1 



KEEP.] NATURAL HISTORY. 285 



eaned. And cold water of the North is good to them in 

 summer, and warm water of the South is good to them in 

 harvest. And herds know which of them may dure 

 [endure] in winter; for upon some is found ice, and upon 

 some none ice is found ; and some of them be feeble, and 

 may not shake off the ice ; and those that have long tails 

 may worse away-with winter than those that have broad 

 tails. And wool of Sheep that a wolf eateth is infected ; 

 and the cloth that is made thereof is lousy. Also in Sheep 

 is less wit and understanding than in another four-footed 



beast. Also thundering maketh solitary Sheep to cast their 

 lambs ; the remedy and help thereof is to gather and bring 

 them together into one flock. 



Bartholomew (Bertkelet), bk. xviii. 81. 



OF Sheep, their wool is a singular benefit in a common- 

 wealth, especially the Cotswold wool for fineness. And in 

 Bartholomew's time, the staple for wool was not so well 

 husbanded as it hath ; been since. The increase of pasture 

 for Sheep hath so much decreased the tillage of corn, that, 

 until it be restored again, there will grow a poor common- 



