The Sheep.] OF ORKNEY. 9 



To stamp his master's cypher ready stand ; 

 Others the unwilling wether drag along ; 

 And, glorying in his might, the sturdy boy 

 Holds by the twisted horns the indignant ram. 

 Behold, where bound, and of its robe bereft, 

 By needy man, that all-depending lord, 

 How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies ! 

 What softness in its melancholy face, 

 What dumb complaining innocence appears ! 

 Fear not, ye gentle tribes, 'tis not the knife 

 Of horrid slaughter that is o'er you wav'd ; 

 No, 'tis the tender swain's well-guided shears, 

 Who having now, to pay his annual care, 

 Borrow'dyour fleece, to you a cumb'rous load, 

 Will send you bounding to your hills again. 



Thomson's Summer. 



I hope the beauty of this description, and the contrast it 

 makes with the former, with respect to the management of 

 wool, this so useful commodity, and the method of procur- 

 ing it in such a manner as to be least hurtful to the creature 

 that gives it, will excuse the length of it. The Orkney sheep 

 are very prolific, many of them bringing two lambs, some 

 three, but twins are common. The mutton is here in gene- 

 ral but ordinary, owing to the sheep feeding much on sea- 

 ware, to procure which these creatures shew a wonderful sa- 

 gacity ; for no sooner has the tide of ebb begun to run, but 

 they, though at a great distance, immediately betake them- 

 selves full speed, one and all, to the shore, where they con- 

 tinue till it begins to flow, when they as regularly retire. The 



B 



