8 
THE SHEEP. 
BREEDS OF THE ZETLAND AND ORKNEY ISLANDS. 
hose and fine flannels, but is deficient in the property of felting, and is therefore ill adapted for the making of cloths. The 
black coloured wool is the most valued for the making of hoes and caps, because it does not require the addition of dyes. The 
hides with the wool form beautiful pelisses, and would be valuable on this account, were such dresses in demand in this country. 
The Sheep over a great part of these islands are pastured in common, and the general treatment of them is rude in a remark¬ 
able degree. The animals are often left entirely to their own resources in the bleak and desolate islands in which they are im¬ 
prisoned. They are collected by being hunted together once a-year, stripped of their fleeces, marked by their respective owners, 
and then turned adrift until such as survive are caught again in the following year, and subjected to the same treatment. In 
all cases the number of Rams is allowed to be disproportioned to that of the Ewes ; and in many cases the numbers of the sexes 
are nearly equal. When Sheep are wanted from the pastures, they are run down by dogs; and hence these poor creatures ac¬ 
quire as great a terror for the dog as in other countries they do for the wolf or other beast of prey. The dogs, termed Had or 
Sheep Dogs, are taught to select a particular Sheep, and run him down; and curious old laws existed regarding the property and 
control of these animals. Under the whole of this barbarous system, the mortality is excessive ; all the profit to be derived from 
a proper management of a flock of Sheep is lost; and all the means are foregone of improving the breed, by the selection of the 
male and female parents. 
It is painful to draw such a picture of neglect, as applicable to the rural economy of any part of a country like Britain. Yet it 
is consoling to know that the seeds of improvement are scattered in these long-neglected Islands. In several of them are settled 
various landed gentlemen, who are equal in intelligence to any in the Kingdom, and who have begun to give the due attention to 
the resources of their country. The efforts of such individuals to improve the domestic animals of their estates cannot fail to meet 
with success, nor the benefits of their example to be gradually diffused. The power of steam has further been called into operation 
to bring those remote Islands into contact with the markets of the South ; and now the breeders, instead of suffering their Sheep 
to become the prey of eagles, ravens, and gulls, and to perish through hunger and neglect, have the means of carrying their rich 
and delicate mutton direct to the best markets of consumption in the Kingdom. 
A question of much economical interest for these Islands is, whether the existing breeds should be preserved, or new ones 
substituted. The interests of individuals may be expected to lead them to the latter course, at least to the extent of crossing the 
native races with superior stock. In this manner an immediate profit may be expected; and it is not to be supposed that individual 
breeders will abandon a mean of present profit for one more distant and contingent. Under this system, indeed, the pure 
Scandinavian Breed will diminish in numbers, and ultimately disappear ; but this could scarcely be regretted, if a more useful class 
of animals were to be substituted. If it were wished to preserve the ancient race in such of the Islands as yet produce them, 
then the attention of breeders must be directed to the proper management of their flocks, to better feeding, and to long and per¬ 
severing care in the selection of the males and females. "Without attention to these things, the present lace of Zetland Sheep can 
never be recovered from the degeneracy into which it has fallen during ages of maltreatment and neglect. 
The Merino Sheep have been tried for the purpose of crossing the native Sheep; but, as might have been anticipated from 
the habitudes of the Merino parents, the progeny was found unfitted to withstand the rigour of the climate and the exposed situa¬ 
tion of the country. The Cheviot Sheep have, however, been used for crossing with advantage, and appear to be the race which is 
greatly the best suited for the purpose. 
The Short-tailed Sheep of Northern Europe had also been early carried to the Hebrides, doubtless by the Norwegians. 
Some of the descendants of these Sheep remain, but only in scattered remnants, which are rapidly disappearing, their size being 
diminutive, and the interest of the breeders having every where led them to adopt breeds of more economical value. 
Polycerate Sheep are sometimes found in the Islands of Scotland, doubtless the descendants of the same lace in Iceland and 
the north of Europe. They are generally worthless, and are nearly extinct. 
