CHAPTER XI 



THE SHROPSHIRE 



History. Old Types. The Shropshire was developed into a 

 distinct breed in the counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire, in 

 central western England. Because of extensive areas of pasture on 

 both hill and cultivated lands, flock husbandry was a prominent 

 feature in the agriculture of these counties long before the time 

 of modern Shropshire. Certain types of sheep were confined to 

 different parts, the more important of these being Morfe Common, 

 Cannock Chase, Long Mynd, and Whittington Heath. The sheep 

 were named after the locality to which they belonged, and, although 

 they bore an unmistakable resemblance to each other, they were 

 somewhat different and were regarded as separate types. It is also 

 probable that they were not markedly unlike the old stock on the 

 Southdown Hills from which the Southdown breed was developed. 

 They were active, hardy, accustomed to running at large without a 

 shepherd, and little subject to scab or foot rot. They yielded from 

 two to three pounds of wool, which was graded with the choicest 

 produced in England. As a rule, they matured slowly and when 

 fatted at two or three years of age, weighed from 75 to 110 pounds. 

 Lack of width and a drop behind the .shoulders were their most 

 pronounced faults in conformation. They varied in face and leg 

 markings from spotted to dark brown or black, and with the excep- 

 tion of the Cannock Chase, they were horned (Fig. 67). 



Method of Development. Writers are not agreed as to the 

 way in which the Shropshire was made. Some maintain that it was 

 formed by selecting and mating the best from the old native breeds 

 of the two counties, while others say that it came into existence 

 through the crossing of improved Southdowns, Leicesters, and Cots- 

 wolds' on the native stock. Alfred Mansell, Secretary of the Eng- 

 lish Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association, and a leading author- 

 ity, states that there are no reliable records showing how improve- 

 ment in size, in uniformity of character, and in value and weight of 

 fleece was effected. He further says : " In the early days, some his- 

 torians say that the Southdown ram was introduced for this purpose, 

 whilst others equally well qualified to express an opinion assert that 

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