106 VARIOUS BREEDS OF SHEEP IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
from the light sandy districts (old red sandstone) of Here- 
fordshire, which, in early times, were supposed to be only 
suited for the cultivation of rye. It has always had the 
reputation of producing the finest quality of wool grown in 
this country, approaching that of the Merino, to which it bears 
also a marked resemblance in shape.* The breed, however, 
is of small size, and the fleece though fine in quality, is very 
inferior in weight to that of other breeds. Many attempts 
have been made by crossing to remedy these defects, but the 
success has not been sufficient to induce a perseverance in 
them, and consequently we find the pure Ryeland sheep 
every day becoming more rare, being replaced by others of 
a more remunerative description. In appearance, the Rye- 
land sheep have peculiar characteristics by which they are 
easily recognised. They are without horns, with white faces 
and legs ; the w ool growing close over the head and eyes 
with a tuft on the forehead. They are a little low in the 
shoulder, with a round compact body, and particularly large 
and full haunches and stern. They are hardy, and thrive well 
on moderate keep ; feed readily for market, and, w hen at 
tw T o and three years old, they w T eigh from 50 to 75 lbs. each. 
The meat is considered of good quality, the fat being depo- 
sited internally instead of on the surface. The ew 7 es are pro- 
lific and good mothers ; the young lambs are somewhat 
tender, and require care for the first w^eek, after which they 
are pretty safe. The fleece is still valuable, though light in 
weight, averaging about 4 lbs. 
Merino . — This breed, originally introduced into England by 
the late King George III, though not strictly a native breed, 
* There are sufficient historical grounds for supposing that the points of 
striking resemblance between the llyeland sheep and the Merino may be 
traceableTo actual identity of origin. The coast of South Wales is tradition- 
ally said to have been the seat of frequent colonization from Spain. The 
types of race after some attestation of this in the dark eyes and hair, swart 
complexion, and small features of a large part of the Welsh population, 
extending from the shore of the Bristol Channel, through Monmouthshire, 
into the south of Herefordshire. But it is also well known that the attrac- 
tion of the tin mines in the Scilly Islands, off the coast of Cornwall, brought 
repeated visits of the Phoenicians from the Spanish city of Cadiz, founded at 
a period of the most remote antiquity by those enterprising navigators of 
the Old World. The subtending line of the Welch coast would receive any 
vessel drifted by an Atlantic sou’wester beyond its proper point in those 
islands, and thus be brought into very early visitation direct from the native 
country of the Merino. There is a singular evidence of this intercourse in 
the existence of a remarkable intermixture of words in the Welsh language, 
identical in form and meaning with traces of the Phoenician tongue. The 
true breed of the Ryeland is still, though rarely, to be found in its ancient 
habitat — the light sandy soils in the vicinity of Ross. Though so small, it 
is the quickest feeder among all our original breeds. — C. Wren Hoskyns. 
