Miscellanea, Correspondence, &c, by Mr. Jas. Hardy. 291 



Tradition of the Origin of the Cheviot Sheep. — Mr. 

 William Oliver, formerly of Langraw, near Hawick, gave 

 me this curious notice, 22nd March, 1856. "Do you chance 

 to know anything about the origin of Cheviot Sheep on the 

 Borders ? I imagine that the breed was anything but 

 homogeneous at one time. It differed considerably in dif- 

 ferent parts of the Borders too, as indeed it does yet. I 

 have heard it said by old people here, that the Cheviot 

 Sheep dated its origin from ' the thirteen drifty days.' I 

 have forgotten when that was, but the stock in this part of 

 the Borders was all but totally destroyed, and so difficult 

 was it to procure sheep that people were glad to take any 

 sort that came to hand ; and from this mixed breed came 

 the so called Cheviot Sheep. I recollect well enough since 

 the sheep on the Borders here had a decided cast of the 

 Southdown in them ; and a large proportion of them had 

 grey faces." — The " thirteen drifty days " happened in 1660, 

 and were, one would think, almost out of memory. The 

 breed Mr. Oliver himself saw, may have originated after the 

 great storm of 1794, long known as "the Gonial Blast," 

 that destroyed entire flocks in the south of Scotland. 



Stoat Attacking Man.— During the summer I had some 

 conversation with an intelligent youngster about such 

 animals as he knew. He said there were two Weasels ; one 

 the little " Grass Weasel," which does harm to no one, and 

 the other the " Stout," of which he has considerable appre- 

 hensions, from a circumstance that happened to him when 

 he was a herd-boy at some place in Berwickshire. His 

 mother was accustomed to carry out his breakfast, and then 

 leave him to eat it at his leisure. One morning when thus 

 engaged, he heard a curious chirping near him, and looking 

 up, he espied a large Stoat. standing upright not far off, and 

 staring at him with its wild eyes, and apparently deter- 

 mined to act on the aggressive. He then heard the chirping 

 rising on all sides of him, as if he was going to be sur- 

 rounded, and springing up, darted away, with the family of 

 Stoats (for such they were) in pursuit of him, but he was 

 too nimble for them, and effected his retreat. I have heard 

 of several other instances of assemblages of Stoats attacking 

 man. 



Number of Young Rats Produced at a Birth. — Re- 

 cently a writer in " The Builder," treating of the produc- 

 tiveness of the Brown Rat, made the assertion that a doe-rat 



lL 



