Rise and Pi Of/rcss of tlie Leicester 
Breed of Sheep. 
353 
"Bakcwells" sinco the days of the brothers f-ollintjs, whose ram 
sales were attended by Sir Tatton and Mr. Wii with unswerving 
regularity, and did much towards establishing those county 
flocks. The large-boned, hornless Teeswaters, "as big as a 
jackass, and with long watery wool, whose sixteen-inch fibres 
might be counted," according to Mr. Wethcrall, were reduced by 
a cross with the Leicesters, and their grazing qualities so much 
improved that the original type is wholly lost. 
The Lincolns have been introduced on the Yorkshire Wolds, 
but they did not answer, and required higher keeping. Many 
farmers both in this and other counties have tried one cross of 
the Lincoln on their Leicester ewes, and gained wool and size 
without a sacrifice of that aptitude to feed which is the Leicester's 
great characteristic ; but the second cross does not answer, as the 
mutton has a tendency to be coarse. A few Lincolns are still 
sent annually to the Masham districts of Yorkshire, which have 
what they call a " Mug " tup, or Leicester of their own. He is 
not a relic of tlie Teeswater ; and a "New Leicester" man will 
not look at him. He stands well on his legs, and can travel 
through the heather after the active speckle-faced ewes better 
than the short-legged Leicester, which would " weary to nothing" 
in such ground. The rams are hardy, and clip from 8 lbs. to 
10 lbs. of wool, and in very rare instances 12 lbs. ; while the 
ewes average 6 lbs. to 7 lbs. of wool, and are vei'y prolific. The 
wethers will make up with good keep from 20 to 24 lbs. in 
eighteen months ; but several of them are not cut, and dealers 
carry on a large trade by taking them to Scotland. Many of 
the best ones find a ready sale at Masham, Kettlewell, and 
Skipton, where the farmers won't look at a pure Leicester, and 
15/. has been made for "a regular topper." They seem to spring 
from a union of the Leicester and Teeswater, but there has been 
no " crossing out " for many years. A tendency to feather down 
below the hocks is avoided as much as possible in the rams, and 
so is too much wool on the head. The heaviest w"oolled sheep are 
not chosen for the moor, but rather those with a light ringlet staple. 
Almost every farmer in Wensleydale who has a little lowland 
keeps a few " good-bred ewes " of the sort, which the}' put to 
rams with the biggest fleece they can find. Many of them are 
sold about Askrigg Midsummer Fair, but the best are kept back 
iintil later in the year. This "Blue-cap" sort, as many term 
them, came into special notice some seven-and-twenty years ago, 
Avhen one of them by a pure Leicester from a half-Leicester and 
Teeswater was shown at the Liverpool Meeting of the Royal 
-igricultural Society. In shape and make he was a pure 
Leicester, but was thought rather too big. 
The ewes which the "Mug Leicester" follows on the moors 
are principally brought as gimmers to Askrigg Market, from 
