LESSER KNOWN BREEDS OF SIEEP 383 
Cheviot sheep, the rough-wooled Black-Face was the 
only kind known in the vale of Esk. The breed at the 
present time has been estimated to comprise about two- 
thirds of the sheep stock of Scotland, and one-third of 
the total sheep stock of the north of England. 
They are mainly confined to this territory, for their 
importation to other countries or localities has not been 
very successful. Some have come to America, being first 
imported into New York state in 1861; but they have 
not been popular here. 
Black-Face sheep are much used for cross-breeding, 
but no infusion of outside blood has been successful in 
improving them for their native conditions. In addition 
to their hardiness, they have other characteristics which 
adapt them peculiarly for the Highlands. They are not 
only capable of traveling long distances on rough ground 
in search of food, but they also have a peculiar “homing” 
instinct, based presumably on 
their strong attachments to 
certain parts of their grazing. 
473. Herdwick sheep (I'ig. 
78). By John A. Craig. — 
This is one of the smaller 
mountain breeds, with the 
instincts and type of moun- 
tain sheep strongly developed. 
It has a heavy fleece of strong 
wool; head broad, nose arched or Roman, eye promi- 
nent and lively. Horns in the rams are desirable. 
The tradition of the origin of these sheep is that they 
came from forty small sheep that escaped from the gal- 
leons of the Spanish Armada that were wrecked on the 
coast of Cumberland, making the ancestry Spanish. 
5. — Herdwick ram. 
