20 
THE SHEEP. 
THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BREED. 
treated and sufficiently fed from an early age. The mutton is not so delicate as that of the Sheep of Wales, or the Southdowns of 
England, but it is more juicy, has more of the venison flavour, and is preferred to every other by those who are used to it. It is the 
mutton which is principally consumed in all the larger towns of Scotland, and great numbers of the Sheep at the age of three 
years and upwards, are carried to the pastures of the south to be fattened for the English markets. 
An important property of this breed is its adaptation to a country of heaths, in which respect it excels every other. It is 
this property, as much as its hardiness, that has rendered it so suitable to the heathy mountains where it is acclimated, 
and where it finds subsistence beyond the ordinary range of other Sheep. It feeds on the loftiest mountains, up to the very verge 
where the heaths give place to the musci and other plants of the higher latitudes. Feeding much on the shoots of heath, these 
Sheep find subsistence in the times of snow and severe frosts better than any other in this country. The mothers are hardy 
nurses, and are able to bring up their young when they themselves have been exposed to severe privations. A great defect of 
this breed is the character of the fleece, which, besides being thin on the body, yields wool fit only for the manufacture of carpets 
and the coarser stuffs. Little general attention has been paid to the quality of the fleece, although it is susceptible of con¬ 
siderable improvement. A defect of the wool very common in this breed is the existence of what are termed kemps. These 
consist of hard and wiry filaments mixed with the pile. They are deficient in the felting property, and in the oily secretion which 
moistens the true wool. The removal of kemps is effected by superior food, and by breeding from parents free from the defect. 
Sometimes individuals of this breed are born with wool which is fine and short. Were advantage taken of this occurrence, it 
might be possible, by means of breeding, to produce a variety with fine in place of coarse wool. 
This breed, extending over a great variety of situation and soils, from the moist moors of Yorkshire and other parts to the 
rocky mountains of the north of Scotland, presents a great diversity of size and aspect. In some of the lower and less heathy 
moors both of England and Scotland, the Sheep have so far deviated from the ordinary type as to have lost their horns, and the 
black colour of the legs and face. This variety is generally of smaller size and less hardy habits than those which are naturalized 
on the drier mountains of abundant heath. The best of the breed are found in Tweeddale in Scotland, which may be partly due 
to the nature of the country, and partly to the superior care bestowed in breeding. Those existing in the hills of Cumberland, 
Westmoreland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, are much inferior to those of the Border counties of Scotland. Over a great part of 
the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the breed has degenerated from the want of care and from insufficient food. In many of 
these situations, indeed, the stock may be said to be mixed, for it has been the result of crosses with the original races. This is in 
an especial manner the case in the Hebrides, where the animals are small, and every way inferior to the genuine Heath Breed. 
The treatment of this hardy race of Sheep has a necessary relation to the circumstances of the country in which it is pro¬ 
duced. The breeder of the Sheep is not usually the person who fattens them for use. He rears them to the age which suits 
the nature of his farm, and disposes of them to others who have farms on which they can be kept till they have arrived at the 
proper age for being fattened. They are then disposed of to the graziers and farmers, whose pastures or means of supplying 
artificial food enable them to prepare them for the butcher. This species of transfer is continually going on, and the numerous 
fairs of the country are the marts to which vast flocks of those Sheep are brought at different times. They find their way to the 
ultimate markets of consumption at various ages, but mostly when between three and four years old, and when the mutton has 
arrived at its greatest perfection in juiciness and flavour. Increasing numbers of them are now carried to the markets of London 
and other great towns, aided by the facilities of intercourse afforded by steam navigation. 
The means of rearing these numerous Sheep are the stocks of ewes maintained on the farms of the breeders, the number of 
each flock of ewes depending on the quality and extent of the natural pastures, and the age to which the progeny is reared on the 
breeding farm. Thus when the Sheep are sold when lambs or hogs, the proportion of ewes is in a corresponding degree larger 
than when the progeny is kept to the age of wethers. In general, one shepherd is reckoned sufficient for twenty-five scores of 
ewes, but for a much greater number of young sheep and wethers. 
The rams are admitted to the ewes about the 22d of November, so that the season of lambing may not begin before the 
tardy vegetation of spring may be expected. During the months of winter, the pregnant ewes are suffered to range over those 
parts of the farm where food can be picked up; the rushes, sedges, and other herbaceous plants mixed with the heaths, affording 
a scanty subsistence, rendered precarious by the falls of snow which often cover these dreary wastes for weeks or months at a 
time. The artificial provender that can be supplied is confined to a little coarse hay during deep snows, but even this is often 
wanting, and all the food supplied is what the animals can collect on their natural pastures. These wild and hardy Sheep, how¬ 
ever, dig up the snowy surface to reach the herbs beneath, and support life under circumstances in which the more delicate races 
would perish. Yet, as it is, many die from the inclemency of the weather and the want of food, and numbers often are over¬ 
whelmed by falls of snow so sudden and violent that there is no escape. In districts where the mountains are of less elevation, 
