FOUR-HORNED SHEEP 521 



REMNANTS OF ANCIENT BREEDS 



Four-horned sheep. The diminutive Four-horned 

 Western Islands sheep of which a remnant still exists in 

 ornamental flocks in the parks and domains of the aristocracy, 

 and, in a more or less mixed condition, in some of the 

 Western Islands divides with the extinct Tanface breed the 

 distinction of having been aboriginal to Scotland. From the 

 accompanying plates (CXXXIX. to CXLI.), and from the sub- 

 joined specific information relating to two branches of their 

 progeny, a good idea may be formed of the character of the 

 breed. It was small, hardy, and like (probably) all the 

 aboriginal sheep of the British Isles, covered with a small 

 fleece of very fine wool. James Greenshields, Westown, 

 Lanarkshire, had a few years ago a small flock in the Isle of 

 Man. The wool was of many colours white, brown, black, 

 and black and white of very fine quality, but only about ij 

 Ib. per sheep. The animals weighed only 5 Ibs. or 6 Ibs. per 

 quarter, and they proved to be such indifferent nurses that they 

 were eventually put away, after producing, by Border Leicester 

 rams, lambs that ranked only as shots. One of the brown 

 Four-horned Manx rams was put among Scotch Blackface 

 Mountain ewes on Westown after the Leicester tups were 

 brought in to pick up ewes that had not settled, and among 

 the resulting lambs was a brown tup lamb with four horns 

 like his sire. The half-bred Manxman was again put with 

 the pure Blackface ewes under similar circumstances. His 

 produce were all white, even the faces, although the mothers 

 were mostly black in the face, but about one-half had four 

 horns. The practice of putting out a four-horned ram each 

 year with less and less Manx blood has been continued until 

 the last (which had, to begin with, five horns, though one was 

 broken off at an early stage) was practically and to appearance, 

 except for the horns, pure Blackface, having had five Blackface 

 crosses. Nevertheless, the persistency of the old breed is so 

 remarkable that half of the lambs still have four horns. All 

 the successive ram heads have been mounted, and form an 

 interesting and unique collection (Plate CXXXIX.). The 

 second crosses from the original Four-horned tup proved to be 

 quite as good milkers as the pure Blackfaces, and some were 

 fine large ewes, especially those that took after the mothers in 



