White. — Notes on Coloured Sheep. 403 



" The breed has been at Tabley for nearly two hundred 

 years, as shown by an old paintmg of the house at a certain 

 date. Lord de Tabley has, I think, no special name for them 

 but 'spotted.' The Tabley rams had straight horns — nearly all 

 had four, and very long; but when he had a ram from me many 

 came with the twisted horns, and Lord de Tabley complained 

 that I had spoilt the beauty of his flock. At Tabley they kept 

 all the rams for ornament, and never ate any of the mutton. 

 These gentry were let live as long as they could, and amused 

 themselves by continual fighting. I treat my flock as other 

 flocks are treated, and have no other mutton. 



" An officer told me he had seen such in the Basque 

 Provinces, and there are many in Shetland more or less 

 spotted, and Shetland has great trade with Spain. The Shet- 

 land people don't like the spotted ones, so the marking is not 

 distinct, not being desired — that is, the spotted ones are got 

 rid of. 



" The size of the Tabley horns has much decreased — from, 

 I suppose, breeding in-and-in. Many years ago a Spanish 

 beggar-woman came here carrying a child on her back. I told 

 her I could not speak Spanish; but she said, 'There are many 

 of my countrymen here.' I made out that it was the sheep, 

 and she explained that when the child saw the sheep it cried 

 out that it recognised countrymen. I asked her more, and 

 she said there w'ere numbers of them where she lived ; but I 

 forget what part of Spain. The merino sheep are totally 

 distinct. 



" We have had some curious facts in breeding. When 

 Lord de Tabley had a curly-horned ram from here, the rams 

 had cm-ly horns almost exclusively; when, by an accident, our 

 spotted rams got to white ewes, the lambs were all black ; 

 when a white tup has got to our spotted ewes, the lambs were 

 all ivhite and very white. I always kill any crossbred lambs, 

 so I can't say what their progeny would be. 



"You may observe that the black wool is harsher and 

 more curly than the white on the same sheep. This, years 

 ago, made our wool less valuable than the white, but now the 

 buyers make no difference, and I believe for some Scotch 

 manufactures the mixture is liked, as it makes an undyed 

 brown. 



" Early in summer I always observe that the spots of black 

 are below the level of the white ground. It is odd that I have 

 never seen a black ground with white spots, except sometimes 

 a white cap, never on the body. 



" Yours faithfully, 



" H. Dkyden. 



" Our sheep average about 561b., and some wethers go up 

 to 751b." 

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