272 THE BOEDEK LEICESTER BREED OF SHEEP. 



gives an interesting account in a valuable article which appeared 

 in the " Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society." 



Writing in 1862, Mr Wilson says, " That thirty-five years ago, 

 and for many subsequent years, there existed a small flock of 

 Leicesters, the property of Mr Luke Scott, formerly tenant of 

 Easington Grange, near Belford," and then he goes on to describe 

 the circumstances under which this flock was reared. Mr Scott, 

 though getting the character of a steady and upright man, in the 

 course of time got into difficulties, and had to leave his farm. 

 This, however, did not lead to the dispersion of his flock. 

 Clinging to it with an almost romantic attachment, he travelled 

 with his small stock — which consisted of some twenty ewes- 

 and their progeny — from place to place, shifting from one farm 

 to another as opportunity occurred, and thus obtaining a some- 

 what precarious subsistence for his sheep. So long as Mr 

 Thomson of Chillingham Barns continued to breed, Mr Scott 

 used only his rams, and after the retirement of this breeder, he 

 continued for about twenty years, as Mr Wilson says, to main- 

 tain his stock, using entirely his own rams. Mr Scott, it is 

 stated, let out on hire as many of his rams as he could, but 

 never sold either male or female except to be slaughtered. 

 Among the characteristics that are mentioned as belonging to 

 his flock, which was separated by only one intermediate link 

 from Bakewell's, were their white faces and legs. Owning to 

 their own purity of breeding, they possessed in a remarkable 

 degree the capability of imparting their own characteristics 

 to every flock into which they were introduced. Mr Wilson 

 states that " Mr Scott never had many ram-breeders as direct 

 customers, as they objected to the comparative want of size 

 of his sheep ; but I have the best means of knowing that 

 most of them freely availed themselves of his blood by hiring 

 rams from those who did deal with him directly. So much 

 was this the case, that there is probably no Leicester flock in 

 the borders of any considerable reputation that has not this 

 blood largely in it. The comparative want of size to which I 

 have just referred always appeared to me to be less an inherent 

 quality than the inevitable consequence of long continued hard- 

 ships." From this little flock the Wellington strain was 

 obtained ; nor was this the only important service Mr Scott ren- 

 dered, for one of the principal sources to which the improvement 

 of the Compton flock was attributable was the introduction of 

 rams belono'ino- to Mr Jobson of Chillinoham, who in turn is 

 said frequently to have used sheep of Mr Scott's breeding. 



After living to see his skill and enterj)rise widely recog- 

 nised, Mr Stark died at Mellendean in 1866, but the flock 

 is still maintained on the farm, the manac^ement havinq- been 

 in the hands of the shepherd, Thomas Thomson, down to 



