WELSH MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 413 



fences, are as nought to these wild creatures. A purchase of 

 ewes at a fair to-day spreads in the direction of the four winds 

 to-morrow, unless extreme precaution be taken, and the secret 

 of their whereabouts is sometimes found to be the house-tops 

 of neighbouring cottages. To prevent their marauding pro- 

 clivities — for no professional shepherds are kept — they are 

 bound with fetters — "lonkers," as they are called in some 

 parts — made of woven rush or hempen fillets. These extend 

 from the fore to the hind leg, leaving the extremity of each 

 limb from twelve to eighteen inches apart. Sometimes an 

 occasional sheep — the ringleader of the flock — has a fetter on 

 each side; and if putting them on in the usual way be not 

 found sufficient to stay the wanderings of the wicked one, both 

 fetters are crossed, from the fore foot on one side to the hind 

 foot on the opposite side — and it is surprising to see how they 

 go about even under these difficulties. 



Attempts have been made to supersede these sheep in their 

 native mountain homes by Cheviots and other breeds, but the 

 change has not been found to answer. No sheep suit the 

 mountain tops of the country so well as the indigenous breed, 

 and the most profitable on the lower ranges of poor soil and 

 waste lands are a cross with the native stock. Welsh moun- 

 tain sheep are likely to hold pre-eminent sway in their strong- 

 holds at high altitudes for many generations to come, and as 

 long as the geological structure and the climatic influences of 

 the country remain unchanged. 



