BRITISH suKKP.] AND TIlElli VAlilOL/S JWiKKDS. 



[buitisu sheep. 



pleasing picture of the manners of the ago in 

 the time of Alfred, of whom it is said — 



"His godemothcr ofte siiinl gyftes to liiiu slu- kiiully 

 toko. 

 For to li'vc o'bcr pli-, auJ lokc upon liis bokc." 



This godmother seems to have had a just 

 approciation of the s^oiiius of Alfred, and is 

 said to have been skilled in the spinning of 

 wool, and to have busied herself in training 

 her daughters to the same employment. From 

 this circumstance, it would appear that the 

 long wool had now begun to bo employed, 

 although the manufactures of the AViuchester 

 mills continued to be held in due estimation. 

 In point of fact, remote as this period is, the 

 woollen manufacture may be said to have 

 already begun to assume a considerable degree 

 of importance, as various breeds of sheep were 

 cultivated, and diflferent kinds of cloth made, 

 so as to constitute it the principal source of 

 employment and wealth in the country. At 

 the time of the Conquest, we find it stated, 

 that an acre of land and four sheep were about 

 the same value. In the Saxon period, sheep 

 were valued at one shilling per head until 

 fourteen weeks after Easter, when, in all like- 

 lihood, they had attained to a higher condition 

 from the grass having sprung up, and, conse- 

 quently, aflbrdiug a better supply of pasture. 

 Both in lOil and 1125, a great destruction 

 took place among sheep on account of some 

 destructive epidemic ; and this might be one 

 reason why the price of sheep, subsequently, 

 became much higher. In the reign of 

 Henry I. the price rose to 20s., and in that of 

 Henry II., 25s. In the earlier part of the 

 fourteenth century, a variety of breeds had 

 been cultivated, and the prices for the different 

 kinds of wool varied considerably. The pro- 

 duce of the Shropshire sheep was sold at 

 £9 Gs. 8c?. per sack ; whilst the Cornish wool, 

 no doubt the produce of a mountain or forest 

 breed, was only £1; per sack. 



The first determined and general improve- 

 ment of the sheep took place in the reign of 

 Henry III. ; but the great impetus to sheep- 

 farming was given by the introduction of 

 turnips. This well-known plant is cultivated 

 for its bulbous roots, both in the garden and 

 the field, and was originally introduced from 

 Flanders into Norfolk two centuries ago, and 



from Norfolk was carried into the south of 

 Scotland and tho north of England, about a 

 century after. In IGSl, we find Mr. A\''orlid';o 

 .saying — "Sheep fatten very well on turnips, 

 which prove an exocHent nourishment for 

 them in hard winters, when fodder is scarce ; 

 for they will not only eat the greens, but feed 

 on tlie roots in tho ground, and scoop them 

 hollow oven to tho skin. Ten acres sown with 

 clover and turnips, will feed as many sheep as 

 ono hundred acres would havo done before." 

 Previous to the introduction of this invaluable 

 root, it is not easy to see how large flocks of 

 sheep could be kept alive throughout a long 

 winter. It must bo remembered that flocks 

 were so extensive as to require a vast amount 

 of provender. Harrison, who wrote a century 

 before AV'^orlidge, says that the farmer pos- 

 sessed as many as 20,000 sheep, notwithstand- 

 ing that an act had been previously passed 

 restricting one man to the number of 2,000. 

 In 1002, according to the Berkeleyan MSS., 

 the price of a " sheepe was vi.ss. ;" and, 

 according to the same authority, in the time 

 of Edward I., " a fat sheepe was worth from 

 XYii.d. to XX. d., a lambe i.d. ;" "a weight of 

 woll," in Eicliard II. 's time (twenty-one 

 pounds) "was v.s." Distinctions between 

 grass-fed and corn-fed sheep — winter and 

 summer mutton — were made by act of par- 

 liament in 1314. It determined the price of 

 a "corn-fed sheep." "A lambe" is spoken of 

 as being worth x.d. or xii.d. in the reign of 

 the first Eichard. In 1G09, there were said to 

 be twelve millions of sheej) in Britain, and the 

 carcass value of each was Is. 4d. The fleece 

 averaged about 10s. 4:d.; and, the boast of the 

 writers of the period is, that " no country but 

 England and Ireland, having a sward or turf, 

 would bear sheep producing the wool of which 

 the English draperies were made." Tiiey 

 were willing to let the Spanish wool have the 

 palm for the costly dresses of the peer ; but it 

 was insignificant — " not above 9,000 pieces of 

 these Spanish cloths were sent abroad;" and 

 these were only for the "wear of the richer 

 sort." 



AVe will now consider individually the 

 various breeds which have obtained amongst 

 us, and which we will class separately, under 

 the heads of long-ivoolleti and short -icooUed 

 species. Before doing this, however, we will 



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