BREEDS OF THE ZETLAND AND ORKNEY ISLANDS. 
PLATE I. 
1. RAM, Three Years Old, of the Ancient Breed, from the Isle of Enhallow. 
2. EWE, Three Years Old, from the Island of Rousay; bred by William Traill, Esq. of Woodwick: 
the Lamb a cross with the Pure Cheviot. 
The Sheep of this race inhabit the group of Islands and Islets which lie to the north of the Pentland Firth, extending to 
about the sixty-first degree of north latitude. They have been in numerous cases intermixed with Dutch Sheep brought by 
the fishing craft which fi equent these northern seas, and likewise with the Sheep of the Main. They thus differ in some degree in 
the diffeient islands, and even in different flocks of the same island \ but they have manifestly a common origin with the Sheep 
of Norway and other parts of Northern Europe. 
These wild little Sheep are possessed of a fur consisting partly of hair and partly of fine wool. They are of different colours, 
black, brown, 01 white; and moie often they are of a grey colour, from the mixture of black and white, and are often curiously 
streaked. Theie aie horns in both sexes, but more generally they are wanting in the females, and sometimes in the males. 
The hoi ns are short, and often so stiaight and upright, as to resemble those of the goat. The tails are short and broad, their 
limbs slender, their aspect wild, and their motions active. 
These Sheep have acquired the characters which fit them for the condition in which they are placed. The country which 
they inhabit possesses a climate eminently cold and humid, and is exposed to continued gusts and storms. Scarce a tree is to be 
found, or a shrubby plant, beyond the heath which covers the soil. Many of the islets are little else than rocks, with a covering of 
peat, washed by the spray of the boisterous seas which surround them, and occupied only by a few Sheep left to find their own 
food. Under these circumstances, the Sheep aie small in size, but hardy, and capable of subsisting under great privations of food. 
The Wethers may be fattened, on a medium, to 6 or 7 lb. the quarter. At certain seasons they find their way from the mountains 
to the shoies, and feed on the fuci and othei marine plants. It is remarkable to see them on the receding of the tide, running 
down from the hills, as if possessing an instinctive knowledge of the time of ebb. They remain feeding while the sea allows j 
and sometimes they aie caught by the suiiounding tide and drowned. —Sometimes they are unable from exhaustion to ascend 
again the cliffs of the coast, and so peiish , sometimes they are driven into coves, where they are imprisoned until the retiring tide 
permits them to escape. It is lemaikable that these Sheep feed readily on animal substances. One of the great resources in 
some of the islands foi keeping them when no otliei piovender exists, is fish, wnich are dried on the rocky shores for that purpose. 
These Sheep manifest in their habits the rudeness of their condition. The rams will often set upon the other Sheep of the flock if 
wounded, and destioy them. They will furiously attack the females and new-born lambs, as if, in the dreary circumscribed islets 
which they inhabit, they had acquired the instinct of endeavouring to prevent the too great multiplication of their numbers. The 
ewes, conscious of the danger, make their escape at the time of lambing, that they may bring forth their young in secret. When 
brought to the richer countries, these wild creatures make every effort to escape from the enclosures which confine them, find 
their way to the nearest elevated grounds, and wander from place to place. They crop the tops of herbs in the manner of goats, 
and endeavour to reach the branches of shrubs and trees. Their descendants, for more than one generation, retain the wild habits 
of the race. 
Of these Sheep, the least mixed with foreign blood are those of the remoter Islands, chiefly of Zetland. The Sheep of Ork¬ 
ney are of a more mixed descent, and the impure breeds have not the fineness of wool which distinguishes the ancient race. In 
these animals, the hair grows mixed with the wool all over the body. The wool falls off at the commencement of the warmer 
season, leaving the hair to protect the animal. Previous to the winter months, the wool has again grown, and, along with the 
hair, forms a thick fur, suited to afford a covering during the intense rigour of the colder season. The usual practice is to pluck 
off the wool, and not to shear it. This practice has been described as rude and cruel. It is, however, the method of treatment 
which is the best adapted for obtaining the wool unmixed with the hairs, which would render it unsuited for being spun and woven. 
The wool may, in this manner, be taken from the skin without violence, and would fall off naturally, and be left amongst the heaths 
and in the bogs. The wool is scarcely ever washed before being pulled, and the quantity is very small, not exceeding from 1| to 2 lb. 
in the unwashed state. It is remarkable for its softness and the tenuity of its filaments. It is admirably suited for being made into 
