THE WELSH MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 125 



exposed mountain localities, or on our unsheltered northern plains, 

 for such a sheep as this ; a race hardy and self-dependent, and 

 that would produce choice mutton, and a fleece well adapted for 

 rural manufactures of coarse cloths, carpets, blankets, and rugs. 



THE WELSH MOUNTAIN SHEEP. This breed is said to be one 

 of the indigenous races of Britain. Formerly, it probably roamed 

 over hill and lowland of the whole of Wales and adjoining parts 

 of England. Of late, more profitable breeds have usurped its 

 place in the cultivated lowlands, and have driven it into the re- 

 motest pastures or stretches of barren moor, bearing only gorse 

 and heather, upon the sides and summits of the Welsh mountains. 

 Here it has so far found a resting place, furnishing those very 

 small, but highly appreciated legs and hind quarters, which are 

 valued on the tables of wealthy Englishmen as the rarest deli- 

 cacies. These legs weigh about 4 Ibs., and the whole hind quar- 

 ters from? to 10 Ibs., and are sold at the confectioner's and fancy 

 grocer's shops, at two or three times the price of ordinary mutton. 

 A recollection of the tender sweetness of one of these Welsh legs 

 is apt to give a higher appreciation of these small sheep than 

 might be profitable for a farmer to entertain, yet it is a question 

 if there are not many localities amongst our mountain ranges, 

 where flocks of these small hardy sheep could be kept with profit. 

 As might be expected, these sheep are hardy and good nurses to 

 their lambs, rarely producing more than one, except when crossed 

 with improved breeds. The rams are horned, but ewes rarely 

 so ; their faces are white, rusty brown, speckled, or gray. The 

 head is small and is carried high ; the neck long ; the shoulders 

 low ; the rump high ; the chest narrow ; the sides flat ; and the 

 girth small. The average fleece yields about 2 Ibs. of wool, the 

 best of which furnishes the material for the valued Welth flannel, 

 which never shrinks in washing, and of which sheets and blankets 

 are made that last a lifetime. The Welsh wool is all home-spun, 

 and is woven at home into all sorts of clothing and domestic 

 goods ; the farmers and their families being wholly clothed in 

 woolen. The cloths are home dyed, either black, blue, or red. 

 The red cloth furnishes the material for the women's cloaks, which 

 are universally worn, and which when a French army landed on 

 the Welsh coast, in 1797, were mistaken by them for the red coats 

 of British soldiers, and ltd to their immediate and unconditional 

 surrender before the mistake was discovered. This race of sheep, 

 comparatively so puny, is a source of much comfort and wealth to 

 the Welsh people, and attempts to supplant it by the Cheviot and 

 Black-faced sheep, have so far failed. No other sheep can com- 



