LECTURE LXV. 



CHEVIOTS. 



Origin, History, Development, and Points to Be Observed in 

 Judging and Selection of the Same. 



In the northern part of Northumberland, running northeast 

 and southwest, with the Tweed on the east and the Solway on 

 the west, are the Cheviot Hills, which with the rivers men- 

 tioned form the boundary line between England and Scotland. 

 Near these hills is Flodden, where James IV. of Scotland and 

 10,000 of the flower of Scottish nobility were slain. Around 

 these hills, too, is the country known as the Border Land, in 

 which but a few centuries ago the feuds and forays of black- 

 mailers and free booters of the type of Johnnie Armstrong 

 rendered life and property unsafe. 



These same hills from time immemorial were inhabited by 

 a hardy breed of white-faced, hornless, long-bodied sheep, with 

 rather light shoulders and covered with short, fine wool. This 

 breed is named after their native hills, the Cheviots. As to 

 their origin, history is almost silent concerning it, as is also 

 the case with the Blackfaces of the Scottish hills. . After 

 Drake and Hawkins had disorganized the Spanish Armada 

 in the English Channel, a number of the Spanish vessels 

 tried to reach Spain by sailing through the North Sea around 

 the north and west of Scotland and so reach home in safety. 

 Defeat and disaster were again in store for them on the 

 rocks west of Scotland. Some believe that the Cheviots are 

 descendants of sheep that swam ashore from some of these 

 shattered galleons of the ill-fated Armada. Others think that 

 these sheep are the survivors of a great race of sheep that 

 occupied the Scottish hills centuries ago. 



However, it is on the sloping sides of the Cheviot Hills that 

 history first finds them. Here, in their undeveloped state, 

 they wintered and summered on the short, sweet herbage that 



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