410 THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



bred for generations rather than to any separate origin, for in 

 all other features the Welsh mountain sheep is alike in all 

 localities. Even in the same county, Cardigan, as mentioned by 

 Youatt, the wool in the northern parts differs from that of the 

 more southern parts of the county. The wool on the Pembroke- 

 shire range of mountains adjoining is particularly fine, and in 

 much demand by the local weavers, who formerly were the only 

 purchasers of wool that were known in Wales. 



The manufacture of flannels and woollen cloths was until 

 recently an important branch of the industry of this country. 

 Formerly all the woollen goods used were what is called " home 

 made." The ordinary rural farmer walked and slept in woollen 

 goods grown on his own sheep ; the coat on his back, the blanket 

 on his bed, were the natural produce of the farm. The spinning 

 wheel could be heard humming at one season of the year for 

 weeks in his house preparing blankets for his bed, dresses for 

 his wife, or petticoats for his daughters. He knew nothing of 

 English broadcloth. Corduroy or fustian breeches might be 

 indulged in, but all else the good man wore, except his boots 

 and hat, were made from the wool of his own sheep. The 

 cloak, gown, jacket, skirt of his wife and daughter were of like 

 material, and there was no dealing in hosiery in the shops ; for 

 the stockings of the family — black or grey — were spun and 

 knitted in his own house. A weaver with a hand loom lived in 

 every village, or a small water mill in a glen close by converted 

 the home-spun yarn into flannel or cloths. The dyes used were 

 few — black, blue, or red. Red shawls, or whittles, as they were 

 called, were formerly much in use ; and a goodly array of the 

 female peasantry clad in these is said to have dismayed the 

 French when they landed at Strumble Head, in North Pembroke- 

 shire, in 1797, who thought they were soldiers, and anticipating 

 an overwhelming force of infantry, laid down their arms. The 

 agricultural labourer and his family had a horror of English 

 goods. The servant maids at the fairs even now bargain for one 

 or two pounds of wool along with their fixed wages. The wool 

 is converted into clothes or bedclothes, and is generally the only 

 dowry they have on their marriage, and these not being made of 

 shoddy, last with care a lifetime. The stockings worn by the 

 female population being invariably black, and black being much 



