1 64 RED DEER. 



twenty, thirty, or more of them together 

 sit clown in the barn and shear the sheep. 

 It is a regular bee, on the American 

 pattern, or rather the adventurers from 

 Westward Ho ! carried the custom with 

 them across the Atlantic. A farmer who 

 would not assist his neighbour at such a 

 time and join the party would be regarded 

 as a churl ; but, as a matter of fact, none 

 ever do refuse. 



These sheep -shearing parties soon clear 

 off the work ; sometimes a farmer has six 

 hundred to be shorn, sometimes as many 

 as two thousand. It is one man's work 

 to hand the cider and refreshment round, 

 and there is many a song at night. The 

 sheep wander almost wild among the deer, 

 and are collected from the haunts of the deer 

 for the shearing. Thev have some habits 

 which resemble those of wild animals ; each 

 party or tribe of sheep, for instance, has its 

 own special feeding ground, which they 

 choose out of the moor or hillside, and 



