area creeps into the state- 

 ment ; and Prof. Walker, in recording them for South Uist, 

 mentions Hebridean four-horned sheep, so far as I know, 

 for the first time. 



A last quotation must complete this slender collection. 

 It is contained in a detailed and excellent paper, " Observa- 

 tions on the Natural and Medical History of the Zetland 

 Sheep," read by Dr Arthur Edmonston before the Wernerian 

 Natural History Society of Edinburgh in 18 10, and published 

 in the Memoirs of that Society in the following year. 



In this, the earliest detailed account of the Shetland 

 breed, Dr Edmonston says: "The native Zetland sheep is 

 very small, compared with those of the southern parts of 

 Scotland and England, the carcase not weighing more, on 

 an average, than thirty pounds. It is of a handsome shape, 

 hardy, and very swift and agile. The general length from 

 the tip of the nose to the root of the tail is about thirty- 

 eight inches, and the height from the top of the shoulder 

 to the sole of the foot, fourteen inches. The tail seldom 

 exceeds three inches in length. The horns are small and 

 the ears stand erect. The ram has sometimes four large 

 and beautiful horns. The upper pair gradually diverge a 

 little backwards, and then curve in towards the ears and 

 sides of the head, in a spiral form, somewhat like those on 

 the head of a black-faced heath ram of Yorkshire. The 

 lower pair are nearly of a semi-circular shape, with the 

 extremities almost meeting under the throat. . . . Generally 

 speaking, softness and fineness are characteristic properties 

 of Zetland wool, in which respects it is not surpassed even 

 by the merino wool." 



From these quotations, then, it would appear that an 

 early breed of Scottish sheep was distinguished by its small 

 size of body, by the fineness of its wool and the shortness 

 of its tail, by its horned ewes, and the frequent occurrence, 

 especially amongst the rams, of horns in groups of four 

 or more. These characters have persisted in common since 

 at latest the middle of the sixteenth century till the present 

 day. But whereas to-day a mere remnant of the breed is 

 to be found, isolated on the outlying islands of Scotland, 

 29 O 



