22 INTRODUCTION. 



care, suitable and convenient places were erected, by many, 

 for this purpose. Jehu " slew the brethren of Ahaziah at 

 the pit of the shearing-house." The ' pit' here spoken of, 

 it is rational to suppose, was the pool in which the sheep 

 were washed previous to the shearing. From the scarcity 

 of water in parts of the land which the patriarchal shep- 

 herds occupied, it is doubtful whether the practice of cleans- 

 ing the wool upon the back was very general. 



In what particular period of the world the periodical sep- 

 aration of the wool from the pelt, by means of shearing, took 

 place, we have no accurate information. In earlier times it 

 was the practice to detach the fleece by pulling, which was 

 probably not a very difficult task, as the wool, when ma- 

 tured, at each revolving year dropped from the sheep, as is 

 the case with the coarser-wooled varieties at the present 

 day. But the fleece would not separate over the whole an- 

 imal alike easy, and portions Avould not yield without inflict- 

 ing pain. Therefore, prompted by that humanity which so 

 distinguished the management of the primitive shepherds, 

 the shears, in process of time, were invented, and intro- 

 duced into general use. 



In olden time, as now in many parts, the sheep-shearing 

 was the season for feasting and rejoicing. It was the har- 

 vest of the shepherd, and when he had gathered it, a gene- 

 rous feeling prompted him to make glad the hearts, for a few 

 hours at least, of those who had participated in the work. 

 Nabal asks of the servants of David, " Shall I take my 

 bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my 

 shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence 

 they be ?" At a later period another, but not pleasing, 

 account is given of the festivities of that season : " And it 

 came to pass that Absalom had sheep-shearers in Baalha- 

 zor, and Absalom invited all the king's sons, and Absalom 

 commanded all his servants, saying. When Amnon's heart 

 is merry with wine, then kill him." Burder, in his work 

 on Oriental Literature, says — " The close of harvest was a 

 season of rejoicing in most of the ancient nations, and sheep- 

 shearing was the harvest of the nomadic shepherd. This 

 periodical festival was even enacted by law. Cecrops, the 

 founder of the kingdom of Athens, about the time of Moses, 

 ordained that " the master of every family should after har- 

 vest make a feast for his servants, and eat with those who 

 had taken pains together with him in tilling his ground." 



