THE SOUTH DOWN BREED. 16 L 



in both sexes. Under this class is comprehended the Black- 

 faced Heath Breed, which, it has been seen, inhabits the cen- 

 tral chain of bleak mountains which stretch from the borders 

 of Scotland southwards. This breed has large spiral horns, 

 has the face and limbs covered with black hair, and has a 

 moderately short, yet harsh and shaggy fleece. But these 

 characters, proper to the race in the more elevated moun- 

 tains which it inhabits, yield to the influence of external 

 agents, so that, as we recede from the wilder country, a 

 change appears in the form and aspect of the animals, and in 

 the properties of the wool. Westward of the central moun- 

 tains, in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, 

 the wool becomes more soft, and the form of the animals less 

 robust. In the Yorkshire Wolds, to which the same race 

 formerly extended, there was an equal deviation from the 

 parent type ; and still more in the commons and forests of 

 Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and other inland counties. As we 

 approach to the confines of Wales, the Black-faced breeds 

 approximate more to the characters of the Sheep of the 

 higher Welsh mountains, the wool becoming more soft. Ap- 

 proaching to the Welsh type are the Delamere Forest Breed 

 in the county of Cheshire, and the Morfe Common Breed in 

 the county of Shropshire. The latter inhabited a country of 

 limited extent near Bridgenorth, on the Severn ; and, until 

 our own times, was noted for the fineness of its wool. A 

 similar race extended southward through Herefordshire, 

 which, from the delicacy and softness cf its wool, was reck- 

 oned little inferior to the Ryeland itself. Turning to the 

 great chalk districts of England, occupying the south-eastern 

 parts of the island, there were likewise numerous varieties 

 of Short-woolled Sheep, in some of which the horns, and even 

 the dark colour of the face and limbs, disappeared. In this 

 class are the Old Norfolk, still inhabiting the heaths of Nor- 

 folk and Cambridge, the Old Wiltshire, the Old Berkshire, the 

 Hampshire, and numerous minor varieties, which formerly 

 possessed the various commons, and heaths of this part of 



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