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Field in 1873. He writes : " The legs and faces of this breed, as lambs, 

 are black or black with a few white flecks, but they soon begin to 

 brighten out till by the time they are two-year-old, all that is black has 

 become frosty or silver grey, darkening slightly towards the forehead, 

 except a blue-black mark or patch at the back of the neck — any brown 

 being considered a defect. The ears should be white and sharp, and 

 the wool come well up to them. The ewes are not horned, but the tups 

 generally are, but not always ; when they are the horns should be white 

 and waxy. In every flock a certain proportion are darker in the fleece, 

 these ' breuked ' ones, as they are called, are often of the best blood." 



The following description is summarized from the account given 

 in Gate's " Shepherds' Guide " in 1879 by Wm. Abbott, E. Nelson, 

 and John Wilson : The coat should be long and well knit, of good 

 broad wool, standing up round the neck, resembling, as it were, 

 a lion's mane, and grow well out to the extremities. The head 

 should be carried well up, be strong, broad, and with an arched 

 nose, wide at the nostrils and a deep jaw. The horns of the 

 male should be of a whitish colour, smooth and well turned, 

 rising well out of the back of the head ; they are not desirable in 

 the female. The ears should be white and sharp and stand well up. 

 The colour of the head should be light grey, with a hoar-frost or 

 raggy nose and a rustiness about the poll. There should be no specks 

 on the face or legs. The body should be barrel shaped and well ribbed 

 up, back broad and well filled behind the shoulders, legs well on the 

 outside, and the breast broad and placed well forward. The knees 

 should be strong with fine bone between the joints and the feet big 

 and white in colour. 



Joseph Howell of Lonscale's description in " Sheep and Wool " in 

 18S8, holds good to-day : " The head and legs of the lamb are mostly 

 black, but at three months' old the nose and fore-legs should begin to 

 show grey hairs and increase in brightness until two years of age, when 

 all brown, black or speckled marks should finally disappear, and the 

 head, ears and legs become arrayed with pure bristles of a silvery hue. 

 A coat, consisting of a long, strong, broad staple, of thickly grown white 

 wool, and supplemented with a blue or black flowing mane round the 

 neck, is considered of the highest importance. The head should be 

 broad and a little Roman shaped, and carried high, and adorned 



