258 ANIMALS OF THE 



them from the wolf; and the shepherd returns 

 homeward at sun-set, with his sheep following 

 him, and seemingly pleased with the sound of the 

 pipe, which is blown with a reed, and resembles 

 the chanter of the bagpipe. In this manner, in 

 those countries that still continue poor, the Arca- 

 dian life is preserved in all its former purity ; but 

 in countries where a greater inequality of condi- 

 tions prevail, the shepherd is generally some poor 

 wretch who attends a flock from which he is to 

 derive no benefits, and only guards those luxuries 

 which he is not fated to share. 



It does not appear, from early writers, that the 

 sheep was bred in Britain ; and it was not till 

 several ages after this animal was cultivated, that 

 the woollen manufacture was carried on among 

 us.* That valuable branch of business lay for a 

 considerable time in foreign hands, and we were 

 obliged to import the cloth manufactured from 

 our own materials. There were, notwithstanding, 

 many unavailing efforts among our kings to in- 

 troduce and preserve the manufactory at home. 

 Henry the Second, by a patent granted to the 

 weavers in London, directed, that if any cloth 

 was found made of a mixture of Spanish wool, it 

 should be burned by the mayor. Such edicts, at 

 length, although but slowly, operated towards the 

 establishing this trade among us. The Flemings, 

 who, at the revival of arts, possessed the art of 

 cloth-working in a superior degree, were invited 

 to settle here ; and, soon after, foreign cloth was 



* British Zoology, vol. i. p. 23. 



