Mountain Breeds of Sheep. 367 



and breechings cannot be used with the rest, Kendal is the great 

 mart for it, and 18.?. 9f/. per stone is thought a good price. Much 

 of it is used for coarse woollens and rugs, and it often returns 

 to its native dales in the shape of full cloth suits for the wintei*. 

 Clipping day in July is the dalesmen's festival of the year. 

 They discuss the prowess of "the Patterdale dogs" (which Mr. 

 Marshall, M.P., sends over periodically to keep down the foxes) 

 as well as the merits of their tups and their collies, one of which 

 is reputed to have left 102 pups behind her, and they pass the 

 rest of the time with " bits of sangs," and in drinking " Con- 

 fusion to the Scab" and " Pack Sheets and Ready Money," until 

 the barrel of nut-brown ale is ready for turning at last. 



The hill ranges of Yorkshire and Lancashire are believed to 

 be the earliest home of the Lonks. We find them extending 

 north from Clitheroe over the Forest of Bowland towards Lan- 

 caster, east by Colne and Skipton as far as Keighley and Ben 

 Rhydding, and south along " the backbone of England," by 

 Pendle Hill, Burnley, Todmorden, and Bacup, almost to 

 Blackstone Edge, The Penistone breed, a shorter and thicker 

 description of Lonk, then hold the hills ; and Saddleworth has 

 also a large and plain sheep of its own, with a white face and 

 legs and coarse bone. The Saddleworth is a slower feeder than 

 the common Lonk, with which it is often crossed for the sake of 

 size, and its wool, which is worth as much, is a little closer and 

 shorter in the staple. Derbyshire has also Lonks on most of its 

 hills and peaks, and its flock-masters often go over to " report 

 progress " at the Craven Show. 



Where there is a mere copyhold fell-right attached to a Lonk 

 farm, the wether lambs are nearly always sold, but never where 

 a flock-master has a great fell range, as for instance, on the hills 

 behind Bacup. A right of common is attached to many farms, 

 and the flocks go mixed, with nothing but the ' Lonk Book of 

 Marks ' as a guide to the owners. The old system of the flock 

 going with the farm has been worked out except in one instance. 

 It very much tended to support purity of breed ; as now, if there 

 is a flock of pure Lonks on a farm, the incoming tenant will not 

 give the price for them, and commences forthwith to cross. On 

 the fells from beyond Bowland Forest to Lancaster there are 

 Blackface flocks, but some of the owners have lost on the 

 wool and have accordingly fallen back on the old sort. The 

 Falkirk Blackface ewe drafts still come over Foulscales and . 

 Browsholme on their way from the trysts, and sometimes wait at 

 Birket Moor to gather a little bloom before they proceed to 

 Clitheroe Fair. Lonks in their turn have gone as far as Suther- 

 landshire and the Grampian ranges between Perthshire and 



VOL. II. — S. S. 2 B 



