Class I. SHEEP. 23 



and were the most civilized, affected the man- 

 ners of the Gauls, and wore like them a sort of 

 garments made of coarse wool, called Brachte. 

 These they probably had from Gaul, there not 

 being the lest traces of manufactures among the 

 Britons, in the histories of those times. 



On the coins or money of the Britons are 

 seen impressed the figures of the horse, the bull, 

 and the hog, the marks of the tributes exacted 

 from them by the conquerors.* The Reverend 

 Mr. Pegge was so kind as to inform me that he 

 has seen on the coins of Cunobelin that of a 

 sheep. Since that is the case, it is probable 

 that our ancestors were possessed of the animal, 

 but made no farther use of it than to strip off 

 the skin, wrap themselves in it, and with the 

 wool inmost, obtain a comfortable protection 

 against the cold of the winter season. 



This neglect of manufacture, may be easily 

 accounted for, in an uncivilized nation whose 

 wants were few, and those easily satisfied ; but 

 it is more surprising, that after we had for a long 

 period cultivated a breed of sheep, whose fleeces 

 were superior to those of other countries, we 

 still neglected to promote a woollen manufac- 

 ture at home. That valuable branch of busi- 



* Camden. I. Preface, p. cxiii. 

 VOL. I. I> 



