20 BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 



of the pipe, which is blown with a reed, and resembles 

 the chanter of a bagpipe." 



Britain has been for many ages possessed of sheep, 

 which were probably indigenous to our country. Csesar 

 describes the habits and manner of life of its early 

 inhabitants very circumstantially, but makes no mention 

 of these interesting animals, or the employment of its 

 wool for clothing ; and hence it has been supposed, that 

 the use of this material was little, if at all, known to the 

 Britons, who when clothed were usually dressed in 

 skins. But at that period the Gauls had the art of 

 making a kind of cloth or felt, without spinning or 

 weaving, sufficiently strong to resist the stroke of a 

 sword ; and from them some of our southern tribes 

 were supplied with woollen garments. 



Engaged in war, the Britons painted their bodies to 

 terrify their foes ; but at peace at home, they were 

 clothed with the skins of beasts, and lived on milk and 

 flesh. Milk was one of the earliest articles of food in 

 every ancient and uncivilised tribe ; and the use of the 

 milk of sheep preceded, by many centuries, that obtained 

 from cattle, in all these hordes. It is probable, therefore, 

 that sheep existed in this island, in early times, in that 

 state of domestication in which they were found among 

 other nations, long before the subjugation of the ox. 



