MOUNTAIN OR FOREST BREEDS. 8l 



CHAPTER IX. 

 MOUNTAIN OR FOREST BREEDS. 



THE breeds of sheep yet to notice are denizens of mountains, 

 moors and fells. They roam over the free expanse, and add 

 life to the scene. They are collectors of revenue, and that 

 from the most unpromising situations, and in fact constitute 

 the best means by which the mountain pastures can be con- 

 verted into wealth. Whether on the sterile uplands of the 

 Scotch Highlands, the more southern Lammermuirs, the 

 border hills of Cheviot, the wild moors of Northumberland, 

 Cumberland, Lancashire, Durham, or Yorkshire, the peak 

 district of Derbyshire, or the picturesque localities of Exmoor 

 and Dartmoor, these breeds of sheep are to be found. They 

 are unconfined by hurdles or sheep-nets, and innocent of those 

 artificial systems of feeding and forcing which are so im- 

 portant in the management of lowland flocks. What would 

 be the fate of a pampered Lincoln, Romney Marsh, or even 

 of an Oxfordshire or Hampshire Down, if turned out upon 

 the higher slopes of Ben Lomond or the hills of Ochtertyre ? 

 How would they stand the storms of Cheviot or of the braes 

 of Ballochmyle ? Truly, each breed of sheep or of cattle is 

 adapted for its own particular surroundings, and bold is the 

 man who would advocate one particular race as suitable for 

 all localities. We shall commence our study of the mountain 

 breeds with the Black-faces of the Scotch Highlands, and 

 Afterwards notice the hardy race of the Cheviots, the Herd- 

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