

THE BREED OF THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS. 73 



Remnants only of the pure breed remain, chiefly in the vale 

 of Glenmalure, the original race having been very generally 

 crossed by the South Down and other breeds. 



The Sheep of the Wicklow Mountains have an evident affi- 

 nity with the Sheep of Wales. They are of small size, but 

 of tolerably good form, and the mutton is excellent. They 

 are very wild, and at night steal down to the lower grounds 

 to pilfer the growing corn. They are destitute of horns in 

 both sexes. Their faces and legs are white, but there is a con- 

 stant tendency to the production of black lambs ; and there 

 cannot be a doubt that the breed, if left to itself, would be- 

 come wholly of that colour. A local law exists that all black 

 lambs shall be destroyed. The wool is soft and fine, and 

 somewhat long in the staple ; but it is always more or less 

 mixed with hairs. The* quality of the wool, however, as well 

 as the general character of the Sheep, varies with the eleva- 

 tion. In the lower rocky hills, as those which do not exceed 

 800 feet above the level of the sea, the wool is more fine 

 and less mixed with hairs. At a higher elevation, where 

 heath and wet bogs begin, the Sheep become smaller and 

 wilder. In these, a ridge of bristly hairs extends like a mane 

 along the neck and spine, and hair is likewise found in quan- 

 tity on the hips and dewlaps, as in the wilder sheep of Wales. 

 There is here that adaptation which is every where observed 

 in this species of animals, to the physical conditions of the 

 country in which they are naturalized. The ridge of hair 

 along the spine, and on the haunches and breast, causes the 

 moisture to fall off ; nay, the lambs are born with a provision 

 against the wetness of the boggy soil, there being a large 

 growth of hair upon the parts which are in contact with the 

 ground when the animals repose, namely, the breast, the 

 limbs, and the belly. 



The county of Wicklow, lying contiguous to the capital, is 

 favourably situated for the rearing of Sheep, fitted for the 

 demand of a numerous population. The practice of rearing 

 lambs for early consumption has long prevailed in the dis- 



