CHAPTEK XVI 

 THE CHEVIOT 



History. The Cheviot is a native of the Cheviot Hills, which 

 form about 30 miles of the border country between England and 

 Scotland. These hills rise gradually from an elevation of 1600 

 feet in the west to a little .over 2600 feet in the east. Their flanks 

 are scored by deep narrow glens that run in every direction and 

 on the numerous smooth declivities, short nutritious grass furnishes 

 pasture upon which sheep feed and thrive in spite of storms and 

 rough weather (Fig. 97). 



No authentic account can be given of the origin of the Cheviot. 

 Like all of the native sheep from which the modern English breeds 

 have descended, they come from a stock that was ungainly and 

 deficient in mutton form. Wrightson says : "The monks of the 

 Middle Ages bred 'Cheviots around the monasteries, and to the 

 churchmen of Teviotdale are we indebted for the first improvement 

 of the breed." Crosses were made with the Leicester, Black-faced 

 Highland, and probably the Merino, but the most significant im- 

 provement was brought about through careful selection after 1854, 

 in which year John Eobson, a great improver of Cheviots, made use 

 of rams from Lincolnshire. 



After 1800 Cheviots gained rapidly in popularity in the border 

 country and they practically drove their rivals, the Black-Faced 

 Highlands from all the farms in southern i Scotland except in the 

 more mountainous districts of Ayrshire and Lanarckshire. After 

 1860, however, the tide turned back to the Black Faces in those 

 districts where conditions were a little too rigorous, even for the 

 Cheviots (Fig. 98). 



Description. The Cheviot possesses the characteristics requisite 

 of a hill or mountain breed. Its high shoulders necessary in hill 

 climbing, trim build, alert carriage, and active movements indicate 

 that it is well adapted to its rugged native home. The face profile is 

 Roman; the eyes are very bright and prominent and the ears are 

 short and erect. In the typical Cheviot the face and head bones are 

 rather prominent and very suggestive of quality. The legs are 

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