688 Beport on the Sheep Exhibited at Windsor. 
sheep could not have been " cross-bred." In answer, also, to 
the argument that the Border Leicesters must have got their 
pure white faces and legs from the Cheviots, Mr. Wood — in a 
letter to the present writer — contends ingeniously that " in all 
old books Bakewell's Leicesters are described as having white 
faces and legs," while it is known that " a large proportion of 
Cheviots, about forty or fifty years ago, had brown-grey faces 
and legs." The point, though interesting, may well be left to 
the breeders to decide. At any rate, the purity of the Border 
Leicesters has not been challenged within any period which 
could afiect their character now. 
Naturally, it is at the Northern Shows of the Society that 
this breed is seen at its best. The Report ^ of the Stewards 
on the Newcastle Show of 1864 contains the following interest- 
ing passage : — 
" This class of sheep (Border Leicesters) has been coming 
into repute for some years past with the English flockmasters, 
many of whom attend the great Kelso ram sale in September. . . . 
The Border type is so marked that the Judges at once dis- 
qualified two English Leicesters which were entered in the ram 
class. The black spots which are discernible about the head 
and ears of so many of them tell of their descent from the old 
Teeswaters." 
The demand for sheep of this breed is not less now than it 
was five-and-twenty years ago, and high prices are made by 
the leading ram-breeders, among whom Lord Polwarth occu- 
pies a position of eminence, by virtue of the ancient esta.blish- 
ment of his flock and the persistency with which it maintains 
its place at the head of the yearly price-lists. 
The display at Windsor — mustering, as it did, only thirty- 
one entries — was smaller than that made by some breeds of 
much less fame, but it contained some very fine specimens of 
the breed. Whatever may be disputed in their history, there 
can be no question as to their present close affinity to the 
Leicesters in type and character. The prizes went to the Right 
Hon. A. J. Balfour, Messrs. Samuel Jack and John Twentyman, 
and the executors of the late A. R. Melvin. 
The Judges report very concisely : — 
Jiepori of the Judges of Border Leicester Sheep. 
[Classes 161 to 164.] 
The Judges consider the Border Leicester a fair Class upon the whole. 
George Tokkance. 
John Davison. 
' J:)urna], A^ol. XXV. 1st Series (ISO). V- 415. 
