i8o RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



see until he is close to them (being guided towards- 

 them by signal from his owner), bring them down 

 the hill to the burn, force them to cross it into the 

 meadow, and then pen them between three hurdles 

 set in form of a triangle, open only to some 

 eighteen inches at the apex. The distance the 

 sheep have to be driven is, perhaps, half a mile, 

 and the time allowed for the feat fifteen minutes. 

 Any dog failing to pen his sheep within the 

 specified time is disqualified, although an allowance 

 is made if he pens one, or two, of the three. 



No one who has not seen Welsh sheep go across 

 country in front of a dog can form an idea of their 

 activity and pace. It is something marvellous. 

 On catching sight of the dog, who, it must be re- 

 membered, is a stranger to them, they bolt ; some- 

 times together, sometimes in different directions. 

 If a stone wall happens to run down the hill at right 

 angles to that behind which the pen is formed (and 

 of these there are several), over they go like cats,, 

 and perhaps take up hill again at top speed. The 

 dog at once heads and turns them ; they run down 

 alongside the wall, but on the wrong side of it. 

 They must be put at it, and sent over. Perhaps 

 on re-jumping the wall they take a headlong course 

 for the next hill, and, on being stopped by the dog, 

 scatter in very broken and difficult ground on which 

 to work. One of them, perhaps, will turn round a 

 great boulder and be lost to sight. The doo- then 

 sticks to the other two, and, after a great deal of 

 driving and turning, at length brings them to the 

 edge of the burn. Here they refuse, dashino- to- 



