SHEEP 145 



Geo. and Mathew CuUey the Dishley breed had been introduced to 

 the Border as early as 1767, and of the two varieties " Blue 

 Caps " and " Red Legs," the latter were greatly preferred ; they 

 were " nearer the ground, very compact, with less fat and more fibre, 

 and were generally hardier and had a more closely planted fleece." 

 These were the progenitors of the Border Leicester. " In the twenty 

 parishes of Kincardineshire the Leicester is used extensively, as in 

 Capt. Barclay's and Mr. Boswell's day, to Cheviots, Half-breeds, and 

 Black-faces." 



Pringle mentions the introduction into Westmorland of twenty 

 Lincolnshire mugg ewes in 1789, which were in lamb to one of 

 Bakewell's rams ; in the following season they were put to a common 

 Westmorland ram, and the produce of the cross turned out the best 

 sheep in the county. In 1792 Bishop Watson, of Calgarth, introduced 

 the New Leicesters, and it is probable that some of the progeny of 

 these with the native sheep won for the tenant of the home farm, 

 Joseph Faulder, the silver medal at the first Kendal Show in 1799 

 for the best two ewes of the Improved Low-land breed ; other breeders 

 of this class of sheep about this time were Wm. Ellison of Sizergh, 

 R. Dennison of Beetham, and J. Wakefield. 



In 1801 J. C. Curwen, of Windermere, introduced 100 South 

 Down ewes and two rams in order to improve the native mountain 

 sheep, and he reported, in 1804, that his enterprise had been successful. 



Youatt mentions in 1837 " that Herdwick rams were once 

 much sought after by breeders of mountain sheep " in order to gain 

 their hardiness, which was the distinguishing feature of that breed, 

 and that large numbers were sold annually into Scotland for that 

 purpose. 



" Lonks," writes " The Druid," H. H. Dixon, " in their turn 

 have gone as far as Sutherlandshire and the Grampian ranges, 

 between Perthshire and Argyllshire, as a wool cross." 



Rowlandson writes in 1849, " the Black-faced sheep are 

 extensively bred on the Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire 

 mountains, and more or less on the Lowland Scottish hills, and are the 

 sole occupants of the northern Highlands of Scotland. That this 

 breed can be improved was evidenced by the fine animals shown at 

 the Society's Newcastle Exhibition. This breed has been very much 



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