Know Your Sheep E-Book

Jack Byard

• Herausgeber: Old Pond Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 47

Beschreibung

For each breed he dedicates two pages, the left being a full page high-quality picture and the right giving a brief but comprehensive description of the appearance, history and uses of each sheep. Only the size of a postcard, the book fits perfectly into a rucksack or pocket so is ideal for the interested rambler who is keen to discover more about the flock fleeing from him at the time. Clear color photographs taken of sheep 'straight from the field' illustrate the immense diversity within this species.

Leseprobe

Know Your Sheep

Old Pond Publishing is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

Project Team

Vice President–Content: Christopher Reggio

Associate Publisher: Sarah Bloxham

Editor: Sue Viccars

Designer: Wendy Reynolds

Copyright © 2019 by Jack Byard and Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Print ISBN 978-1-912158-50-8eISBN 978-1-912158-72-0

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Fox Chapel Publishing 903 Square Street Mount Joy, PA 17552

Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd. 7 Danefield Road, Selsey (Chichester) West Sussex PO20 9DA, U.K.

www.oldpond.com

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Cover photo: A Suffolk sheep poses for the camera.

Contents

Foreword

1 Beulah Speckled Face

2 Black Welsh Mountain

3 Blackface

4 Bluefaced Leicester

5 Border Leicester

6 Clun Forest

7 Dalesbred

8 Derbyshire Gritstone

9 Devon and Cornwall Longwool

10 Devon Closewool

11 Dorset Down

12 Dorset Horn and Polled Dorset

13 Est à Laine Merino

14 Exmoor Horn

15 Greyface Dartmoor

16 Hampshire Down

17 Herdwick

18 Hill Radnor

19 Hog Island

20 Jacob

21 Katahdin

22 Kerry Hill

23 Leicester Longwool

24 Lincoln Longwool

25 Llanwenog

26 Lleyn

27 Lonk

28 Manx Loaghtan

29 Montadale

30 Navajo-Churro

31 North Country Cheviot

32 Oxford Down

33 Romney

34 Rouge de l’Ouest

35 Ryeland

36 Shetland

37 Shropshire

38 Southdown

39 Suffolk

40 Swaledale

41 Teeswater

42 Welsh Mountain Badger Face Torddu

43 Welsh Mountain Badger Face Torwen

44 Wensleydale

Acknowledgements

Picture Credits

Oxford Down ram with Kerry Hill ram in the background.

Foreword

Sheep have provided man with food, drink and clothing for more than ten thousand years. When first domesticated in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq, Turkey and Iran), these wild Mouflon sheep were much smaller than modern domestic breeds and covered in coarse coloured wool. The sheep slowly moved west into Western Europe and then on to the Americas (both North and South). Softer, whiter fleeces typically are more desirable and profitable. Many of the very early writers describe the process of selective breeding, which continues to this day to provide the consumer (and the sheep) with the best of everything.

Many cities in the British Isles and throughout Europe were built on the wealth that quality wool provided. Bradford in the north of England was once the centre of the international wool trade with its magnificent Yorkshire stone Wool Exchange, where deals worth millions of pounds were agreed and sealed with a shake of the hand. How things change!

A number of the ancient breeds are at risk of extinction, and were it not for the dedication of small breeders would disappear altogether. Typically, they are not commercially viable and are bred for the pleasure they give and speciality markets such as hand-felting and rug-weaving. The rare breeds and the upland sheep keep many of the inaccessible areas of our countryside under control, through conservation grazing.

I hope that this book adds to the pleasure of your rambles – walking is one of the best ways of keeping fit and healthy and enjoying the sights and sounds of the countryside. Please keep your pets under control, and remember that you are walking in someone’s work place, someone’s office!

Jack Byard, Bradford, 2019

NOTE: All weights, sizes and measurements in this book are averages based on breed records and the terrain in which the animals live.

1 Beulah Speckled Face

Characteristics

The breed is naturally polled (without horns).

Weight: ram 190 lb (86 kg), ewe 115 lb (52 kg).

Fleece weight: 13¾–5¾ lb (1.75–2.5 kg).

This breed (full name Eppynt Hill Beulah Speckled Face) is most usually seen in its homeland of Wales, although it can be found elsewhere in the British Isles and Europe. The true origins of the breed are unknown, but these sheep have been grazing the hills of Wales for several hundred years and have adapted to the local environment. This is a hardy sheep, grazing on grasses and herbs at an altitude of 1,000–1,500 feet (305–450 metres), and is also in demand for conservation grazing.

The quality wool is used for tweed, fine flannel, hand-spinning, weaving and knitting. The coarser wool is used in rug- and carpet-making. The Beulah Speckled Face also produces quality lean meat. The breed is not known to be timid, and tends to ignore dogs, but if young lambs are present the ewe will attack the dog.

2 Black Welsh Mountain

Characteristics

The rams have impressive horns that curve around the ears, and the ewes are polled.

Weight: ram 143 lb (65 kg), ewe 100 lb (45 kg).

Fleece weight: 2½–5½ lb (1–2.5 kg).

This is an ancient breed that was recorded in the Middle Ages when it was prized for its quality meat as well as its wool. It is the only black sheep breed in the UK, the tips of the fleece bleaching to a reddish brown in the sun. Around two hundred years ago in the mountain flock an occasional black lamb was born; from that time some shepherds decided to breed only black sheep, improving the fleece and the meat quality at the same time. The Black Welsh Mountain was recognized as a breed in 1922, and was exported to the USA in 1972.