The Scottish Naturalist 



No. 3] 1912 [March 



NOTES ON THE PRIMITIVE BREEDS OF 

 SHEEP IN SCOTLAND. 



By H. J. Elwes, F.R.S. 



( Concluded from page 32.) 



Manx Sheep. 



Though not a Scotch breed, yet the aboriginal sheep of 

 the Isle of Man are so nearly allied to the Shetland breed, 

 that whatever their origin may be, I will describe them here. 



So far as I know, no one had mentioned this breed until 

 Parkinson 1 (vol. i., p. 252) speaks of them as the smallest 

 breed in Britain. He gives the average dead weight at 20 lbs., 

 the maximum at 32 lbs. at three years old, and says that the 

 mutton is equal to any kind. 



Youatt says that they are small on the hills, seldom 

 exceeding 8 or to lbs. a quarter, and producing a fleece of 

 short or middle wool, weighing 2h lbs. They bear much 

 resemblance to the Welsh sheep, and have most of their 

 peculiarities and bad points. They are narrow-chested, 

 narrow-backed, and deficient in the shoulders. They are 

 found both horned and polled, mostly of a white colour, 

 but some of them grey, and others of a peculiar snuff or 

 brown colour, termed on the island a loaghtan colour. This 

 colour, either covering the whole sheep or appearing in the 

 form of a patch on the neck, is considered as the peculiar 

 badge of the Isle of Man sheep. The spelling of this word, 

 according to Cregeen's Manx Dictionary, is lugJidoan, meaning 

 1 Parkinson on Live Stock, London, 18 10. 

 3 G 



