510 Mr. Rennie on the Contrivances 



tion, if the snow fall deep and lie long ; it therefore becomes 

 one of the most painful tasks of the shepherd in such circum- 

 stances to keep his sheep steadily in the very brunt of the blast. 

 This I was at least told by an old shepherd whom I encoun- 

 tered at night-fall the end of December, 1808, in a wild moun- 

 tainous pass, near Douglas, on the borders of Lanarkshire, 

 who was actually engaged in thus guarding his flock in as heavy 

 a fall of snow as I recollect ever witnessing. The Ettrick 

 Shepherd, in an intensely interesting narrative, entitled 

 * Snow Storms/ in his Shepherd's Calendar, does not allude to 

 this propensity in sheep ; though it may be inferred that they 

 had acted upon it, from his having found a number buried 

 under the snow by the side of a high bank, under which, no 

 doubt, they had fled for shelter, at the onset of the storm. 

 Though sheep, from their mode of life, ought to be hardy, they 

 exhibit an anxiety for procuring shelter well worthy of remark. 

 It is mentioned by Lord Kames*, that the ewe, several weeks 

 before yeaning, selects some sheltered spot where she may 

 drop her lamb with the most comfort and security ; and Hogg, 

 in the volume just referred to, gives an instance in which a ewe 

 travelled to a great distance to the spot where she had been 

 accustomed to drop her lambs ; but what was still more remark- 

 able, a ewe, the offspring of this ewe, though removed to a 

 distance when a few days old, returned to the same spot to 

 drop her first lambf . 



The care taken by insects for warmth is shewn by the early 

 appearance of some species. Although few insects are seen 

 during cold weather, yet on fine days some are always stirring; 

 but it is much less wonderful to see the larger butterflies (Va- 

 nessa Urticce, Gonepteryx Rhamni, &c.) braving the cold, in- 

 asmuch as their bodies and wings are warmly clothed with 

 down and feathers, than some of the more delicate moths 

 (Tortricida, Tineadcs) which appear to be far less comfortably 

 clothed. The common hive-bees, when tempted by a glimpse 

 of sunshine to leave their hive, frequently perish of cold before 

 they can effect their return, though they also have a tolerably 

 thick coat of hair for their defence. This early appearance of 

 bees, however, as well as of some butterflies, may be considered 



* G^ntltmau Farmer, p. 45. f Shepherd's Calendar, Chapter on Sheep. 



