SHE 



SHE 



the appellations Toliapis and Counus, he does not defcribe 

 either of thc-m fa precifely as to identify it with Shepey. 

 Hence this fubjeA is a matter of difpute among our moll 

 eminent antiquaries ; Camden and Batteley contending for 

 Toliapis ; and Lambarde, Leland, and others, for Counus. 

 In Saxon times it was called Sceapige, or the ifland of 

 (heep, from the great numbers of that animal which were 

 then pallured upon it, whence originated, by corruption, 

 the name by which it is now diftiiiguilhcd. Baxter, in his 

 GlofTary, under the word Malata, remarks, " Vervecurn Pa- 

 tria, or the ide of fheep, now named Shepey. This is cor- 

 ruptly called by the book of Ravennas, Malaca, by the Bri- 

 tons Verves ;" but thefe obfcrvations are r:ither conjetlural 

 than well authenticated. 



The Ille of Shepey, including the fmall adjoining ifles of 

 Elmley and Harty, which lie at the fouth-ealt fide of it, 

 meafures about 32 milts in circumference, being about 11 

 miles long and fix broad. On the fouthern iide the lands 

 are flat and marlhy, but the interior is diverlitied hy hills, 

 and the northern ftiore prelents a range of clifis, extcndmg 

 fix miles in diredl length. Thefe cUffs are chiefly compofed 

 of a loofe friable marie, abounding in pyrites, and in fome 

 places rifing perpendicularly to the height of 90 feet. They 

 belong principally to the three manors of Minlter, Shurland, 

 and Warden, the owners of which let them to the copperas 

 ir.akers, who employ the poor inhabitants to coUett the 

 pyrites, or copperas ilones, which are continually walhed 

 out of the cliffs by the force of the waves, and are of various 

 forms, as globular, oblong, Sec. Their external covering 

 is a ferruginous coat ; ar.d within they are of a ftriated tex- 

 ture, commonly radiated from a centre. The ludi Helmontii 

 alfo abound in thefe cliffs. They are in general of a com- 

 prclfed form, from twelve inches to two feet and a half long, 

 and covered with a thick crufl of indurated clay. Where 

 the clay is moil tenacious, felenites are found of feveral va- 

 rieties. Large nodules of petrified wood, retaining the ap- 

 pearance and grain of oak, are likewife met with in thcle 

 cliffs and on the fhores ; alfo a vail number of fruits ; but as 

 thefe are always faturated with pyritical matter, they foon 

 fall to pieces. Animal remains liave likewife been found 

 here of many different kinds ; as the thigh-bcncs, tufl<s, and 

 grinders of elephants ; two fpecics of tortoifes ; the liead*;, 

 tails, and palates of fi(h ; the teeth and vertebrx of (harks ; 

 crabs, lobfters, fhells. Sec. 



The greateJl part of this ifland is of an exceeding (lifF clay 

 foil, and confills chiefly of upland paflures and marfh lands. 

 Towards the north fide, however, in the parilhes of Minlter 

 and Eallchurch, it is very fertile in corn, the inclofurcs of 

 which are fmall, and furroundcd with thick hedge-rows of 

 elm. The roads throughout the ifland are very good during 

 the whole year, owing to the great plenty of fine gravel 

 found in the beach-pits, and the profpefts from them are 

 very pleafmg and cxtenfive on every fide. Frcfli water is 

 very icarce, and the greatell part of it brackifli, though be- 

 tween Eallchurch and Minlter there are a few Ipringa, 

 which, notwithllanding they rife near the fea, the waters of 

 them are perfectly good and frefli. The air is generally 

 thick, and much fubjec\ to noxious vapours, arifing from 

 the large quantity ol inarlhes in and near it. Hence, and 

 from the badnefs of the water, few people of fubllance live 

 in it, the inhabitants confilling in general of lookers, bailills, 

 farmers, and fervants. The garrifon and dock of Shcer- 

 ncfs and its environs, the reader will however of courfe ex- 

 cept from tliis obfervation, where there are many gentlemen 

 employed in the government fervice conft;antly rcfident. See 

 Sheernkss, 

 The water which flows between thii ifland and the main 

 Vol. XXXII. 



land is called the Swale, and the two extremities of it the 

 Ealt and Weft Swale. It reaches about twelve miles in 

 length, and is navigable for (hips of two hundred tons bur- 

 then. This water feems formerly to have been accounted 

 a part of the river Thames, and to have been the ufual, as 

 being the fafell, pafl'age for the fliipping between London 

 and the North Foreland. Accordingly Sandwich i8 fre- 

 quently lliled by our ancient hiftorians Lunden'wic, or the 

 Thames mouth, being the name given to it by the Saxons, 

 and the town of Milton is faid by them to ftand on the 

 fouth bank of the Thames. Leland in particular fays, in 

 his Itinerary, " that towne (lands on an arm of the 

 Taniife ;" and he fpeaks of the point againft. " Quinbo- 

 rough entering into the mayne Tamys." 



The ufual pafTage to this ifland is by a ferry, called King's 

 Ferry, for carriages, horfes, cattle, and paflengers. The 

 ferry-boat is moved forward by a long cable, of about one 

 hundred and forty fathoms, or more, which being fattened 

 at each end acrofs the Swale, ferves to move it forward by 

 hand. On the fide oppofite to the ifland there is a fmall 

 houfe of Hone, in the room of one formerly crefted by one 

 George Fox, who having (laid a long while in the cold 

 waiting for the boat, and being much affefted by it, built 

 it to flielter others from the like inconvenience. 



The very convenient fituation of the Ifle of Shepey for the 

 dcvaftating purfuits of the Danes, occafioned it to be made 

 their accullomed rendezvous ; and they fometiraes wintered 

 here during the courfe of the ninth century. The inhabit- 

 ants were then but few, and chiefly congregated in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Minfter, where Sexburga, widow of Ercombert, 

 king of Kent, had founded a nunnery, which, after being 

 feveral times plundered by the invaders, was at length, in a 

 great meafurc, dellroyed, and the nuns dilperfed. The 

 large tumuli in the lower or fouthern part of the ifle, and 

 which are termed coterets by the country people, arc fup- 

 pofed to cover the remains of different Danifli chiefs, who 

 were flain in battle during their piratical incurfions. The 

 years which have been particularly recorded as thofe wherein 

 thefe marauders were moll attive here, are 832, 849, 851, 

 and 854: in the year 1016, king Canute is faid to have 

 colledled the fcattered remains of his army in this ifle, after 

 his defeat in the vicinity of Otford, by Edmund Ironfide. 

 Hafted's Hiltory and Antiquities of Kent, 8vo. 1798. 

 Beauties of England and Wales, vol. iii. by E. W. Braylcy 

 and John Britton, 8vo. 1806. 



SHEPHERD, in ^gricullurf, a labourer or other perfon 

 who has the care and management of a flock of (heep. It is a 

 bufincfs that requires much care, attention, and knowledge 

 of the various methods of treating animals of this kind. 

 Mr. Bannifter thinks, that it is ncccliary to have for this em- 

 ployment a perfon who is well (killed in the nature and ma- 

 nagement of flieep, and hath been brought up in that em- 

 ployment from his infancy ; who is fober, diligent, and 

 good-natured ; qualities cflentially necefl'ary in a ihcphcrd, 

 who, although he may fccm to live a life of indolence, when 

 contralted with the more laborious fervants of the farm, need 

 rarely to have a minute's time hang heavily on his hands, if 

 he will be attentive to his bufinefs, which will funiiih him 

 with (ulTicient employment throughout the d.iy, particularly 

 in the lambing feafon, or where there arc two lold'i at work; 

 nor will he want opportunity for the exercife of his patience 

 and good temper in his attendance on the flieep, which are 

 by nature animals of great obRiiiacy and perverfeiief*, and 

 whicli iiave often paid the forfeit of their lives to thefe innate 

 qualities, where the (hepherd was a man of morofe and fiirly 

 diipofition. It is (aid that on the conlinenl they hav* 

 fchooU wherein young flicpherds are inltrutled in the ne- 

 3 Q ccfl'ar? 



