92 SHEEP ! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



stirring, and, if true,* the Herdwick sheep may be looked 

 upon as the most lasting memorial of one of the greatest 

 events in English history the destruction of the famous 

 Armada in 1588. For 300 years they have held their own, 

 and are likely to do so as being perfectly suited to their habitat. 

 I cannot do better than quote the excellent description of 

 the Herdwick as given by Mr. James Bowstead, than whom 

 no one knows the race better. " The essential points of a 

 Herdwick maybe briefly summed up as follows: A heavy 

 fleece of fairly strong wool disposed to be hairy on the top of 

 the shoulder, growing well down to the knees and hocks, pole 

 and belly well covered, a broad bushy tail, and a well-defined 

 topping head broad, nose arched or Roman, nostrils and mouth 

 wide, teeth broad and short, jaws deep, showing strength of 

 constitution and determination, eye prominent and lively, and, 

 in the male, defiant, ears white, fine, erect, and always moving, 

 as has been said, like a butterfly's wing. . . . The colour 

 or markings of the face and legs is very important. There 

 should be no spots or speckles, nor any token of brown, as 

 these are considered sure tokens of a cross. When the lambs 

 are born their legs and heads should be perfectly black, with 

 the exception of a little white on the tips of the ears, and per- 

 haps a few white hairs round the feet. These white hairs 

 gradually increase, so that at six months old one-third or half 

 the ear will be hoar-frosted, and there will be distinct bands 

 of the same round the feet, shading off to the black of the leg, 

 and by this time also about an inch of the muzzle will have 

 become frosted too. This change of colour goes on until some, 

 at the age of three years, are perfectly white, whilst others 

 remain a kind of steel grey. . . . Horns in the rams are 



* Like many other traditions this may, however, be open to doubt, as it 

 is also stated on authority that the Herdwick sheep were originally derived 

 from a ship stranded early in the last century, which was lost on the Cumber- 

 land coast. The sheep were saved and driven up the country, and purchased 

 by some farmers who lived at Wardale Head in the neighbourhood of Kcs- 

 wick. -J. W. 



