'^94 Account of the Norihumherland Breed of Sheep. Aug* 



that I examined them with a very attentive and fcrutlniz- 

 ing eye, and found them fo truly mugged^ or grown with wool 

 all over their faces, that I could fcarcely fee their eyes. It Is 

 difHcult to account for the produ£lion of fuch a breed, and ftill 

 more fo for the preference given to it by the breeders of that 

 period, in opposition to the tafte of thofe in every other part of 

 the ifland. Indeed, among the numerous bad breeds then to be 

 found, and which arc ftill to be met with in various diftri£ls, 

 I do not remember to have feen any one {o completely 

 ugly. The wool grew down to their very toes; their loins 

 were high and narrow ; their flioulders ftiarp, and hollow 

 behind ; their fides flat ; and their wool Hiort, and not at all 

 fine. At that period (fomething r»ore than thirty years ago), 

 there was not a finale pack of long, or combing, wool to be 

 found in all Glendale Ward, though hundreds are now produced 

 there. 



Upon the coafl, all the way from North Durham, fouthward 

 along the diftricl: called Bamburghfhire, to the extenfive parifli 

 of Warkworth, inclufive, long wool has been grown, I fuppofe, 

 for time out of mind \ and it is probable that the mugged breed 

 liad been more peculiarly confined to the low parts of Glendale 

 and Coquetdaie Wards. The coaft breed, though far fron^i being 

 a valuable one, pofleil'ed many good qualities, which the mugs 

 were deftitutc of. The former, in general, were pretty fins 

 fhaped fheep, carried a nice fleece of combing wool, and had 

 tolerably good open looks, and clean legs. Their wool was not 

 fo long and open as it now generally is \ but was thick planted, 

 and the filaments of finer quality. This fuperiority was obtained 

 by frequent crofles with the Lincolnlhire breed ; which, at that 

 time, were of a more feeding quality, and finer wooled, than 

 fome years afterwards, previous to their being erofled with the 

 new Leiceilers. As a proof of the finenefs of the LincoInOiire 

 wool at the period alluded to, 1 need only obferve, that the late 

 Mr James Robfon of Chatto, a moft refpe(^able man, and breeder 

 of Cheviot fheep, who then lived at Scotch Belford, purchafed 

 fome tups from a Mr Mumby, near Barton upon Humber, in 

 Lincolnlhire, who at that time flood high as a ram breeder. 

 Thefe tups, without injuring the quality, greatly increafed the 

 quantity of the wool, and gave Mr Robfon fuch a decided fupe- 

 riority over his hill neighbours, that, for many years after making 

 the crofs, he fold more tups than one half of the hill farmers put 

 together. Perhaps his fons, who are very eminent breeders of 

 Cheviot fheep, may ftill retain thi» fuperiority ; at leafl I know 

 nothing to the contrary. 



Many 



