THE SHEEP. 
71 
The Breeds of Sheep of the British Islands which have been generally referred to, or of which particular descriptions have 
been given, may be thus classified 
1. The Zetland and Orkney Breeds, of the variety brevicauda. —They inhabit the most northerly islands, and are distin¬ 
guished by their bearing a fleece of fine soft wool largely intermixed with hairs. The purest of them are found on the remoter 
Islands of Zetland. They are hardy, wild, and of small size, and do not merit extension beyond the countries which they now 
occupy. 
2. The Older Soft-woolled Sheep of Scotland.—They are of small weight, have long lank bodies, and bear a short soft 
wool fitted for the manufacture of flannels, but deficient in the property of felting. These varieties are now nearly extinct, or 
confined to the remoter islands and islets of the Hebrides. 
3. The Sheep of Wales, which may be divided into two classes; 1. The Sheep of the Higher Mountains, horned, of dimi¬ 
nutive size, usually of a dark colour, and bearing soft wool largely intermixed with hairs; 2. The Hornless Soft-woolled Sheep, 
likewise of small size, bearing wool of a soft texture, fitted for the manufacture of hose and flannels, but deficient in the property 
of felting. To the typical forms of these races all the Mountain Sheep of Wales are more or less allied. They are valued for 
the delicacy of their mutton, and are carried in numbers to the lower country for the purpose of being fattened. They are hardy, 
but impatient of restraint when removed from their native pastures. Allied in their character to the Mountain Breeds of Wales 
are the Sheep of the Wicklow Mountains, now disappearing, in the pure state, from the effects of crossing. 
4. The Kerry and other Sheep of the high lands of Ireland, wild, slow in arriving at maturity, and producing a fleece of 
medium softness, but irregular and mixed with hairs. 
5. The Black-faced Heath Breed, inhabiting the central chain of heathy mountains and moors which extend from Derby¬ 
shire northward. These sheep have long been carried to the mountains of Scotland, and now extend all northward through the 
Northern Highlands to the Pentland Frith. They are armed with horns, and are the hardiest and boldest of all the races of Bri¬ 
tish Sheep. They have dark-coloured faces and limbs, and bear shaggy fleeces of coarse wool. Their characters change when 
they are naturalized in the less rugged mountains and moors. In the lower heaths of Yorkshire they approximate, through the 
coarse and unthrifty breed of Penistone, to the larger sheep of the plains : in other cases they pass into the finer-woolled sheep of 
the Commons, lower Heaths, and Forests. They produce a juicy and well-flavoured mutton, and are brought in great numbers 
from the mountains to be fattened in the lower country. 
6. The Cheviot Breed, derived from a limited tract of green hills in the North of England, and thence widely spread over the 
mountainous districts of Scotland, and of some parts of England and Ireland. These sheep somewhat exceed in weight the Black¬ 
faced Heath Breed : they are less robust, and less suited to a country of heaths, but yet they are amongst the hardiest of our moun¬ 
tain sheep. They are destitute of horns in both sexes, and bear wool of medium fineness, fitted for preparation by the card, and 
employed in the manufacture of the coarser woollen cloths. 
7. The Old Norfolk Breed, reared in the heathy parts of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge. They are a strong 
and agile race of sheep, armed with horns in both sexes, bear a clothing wool of medium length, and are greatly valued for the 
excellence of their mutton. They produce admirable crosses with the more highly cultivated breeds, and especially with the South 
Down, from which cause they are rapidly diminishing in numbers in the pure state. 
8. The Breeds of the Older Forests, Commons, and Chases.—These vary in their aspect, size, and properties, with the localities 
in which they have been naturalized. They have often dark or gray faces and limbs, have sometimes horns, and are sometimes 
destitute of horns, and bear, for the most part, a short felting wool. They have been continually diminishing in numbers with the 
appropriation of commons and the improvement of the country, so that few now remain without a mixture of the more cultivated 
breeds. In the West of England, however, are still to be found the Dartmoor and Exmoor breeds in considerable numbers, the 
former occupying the high lands of Devonshire in the forest of Dartmoor; the latter, a rugged district of limited extent at the 
sources of the river Exe in Somersetshire. They are both very wild and hardy races of small sheep, and differ from the other 
Forest Breeds by producing wool of medium length, and more fitted for preparation by the comb than the card. 
9. The Ryeland Breed, the remains of some of the smaller fine-woolled varieties of the western counties. These sheep are 
hornless, of small size, and of good forms, patient of scanty food, and productive of a fine short felting wool, which was long the 
most esteemed for the making of cloth of any in England. This breed, from the substitution of the larger varieties, and the 
effects of crossing, has been long diminishing in numbers, and is now nearly extinct. 
10. The South Down Breed, derived from the chalky hills of Sussex on the British Channel.—It is to be classed amongst 
