SHORT-TAILED EUROPEAN BREEDS 65 



that these diminutive sheep " stand about eighteen 

 inches at the shoulder, and are characterised by long, 

 slender limbs, a fine head, and a short tail. The 

 male has a fringe under the throat, as in the Soay 

 breed, and horns which curve backwards between 

 the ears, as in the Biindnerschaf of Switzerland. 

 These Ronaldshay sheep may have in fact sprung 

 from Ovis aries palustris, the Bronze Age race with 

 goat-like horns. 



"The fleece of these sheep is white, brown, or 

 spotted, but the wool, though fine, is very inferior to 

 that of Shetland." 



The suggestion that the Ronaldshay breed is 

 sprung from the turbary sheep {O. a. palustris) is 

 obviously incorrect, seeing that the latter, as de- 

 scribed in a later chapter, has a relatively long 

 tail. 



Lastly, it appears that up to the year 1 890 there 

 existed in Duncansbay Head, Caithness, several 

 remnants of a small breed of black, short-wooUed, 

 and short-tailed sheep which have been called 

 " keeries." The rams were two-horned, with the 

 horns forming rather more than one complete 

 circle. It has been suggested ^ that- these sheep 

 were akin to the black- faced Highland, rather 

 than to the Soa type, but the shortness of the tail 

 is against this. 



Four-horned sheep, said to have been black in 



1 See Elwes, op. cit., p. 51. 



