CHAPTER LIX 



THE COTSWOLD 



The name Cotswold is derived from a combination of circum- 

 stances. In early times sheep were folded in shelters locally 

 known as "cots" or " cotes," and were pastured on the wild, 

 treeless hills of the region, which were termed "wolds," from 

 which the name Cotswold was evolved. 



The native home of the Cotswold sheep is in central south- 

 western England, in the county of Gloucester, which touches 

 salt water on its lower side leading up from the Irish sea. The 

 Cotswold hills extend southwesterly nearly through and to the 

 southern borders of the county. These hills are of variable soils, 

 often poor in quality, gravelly or clayey in character with much 

 lime, grow a short pasturage, and yield moderate crops of wheat 

 and roots. The climate is moist and temperate, well suited to 

 large sheep, especially on the lowlands. 



The Cotswold is of ancient lineage. In 1464 King Edward IV 

 of England, says Stowe in his Chronicles, granted permission 

 " for certain Coteswold sheep to be transported into the country 

 of Spaine, which have there since mightily increased and multi- 

 plied to the Spanish profit." In 1842 Low wrote that Cotswold 

 sheep inhabited the district beyond the memory of the living 

 generation. However he believed that this breed was developed 

 from a large type common in Warwick and Oxford counties 

 adjoining, which it in some respects resembled. It is improbable 

 that the Cotswold has a long ancestry on the hills of Gloucester, 

 for a big breed of this type would not naturally thrive on hills 

 comparatively poor in production. Yet the region in which this 

 sheep developed became a noted wool -producing section, dating 

 back to days of Roman conquest in the second century. Gervase 

 Markham, writing in the sixteenth century, referred to Cotswold 

 sheep as having long wool and large bones. It is generally 



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