HERDWICK SHEEP. 421 



There are numerous local shows held in the district, but the 

 principal one is the Felldales Association, held in Eskdale. 

 Here all the best known breeders come with a large number of 

 sheep to show in the different classes, and for sweepstakes ; keen 

 is the rivalry, and deep and profound the sheep talk on these 

 occasions. Sometimes, too, prizes are given for the best working 

 dogs, when it is a pretty sight to see these sagacious animals 

 turning, gathering, and driving in turn. The dog language 

 used by the shepherds is utterly incomprehensible to any but a 

 native. 



The jumping powers of a Herdwick require to be seen to be 

 believed. They run up dry walls like cats, and if they cannot 

 run up, they will leap immense heights. 



The legs and faces of this breed, as lambs, are black, or black 

 with a few white flecks ; but they soon begin to " brighten out," 

 till by the time they are two years old, all that was black has 

 become a frosty or silver grey, darkening slightly towards the 

 forehead, except a blue-black mark or patch at the back of the 

 neck ; any brown tinge is a defect, it being considered a less 

 hardy colour. The eye should be bright and good, and the 

 forehead broad with a tuft on it ; the ears should be white and 

 sharp, and the wool should come well up to them, and, in the 

 case of tups, form a kind of mane or heckling of a dark colour. 

 They should be wide between the fore legs, with the breast well 

 forward, and be well ribbed up to endure hardships ; the hind 

 legs should be straight, and well muttoned down to the hocks ; 

 the knees and feet should be large, the latter white, and the bone 

 between them fine ; above all, a Herdwick should stand square 

 and walk well. The ewes are not horned, but the tups generally 

 are, though not always ; when they are the horns should be 

 white and waxy, and, rising well out of the back of the head, 

 curl once or twice. Of course most sheep fall off more or less 

 from this ideal, but the commonest fault is a slackness behind 

 the shoulder. There is also in every flock a certain proportion 

 of darker coloured sheep, and these " breuked " ones, as they 

 are called, are often of the best blood ; they are not by any 

 means disliked as long as they are of a black and not a brown 

 tinge, for many people deem them hardier, and also consider 

 them useful in keeping up the distinctive markings of the breed ; 



