SHEPHERDS. 159 



country they form a distinct class, and, on enquiry, you in- 

 variably find that they are the sons of shepherds. Probably 

 if the inquiry was pursued, it would be found that the occupa- 

 tion is for the most part hereditary, and that shepherds form 

 a sort of caste among themselves. It would indeed be diffi- 

 cult to make a shepherd out of a man who had not from his 

 earliest years and associations been accustomed to follow the 

 flock, and hear all that was said about them by his father and 

 brothers. The art is imbibed with the mother's milk, and as 

 the boy grows he learns to know all about sheep instinctively, 

 and as a second nature. A true-bred shepherd probably 

 requires less training than would a town-bred lad, however 

 early he might be apprenticed to the trade. The knowledge 

 is not always easy to fathom or understand. If a shepherd 

 says a ewe will die, she is only too likely to die. If he says she 

 will get well, he is almost invariably right. He knows when 

 she is going to have twins, and he shrewdly suspects when 

 she is about to produce triplets. His prognostics as to good 

 and ill luck almost partake of the oracular, and his suspension 

 of an opinion is ominous. He does the right thing as a matter 

 of instinct, and knows what will agree or disagree with his 

 flock as if he were a sheep himself. When the master sug- 

 gests a change of food, the shepherd, as in duty bound, 

 assents; but, as also in duty bound, expresses his opinion 

 that the sheep will "scour" or "blow," or go back, or do 

 something which is not altogether desirable. Experienced 

 masters in such cases allow themselves to be guided a little, 

 and modify their orders. Inexperienced masters sometimes 

 learn to their cost that the shepherd was right. If the master 

 knows better than the shepherd about every detail, then the 

 probability is that the shepherd is not a very good one. It 

 can, indeed, hardly be expected that the farmer, who is the 

 administrator of the entire business of a large farm, should 

 know the sheep as well as a man who is with them all day, 

 and in certain seasons all night, and who knows each indivi- 

 dual of the flock as well as a schoolmaster knows every boy in 

 his school. 



