4 Wild Life in Wales 



lead or drive it to its proper destination. The journeys 

 to be covered in this fashion are often considerable ; and 

 when first I encountered a man driving a single sheep 

 before him like a pig, it struck me as one of the funniest 

 things I had ever seen in agriculture. Inquiry elicited 

 the information that he had a journey of more than ten 

 miles before him, and as the "driving" consisted mainly 

 of alternately pushing and dragging, his rate of progress 

 when I found him was not very rapid. After a brief 

 period of rebellion, however, the sheep usually give in, 

 and trot along by their master's side, or in advance of 

 him, quietly enough. The man is sometimes accompanied 

 by a dog, or dogs, but as often not ; and in any case the 

 help of a dog, in such circumstances, is little more than 

 a moral support. The Welsh collie is in point of useful- 

 ness far inferior to his Scottish or North of England 

 cousin, though no doubt the reason of his deficiency may 

 lie more in his lack of education than in want of capacity. 

 The Welsh farmer, or shepherd, is generally far behind 

 his Scottish prototype in his knowledge of the ways of 

 sheep, and naturally his want of management is reflected 

 in the training of his dog. It is a common occurrence 

 to meet a man here with a flock of sheep using two dogs 

 when one would amply suffice, if properly trained ; but the 

 duty of one dog is entirely confined to driving the sheep 

 away from his master, of the other to bringing them back 

 towards him, and according as the one movement or the 

 other is desired so either dog is sent on the errand. Nor 

 does one see here anything of that fine understanding 

 between master and dog that is generally so marked a 

 characteristic of Scottish pastoral life. It would, for 

 example, have been well-nigh impossible for such an 

 incident as the following to have occurred here ; yet the 

 author can personally vouch for its exact truthfulness since 

 it took place in his presence. The farm was on the Scottish 

 borders, and the herd had made a bet of an ounce of 'baccy 

 that his dog, Moss, could understand every word he said. 

 A sheep was " lying awkward " l in a field known as the 

 1 Lying upon its back and unable to get up without help. 



