THE FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 175 



With regard to the stock kept on the farms we 

 have httle positive information, but from the absence 

 of population, and from the dearth of means of 

 communication, it seems reasonable to suppose that 

 the course of husbandry altered less among the hill 

 farmers round Exmoor than in other parts of the 

 country. The staple of their farming then, as now, 

 was keeping sheep, but they kept them solely for the 

 wool. Mutton was of no value whatever — in fact, 

 it is reported that the Sir Thomas Acland who last 

 had the hounds declared that the horned Exmoor 

 sheep were absolutely uneatable. The reason is not 

 far to seek. The breeding ewes received a trifle of 

 attention, but they and their lambs were turned out 

 on to the commons very shortly after the lambs 

 were born. Both ewes and wethers remained out 

 on the moor till they were so old that their teeth 

 broke out, and they were killed to avoid starvation. 

 There were- no turnips or rape in those days, and all 

 straw and such-like produce of the arable land was 

 devoted to feeding the cattle and the ewes just before 

 lambing. No wonder the " running wethers," as they 

 were called, were uneatable. " Might so well try to 

 eat my old shoe," as my aged friend from whom I 

 received much information on these points exclaimed. 

 The practice described above was the custom in the 

 wilder parts of the country till within living memory. 

 The introduction of turnips and winter feeding and 

 improved means of communication caused the farmers 

 to realise that early maturity and mutton paid better 



