64 THE SHEEP. 



still exist in Wales and Ireland, the remnants, we may be- 

 lieve, of the ancient Sheep of the country. 



III. THE BREED OF THE HIGHER WELSH 

 MOUNTAINS. 



The Sheep of Wales, inhabiting a country partly of moun- 

 tains and partly of valleys and plains, may be expected to 

 present great diversities of character. Accordingly, we find 

 a variety of breeds, from the wilder races of the higher 

 mountains to the larger Sheep of the lower country. The 

 latter classes of Sheep, however, are not truly Welsh. They 

 are the Leicester, Cotswold, and other Sheep of the English 

 plains', either pure or mixed with the races of the mountains. 

 It is the Mountain Sheep alone that we are to regard as the 

 genuine Sheep of Wales, the descendants, it maybe believed, 

 of the ancient Sheep of South Britain. 



Of the Mountain Sheep of Wales there are numerous 

 minor varieties, but generally they may be divided into two 

 groups, which may be regarded as the types to which all 

 the others have more or less affinity. A great part of the 

 mountains of Wales, it is to be observed, is absolute com- 

 mon, in which animals of every kind may be mingled to- 

 gether ; and however distinct the original races may have 

 been, it is not to be supposed that they can have remained 

 without intermixture during the many ages in which Wales 

 has existed nearly in its present state. Notwithstanding, 

 however, of this amalgamation, there may be traced the 

 characters of two very distinct groups ; the first, the wilder 

 Sheep of the higher mountains ; the second, a race generally 

 inhabiting a lower range of pasturage, and possessed of pecu- 

 liar characters. The first may be termed the Sheep of the 

 Higher Mountains, as indicating their habitat ; the second, 

 the Soft-woolled Sheep of Wales, as denoting the character 

 of the fleece. 



