BREED OF THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS. 
PLATE IY. 
1. RAM, Three Years Old, from the Yale of Glenmalure. 
2. EWE, Three Years Old, from the higher range of heathy mountains. 
Ireland, from the fertility of the soil and the mildness and humidity of the climate, is in an eminent degree adapted to the pro¬ 
duction of the grasses, and consequently to the rearing of Sheep. It is known that from early times Sheep were amongst 
the domestic animals of the country, affording by their skins and fleeces covering to the inhabitants. After the country fell under 
the dominion of England, the estimation and importance of the native production is chiefly made known to us by cruel laws, pro i- 
bitino- the exportation of the wool of the country; which, notwithstanding, found its way in great quantity from the west of Ire¬ 
land io Flanders and other countries where a demand for it existed. There were then no large manufactories in the country itself, 
but the inhabitants, like the Welsh, prepared their wool at home. This system, the happiest that could be for the industry and vir¬ 
tue of the people, remained even when the rural population was undergoing an unhappy change; and a great deal of coarse stuff is 
still made in this way by the poor peasantry. There are now also large manufactories of wool in Ireland, and, after supplying these, 
there is an extensive exportation of the raw material and of worsted yarn to this country. 
The Sheep of Ireland consist partly of mountain breeds, and partly of a large long-woolled race which exists, with very uni¬ 
form characters, over the greater part of the country. This latter race, which resembled the coarser extinct breeds of the midland 
and western counties of England, is not now to be found in its unmixed state. It has undergone an entire change by the effects oi 
crossing, and is every where greatly improved. 
Of the Mountain Sheep of Ireland there are several breeds, with characters more or less distinctly marked. Those of Kerry 
and the west of Ireland, are the most extended and remarkable: that of the Wicklow Mountains has a more limited range, but 
is the most valuable. 
This breed inhabits the Wicklow Mountains in the county of that name. These mountains are of considerable elevation, ex¬ 
posed to high winds, and possessing a humid climate. Remnants only of the pure breed remain, chiefly m the vale of Glenmalure, 
the original race having very generally been crossed by the Southdown and other breeds. 
The Sheep of the Wicklow Mountains have an evident affinity with the Sheep of Wales. They are of small size but of 
tolerably good form, and the mutton is excellent. They are very wild, and at night steal down to the lower grounds to pilfer the 
growing corn. They are destitute of horns in both sexes. Their faces and legs are white, but there is a constant tendency to the 
production of black Lambs, and there cannot be a doubt that the breed, if left to itself, would become wholly of that colour. . A 
local law exists that all black Lambs shall be destroyed. The wool is soft and fine, and somewhat long in the staple; but it is 
always more or less mixed with hairs. The quality of the wool, however, as well as the general character of the Sheep, vanes 
with the elevation. In the lower rocky hills, as those which do not exceed 800 feet above the level of the sea, the wool is 
more fine and less mixed with hairs. At a higher elevation, where heath and wet bogs begin, the Sheep become smaller and 
wilder. In these, a ridge of bristly hairs extends like a mane along the neck and spine, and hair is likewise found m quantity on the 
hips and dewlaps, as in the wilder sheep of Wales. There is here that adaptation which is every where observed in this species 
of animals, to the physical conditions of the country in which they are naturalized. The ridge of hair along the spine, and on the 
haunches and breast, causes the moisture to fall off; nay, the lambs are born with a provision against the wetness of the boggy 
soil There is a large growth of hair upon the parts which are in contact with the ground when the animals repose, namely, the 
breast, the limbs and the belly. 
The county of Wicklow lying contiguous to the capital, is favourably situated for the rearing of Sheep, fitted for the demand 
of a numerous population. The practice of rearing lambs for early consumption has long prevailed m that country. The Sheep 
of the mountains are purchased by the breeders of the lower farms. The Rams are turned amongst the Ewes in the beginning of 
June, and by the end of July the greater part of the latter are impregnated, so that the Lambs are born in the months of Decem¬ 
ber and January. At the end of a fortnight or more they are separated from the dams, and placed in pens m the feedmg-house. 
The Ewes are driven into the feeding-house twice a-day, and those whose Lambs are dead or have been disposed of are first held to 
be suckled, and then the Lambs are permitted to suck their own dams. After a time they are further fed with milk from the cow 
