74 THE HOG. 



cate meat, and the hams, when cured, are pronounced by connois- 

 seurs to be excellent. The Shetland pigs are generally suffered to 

 roam about and forage for themselves at will, and the mischief they 

 do is by no means inconsiderable ; for with their muscular snouts 

 they plough up the soil, and root out potatoes, carrots, and turnips, 

 and even upturn the growing corn ; and, far from being a source 

 of profit, are, from the mischief they do, an absolute loss to the 

 country. 



Dr. Hibbert, (Account of the Shetland Isles,) describes the origi- 

 nal Shetland pig as " a little brindle monster, the very epitome of a 

 wild boar, yet scarcely larger in size than a terrier dog : 



" His bristled back a trench impaled appears, 

 And stands erected like a field of spears." 



According to his account, " this lordling of the seat-holds and 

 arable lands ranges undisturbed over his free demesnes, and, in quest 

 or the earthworms and the roots of plants, furrows up the pastures 

 or corn-fields in deep trenches, destroying in his progress all the 

 plovers', curlews', and other birds' nests he meets with. He bivouacs 

 in some potato-field, which he rarely quits until he has excavated 

 a ditch large enough to bury within it a dozen fellow-commoners 

 of his own weight and size. Nor is the reign of this petty tyrant 

 wholly bloodless ; young lambs just dropped often fall victims to 

 his ferocity or thirst for blood." 



The ORKNEYS. To describe the swine found here would be but 

 a repetition of what we have already said. They are small, of ro- 

 ving habits, do much mischief, yield but poor meat unless carefully 

 fattened, and seldom reach a weight of more than sixty or seventy 

 pounds. Low informs us that the pork rarely fetches more than 

 %d. per pound, and a butcher never thinks of giving more than 4s. or 

 5s. a-head for the pigs. Ropes are fabricated from the bristles of these 

 animals, by which the natives suspend themselves over the most 

 fearful precipices in search of sea-fowls' eggs ; and, short as the hair 

 or bristles are, the ropes manufactured from them are said to answer 

 better for this perilous purpose than hempen ones would, being less 

 liable to be frayed by the sharp and rugged rocks. 



It is in these northern islands that several authors have spoken of 

 swine being used as beasts of draught, but it could not have been 

 these aboriginal and diminutive breeds, we should conceive, but 

 some of the large, heavy kinds imported fronx England or Ireland. 



