THE SOUTH DOWN BREED. 
PLATE XIY. 
RAM, a Four-Shear Sheep, bred by John Ellman, Esq. of Glynde, in the County of Sussex. 
PLATE XY. 
EWE and LAMB, bred by Thomas Ellman, Esq. of Bedingham, from a Ewe bred by the late 
Mr Ellman of Glynde. 
Of the breeds of Short-woolled Sheep which formerly inhabited the mountains, downs, forests, and less fertile districts of the 
country, some, it has been seen, were distinguished by being of small size, by being mostly destitute of horns, and by having the 
legs and faces white; and to this class is to be referred the beautiful little breed of Herefordshire, and other districts west of the 
Severn, already mentioned. But another class of breeds, still more diffused, is distinguished by the individuals having the legs 
and faces of a dark colour, and, in most cases, by the presence of horns in both sexes. Under this class is comprehended the 
Black-faced Heath Breed, which, it has been seen, inhabits the central chain of bleak mountains which stretch from the borders 
of Scotland southwards. This breed has large spiral horns, has the face and limbs covered with black hair, and has a moderately 
short, yet harsh and shaggy fleece. But these characters, proper to the race in the more elevated mountains which it inhabits, 
yield to the influence of external agents, so that, as we recede from the wilder country, a change appears in the form and aspect 
of the animals, and in the properties of the wool. Westward of the central mountains, in the counties of Westmoreland and 
Cumberland, the wool becomes more soft, and the form of the animals less robust. In the Yorkshire Wolds, to which the 
same race formerly extended, there was an equal deviation from the parent type; and still more in the commons and forests 
of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and other inland counties. As we approach to the confines of Wales, the Black-faced breeds 
approximate more to the characters of the Sheep of the higher Welsh mountains, the wool becoming more soft. Approach¬ 
ing to the Welsh type are the Delamere Forest Breed in the county of Cheshire, and the Morfe Common Breed in the county of 
Shropshire. The latter inhabited a country of limited extent near Bridgenorth, on the Severn; and, until our own times, 
was noted for the fineness of its wool. A similar race extended southward through Herefordshire, which, for the delicacy and 
softness of its wool, was reckoned little inferior to the Ryeland itself. Turning to the great chalk districts of England, occupying 
the south-eastern parts of the island, there were likewise numerous varieties of Shortr-woolled Sheep, in some of which the horns, and 
even the dark colour of the face and limbs, disappeared. In this class are the Old Norfolk, still inhabiting the heaths of Norfolk 
and Cambridge, the Old Wiltshire, Old Berkshire, the Hampshire, and numerous minor varieties, which formerly possessed the 
various commons, and heaths of this part of England. But, of all these varieties, now the most important and generally diffused, 
is that which inhabits the range of chalky hills of Sussex, commonly termed the South Downs. 
The South Downs of Sussex consist of a range of low chalky hills, of five or six miles in breadth, stretching along the coast 
upwards of sixty miles, and passing into the chalky lands of Hants on the west. In contact with this range of hills is a tract of 
low cultivated ground, which is usually connected with the Down farms, although many of the latter have no vale or flat land 
attached. The herbage of these hills is short, but well adapted for the keeping of Sheep, of which vast numbers have, in every 
known period, occupied the pastures. Whilst the dryness of the air, the moderate elevation of the land, and consequent mildness 
of the climate, are all eminently favourable to the rearing of a race of Down or Mountain Sheep, the contact of the cultivated 
country affords the means of supplying artificial food in due quantity. It is this combination of favourable circumstances which 
has rendered these calcareous hills capable of supporting a greater number of Sheep than perhaps any tract of similar fertility in 
the country, and has afforded the means to the breeders of applying the resources of artificial feeding to their improvement. The 
original breed of the Sussex Downs was not superior to that of many other districts of the chalk-formation; but the means 
of supplying the animals with artificial food, which the geographical situation of this long and narrow chain of hills in con¬ 
tact with the richer country afforded, aided the breeders in applying to the improvement of the race a system of breeding and 
feeding, which has rendered the South Down Breed the most esteemed in the countries suited to it of all the Short-woolled Sheep 
of England. 
The native breed of the South Down hills was of the smaller kind of Sheep, with light fore-quarters, narrow chests, long 
