THE BOEDER LEICESTER BREED OF SHEEP. 269 



animal, the men who, after Bakewell, did most service were the 

 Culleys, Matthew and George, the sons of the proprietor of 

 Denton, an estate of considerable extent in the county of 

 Durham, where the two brothers started farming on their 

 father's death. Hearing of what was being done at Dishley, 

 Matthew went there in 1762, and George followed in 1763, and 

 tlie outcome of these visits was the formation of an intimate 

 friendship between Bakewell and George, and the introduction 

 of Dishley rams to Denton, where they were put to cross the 

 Teeswater breed, which, it is stated, were so heavy that they 

 weighed from 40 to 50 lbs. a quarter. It is mentioned, however, 

 in Arthur Young's " Annals of Agriculture," that the Culleys 

 at no time purchased Leicester ewes, but continued hiring rams, 

 and thus, by a. long series of crossing with the Teeswater stock, 

 succeeded in establishing them as Leicesters. Maintaining all 

 along the valuable friendship of Bakewell, with whom George 

 travelled repeatedly to visit different stocks, the Culleys, in 1767, 

 took the farm of Fenton, near Wooler, some 1100 acres in extent, 

 and subsequently they added Wark and other places to their 

 holdings, till they were paying an annual rental of £6000. In 

 their treatment of sheep they adhered closely to the principles 

 adopted at Dishley, and though a breeder named Charge had pre- 

 viously brought the new blood into the north of England, this 

 introduction was a faihire; and the Culleys' stock has therefore 

 come to be regarded as that through which nearly all Border 

 Leicester stock is traced back to Bakewell. From their flock, 

 many sheep were hired for use throughout the border districts 

 on both sides of the Tweed. Amonc( the first to have dealings 

 with them was Mr liobertson of Ladykirk, who, by these and 

 other purchases from Bakewell's disciples, including j\Ir Thom- 

 son of Chillingham Barns, formed a flock in 1789 that was kept 

 together till 1830, when it was dispersed. In 1706, another 

 flock, which, however, has not been broken up, was established 

 by Mr Thomson, Bogend, whose flrst step towards inq)rovement 

 was the hiring of a tup from Wark for flfteen guineas ; this 

 being followed in 1707 by the purchase of 90 ewes from Mr 

 Iiobeitson of Ladykirk, his proprietor. For several years after 

 this, Mr Thomson continued, in conjunction with his laird, to 

 hire tups of Dishley blood, and among others from Mr Stone, 

 (j)uorndam. The sheep that still represent this stock are now 

 in the hands of ^Ir Thomson, Mungos walls, Berwickshire. 



The stock which were thus sui)planted by the new type on both 

 sides of the Tweed were the mug sheep. From what can be 

 learned of the character of tliesc^ animals, it is not surprising 

 that tlie change was so readily welcomed. Speaking of them, 

 tlie ** Xortliuml)erland Farmer" says: — "I found tliem truly 

 mugged. They were grown with wunl all over their faces so 



