* PERTH TO KEIE. 307 



ewe and wedder farmers have been increased ; and the 

 flocks, of which Williamson of Glenlochy and Hal- 

 liday (who marches with the Black Forest) and his 

 neighbour James Men zies have large ones, are nearly 

 all blackfaced, with a very slight Cheviot sprink- 

 ling. 



Once the sprittle or speckled faced were more the 

 fashion; but now the Irish purchasers like them 

 darker in the face and greyer in the legs. The 

 Aberdeenshire people also look out for the sprittle- 

 faced not the pure white with spots on the face 

 when they go to West Linton fair. They always 

 think them more growthy sheep, and when they 

 have not hard but good " rotten horns" (or open at 

 the end), it is generally symptomatic of much better 

 thriving. The West Linton wedder lambs are gene- 

 rally allowed to go about two weeks longer entire 

 than the North or West Highland stocks, which gives 

 strength to the horn and bone. They are, in fact, 

 a stronger class of sheep, and fully better woolled. 

 Many of the tups used both in Perthshire, Argyle- 

 shire, and Inverness -shire, are bred in Ayrshire as 

 well as Lanarkshire, and a large proportion of the 

 ewe hoggs are from the latter county as well. The 

 ewe and wedder hoggs nearly always come down to 

 winter on the grass ; some go as far as Greenhill and 

 Airdrie, and unless they are highly wintered, they 

 will never realize the five fleeces to the 241b. stone. 



Mr. Lucas of the Bridge of Allan is the largest 

 dealer in these parts, and sends carcases to London, 



x 2 



