DOMESTIC AND SEMI-DOMESTIC ANIMALS 31 



Sheep do not thrive in the Emerald Isle, the humid climate not 

 suiting them, but the breed known as the Irish Wicklow are very 

 similar to the Welsh Mountain breed, and among other Irish kinds 

 the Kerry Sheep alone claim mention. Of all British Sheep 

 the Black-Faced Heaths which resort to the mountains and moors 

 north of Derbyshire may be justly regarded as the hardiest and 

 boldest. The ram and ewe both have horns, the face and limbs 

 are dark-coloured and the coat is coarse and shaggy. 



The Cheviot Sheep are not numerous. They are heavier but not 

 so hardy as the last-named; both sexes are hornless, have white 

 faces and limbs, and yield a moderately fine wool. Strong in body 

 and active in disposition, the Norfolk Sheep have horns in both 

 male and female, which, in the former, assume a thick and spiral 

 form. On Dartmoor and Exmoor in the west of our island home 

 the Sheep there found may, says one writer of repute, "be taken as 

 samples of the breeds of the older forests, commons and chases." 

 They may, or may not, possess horns, the wool is of moderate 

 length, and the animals are of small size. 



High up on the famous chalk hills of Sussex where such healthy, 

 invigorating conditions prevail — for Richard Jefferies facetiously 

 remarked that it was a good plan to discover some excuse to be up 

 there always, if only to search after stray mushrooms — it is small 

 wonder that we find a breed of Sheep, known as the Southdown, 

 which is much sought after. The Southdown does not bear any 

 horns, but may be recognized by the dark-brown face, ears and 

 limbs, and the short felted wool. The large head, well-wooUed 

 space between the ears, and the large proportion of meat that this 

 breed produce are also deserving of mention. Going westward 

 again in search of the Dorset and pink-nosed Somerset Sheep, we 

 find that these animals are characterized by the length of the white 

 limbs, the white face and frequently flesh-coloured muzzle, as well as 

 by the presence of horns in both sexes. The wool is medium in 

 length, and the lambs are brought forth very early in the season. 

 There is another variety of the Dorset Sheep which flourishes on 

 poor soil and which resorts to Dean Forest and the Mendip Hills, 

 whilst the Portland Sheep is a near relative which is still smaller 

 than the last-named. Of the Merino we have already written, and it 

 only remains for us to notice the Long-Woolled Sheep, "under 

 which heading," says Mr. Lydekker, "are comprised the new 

 Leicester and the varieties more or less intermixed with it in blood. 



