ABERDEEN TO THE SHETLANBS. 17 



which it and North Mavin are said to excel. They 

 pass a strange, tameless existence, and continue to 

 the last as shy as a rabbit. In June their owners 

 muster a posse comitatus, of all ages and sizes, to 

 sweep the hill. A dog is worse than useless, as the 

 sheep never "pack" in a panic. A skilful woman 

 can pull one in five minutes, and a three-shear (if we 

 can use the term) will produce nearly 21bs. There 

 are three kinds of wool on one sheep, all varying in 

 quality. The fine-woolled or " the beaver" sheep has 

 this fur or down all over it, under the protection of 

 the coarse hairs ; whereas it is only found on the 

 neck and a few other parts of a less kindly one. The 

 white and light-grey wools vary from Is. 8d. to 2s- 

 2d. per Ib. ; and brown, or a peculiar shade of it 

 called " Mooriah Mound," will reach half-a-crown. 

 The best sorts are knit by hand into those 

 veils which defy ^Eolus, and those still more 

 remarkable shawls from a yard to two yards square, 

 which can be drawn through a wedding-ring, 

 weigh little more than four ounces, take upwards of 

 a year to make, and are sold as high as five guineas. 

 Stockings are generally made from the coarser sorts, 

 but a pair from the high-class wool will fetch a 

 very great price. Every part of the staple has 

 its use, and the refuse, when decomposed after the 

 stocking process, is made into hats. If the sheep are 

 taken south, they still carry the traces of their bleak 

 and hedgeless birthplace in their manners and their 

 blood. A seven-foot wall will not keep them in, and 



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