THE OLD LINCOLN BREED. 
PLATE XVI. 
RAM, Bred by Mr Jex, St Germains, near Lynne, County of Norfolk. 
The breeds of Sheep hitherto described are proper to the mountains, moors, downs, and less cultivated districts, and most 
of them produce a short wool fitted for preparation by the card. The breeds that remain to be described are of entirely different 
characters, with respect to form and the nature of the fleece. They are of large size, and, until improved by art, of coarse form; 
and the wool which they yield is long, thick, and tough in the filaments, of inferior felting properties, hut tolerably soft to the touch, 
and rarely approaching to the harsh and wiry character of hair. This kind of wool, from the strength and toughness of its fibres, 
is unsuited for being broken into fragments by the action of the card, and is, accordingly, never prepared except for worsted yarn, 
and by the assorting of the comb. If the British Islands are inferior to other countries in the production of the finer felting 
wools, they are superior to any in the case of those adapted to the worsted manufacture. The long wools of the plains of Eng¬ 
land have m every known period been of the highest estimation. They were early carried to other countries, and now produce 
fabrics which are diffused throughout the markets of the world. 
The Long-woolled Sheep of England are the natives of the richer plains, although they have long been carried to all parts of 
the country where agriculture has provided the means of supplying artificial food. The first and most extensive locality of this 
class of Sheep is the fine tract of new red sandstone which, extending southward from the lower valley of the Tees, forms the 
fertile valleys of York and Trent; and which, extending from the vale of Trent to the mouth of the Severn, and thence northwards, 
includes the greater part of the counties of Nottingham, Leicester, Warwick, Worcester, and apart of Stafford and Lancaster; com¬ 
prehending a tract of the highest fertility with respect to the production of the grasses and other herbage plants. But connected with 
this tract, as a locality of the Long-woolled Sheep, are districts of the lias and oolite formations, comprehending the counties of 
Rutland, Northampton, Gloucester, part of Oxford, and others, to which may be added the lower parts of Devonshire, and the valleys 
of the larger rivers in different parts of the country. The second locality of the Long-woolled Sheep comprehends the flat alluvial 
tracts of fens on the eastern coasts and the shores of Kent. Conformably to this division, the Long-woolled Sheep may be arranged 
in two general groups; first, those of the inland plains, represented by the Teeswater, Leicester, and other varieties; and, secondly, 
those of the fens, and alluvial country, represented by the breeds of Lincolnshire and Romney Marsh. 
Of the breeds which have been mentioned, those of the marshes and fens are the most marked, and peculiar in their characters. 
The rich and marshy tract of land, extending from the Humber southwards, through Lincolnshire into Norfolk, Cambridge, and 
the adjoining country, is a fitting habitation for the coarser and heavier kinds of Sheep. The lower part of Lincolnshire, 
accordingly, and the fertile tracts in connexion with it, are inhabited by a race remarkable, beyond any other, for their size, their 
coarse and massy forms, and the length of their wool. The type of these breeds has been termed the Old Lincoln, which requires, 
however, to be distinguished from the race of mixed lineage which now inhabits the same country. 
The Old Lincoln Sheep, of which the remnants only now exist, are destitute of horns, are of coarse form, have large limbs and 
hoofs, hollow flanks, and flat sides. Their long unctuous wool almost hangs to the ground, and they have a large tuft on the forehead. 
Their fleece weighs from 10 to 12 lb., and in the rams and fattened wethers, often greatly exceeds this weight. They are slow feeders, 
and consume much food, but are valued by the butchers for their tendency to produce internal fat. About seventy years ago, when 
the New Leicester, or Dishley breed of Bake well, became distinguished, the Lincolnshire breeders resorted to this stock as a means 
of communicating to their own the property of early fattening, for which the new breed was eminent. This system of crossing was 
carried on until the close of the last century, and has been continued up to the present time, so that the old breed is scarcely 
any where to be found of unmixed blood. The figure in the plate, however, has been taken from a flock which has been main¬ 
tained perfectly pure from a period previous to that in which the Dishley blood was introduced. The worthy owner, amidst all the 
changes of the times, has continued to maintain the stock which his forefathers had cultivated. By the continued breeding from 
the same blood, this particular flock has doubtless suffered deterioration; but it retains all the essential characters of the ancient 
race, and presents, perhaps, the only living example of the most remarkable breed of sheep which the British Islands have produced. 
The crossing of the Old Lincoln with the Dishley blood, was not at first effected without great opposition, and a contest arose 
between the supporters of the ancient breed and the new, which lasted for more than a quarter of a century. The advocates of 
p*. 
