38 THE DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS 



familiar domestic breeds, have been recognized by Scottish 

 writers. In the early half of the sixteenth century (1527) 

 Hector Boece, the Bishop of Aberdeen, drew attention to 

 this curious breed. 



Beyond thir His [i.e. beyond Hirta or St Kilda] is yit'ane uther He, 

 bot it is not inhabit with ony pepill. In it ar certaine beistis, nocht far 

 different fra the figure of scheip, sa wild that they can nocht be tane but 

 girnis [except with snares] : the hair of them is lang and tallie, nothir like 

 the woll of scheip nor gait. (Bellenden's Translation, 1536.) 



Fig. 6. Soay Sheep a primitive domesticated breed presen 

 only in Scotland. % nat. size. 



The unnamed isle is evidently Soay. I have no doubt 

 that at this period the island of St Kilda was inhabited by 

 the same race of sheep, for of it Boece says, 



This last He is namit Hirta, quhilk in Irsche is callit ane scheip; for 

 in this He is gret nommer of scheip, ilk ane gretar than ony gait buk [goat 

 buck], with hornis lang and thikkar than ony home of ane bewgill 1 , and his 

 lang talis hingand down to the erd. 



1 The original reads "cornua bubulis crassitudine sequa, sed longitudine 

 aliquanto etiam superantia" with horns equal in thickness to oxen horns, 

 but exceeding them even considerably in length. 



