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not help pitying when thrown down to be shorn ; 

 though they looked a great deal more comfortable 

 as soon as they were relieved from their thick 

 hot clothing. 



I saw some of them washed a day or two 

 before the shearing began ; their fleeces were 

 well rubbed and rinced in the stream, and then 

 the poor creatures ran to a sunny bank, 



Where, bleating loud, they shook their dripping locks. 



My uncle told me that England has been always 

 famous for its sheep and their rich fleeces, the 

 various qualities of which are so well suited to the 

 different branches of our woollen manufactures ; 

 but it is the Downs of Dorsetshire, and all the 

 southern and western counties, which supply thoge 

 sheep whose fleeces are employed in making the 

 finest broad cloth. 



We stayed till the men ceased working, and till 

 we had seen the shearers and all their assistants 

 sitting downto a comfortable supper, with abund- 

 ance of cider; we then left them, and came 

 home by a long winding path. We were quite 

 in the dark for some of the last part of the walk, 

 which gave me an opportunity of seeing the 

 English glow-worm on the dry banks at the edge 

 of the forest. 



When evening closes Nature's eye, 

 The glow-worm lights her little spark 



To captivate her favourite fly, 

 And tempt the rover through the dark, 



