THE RYELAND 597 



polled breed, with wool growing close to and sometimes 

 covering the eyes. The weight of fleece rarely exceeded 

 2 Ibs., but " it possessed a degree of fineness unequalled by 

 any other British breed. There was a strong resemblance to 

 the Merino ewe, which, " with the peculiar character of the 

 wool, led to the suspicion that the Ryeland was of foreign 

 extraction." The exceptional practice of cotting or shutting 

 them up in close houses where they were fed at night " with 

 hay, barley, straw or pease-haulm " during winter, to preserve 

 the wool and save them from rot, was accepted as additional 

 evidence of the truth of the conjecture, although " the Hereford 

 breed of sheep [presumably the Ryeland] was well known so 

 early as the year 1343." The Ryeland strongly resembled one 

 of the various strains of early Shropshires, not only in wool but 

 in " a striking similarity of form and appearance." It is also 

 recorded that " our earliest writers on the sheep speak of the 

 Ryeland as standing at the head of the short-woolled breeds " ; 

 and according to Herbert this breed " almost exclusively, in 

 early times of sheep-husbandry, extended longitudinally 

 through those districts from the Thames to the Tyne, and 

 the Cotswolds were produced by a cross between the 

 Ryeland and some heavy sheep. ... In the course of 

 years the Ryelands were gradually displaced by a heavy 

 sheep over the greater part of the counties other than 

 Herefordshire." When Merinos were first introduced into 

 England it was sought to make them hardier by repeated 

 crossing with the Ryeland, but the " scheme was abandoned," 

 as was also the attempt to cross the Ryeland with the Merino, 

 " since they appeared as if they were varieties of the same 

 breed, as the first cross detracted much from the beauty of 

 the English sheep, although the wool was improved and the 

 tendency to fatten not impaired." " The Ryelands were also 

 crossed, and that to a very considerable extent, by the 

 Leicesters, but at great sacrifice of the fineness of the wool. 

 It was likewise thought that the delicate flavour of the 

 mutton in the Ryeland sheep was impaired and almost lost, 

 although that of the Leicester was improved." By this 

 means the Ryeland wool was converted into a combing 

 quality the fibre being" lengthened and somewhat thickened, 

 fitting it for other and exceedingly valuable purposes " ; and 

 the Ryeland sheep, which could scarcely be much improved 



