MODERN BRITISH BREEDS OF SHEEP The sheep native to the British Isles are commonly grouped into longwool, shortwool and mountain breeds.
Longwools receive their name because of their long lustre wool; they are white-faced (except the Wensleydale) and hornless; their mutton tends to become rather fat, but this quality makes them useful for crossing with lean fleshed breeds, e.g., the Merino. The longwool breeds are the Leicester, Border Leicester, Wensley dale, Cotswold, Lincoln, Devon Longwool, South Devon, Ros common and Kent or Romney Marsh.
The Shortwools include the Down breeds all of which are horn less and have dark faces and legs, short dense wool of fine quality, and very good mutton. They are the Southdown, Shropshire, Suffolk, Hampshire Down, Dorset Down and Oxford Down. The other Shortwool breeds are the Dorset Horn, Western or Wilt shire Horn, Ryeland, Devon Closewool, Kerry Hill and Clun Forest.
The Mountain breeds are relatively small hardy sheep which produce mutton of fine quality. They are the Scotch Blackface, Swaledale, Lonk, Rough Fell, Derbyshire Gritstone, Cheviot, Welsh Mountain, Herdwick, Exmoor Horn, Dartmoor and Shet land.
The Leicester is of high interest. It was the breed which Robert Bakewell, the pioneer stock improver, took in hand in the i 8th century, and developed by the exercise of his skill and judgment. In past times Leicester blood was extensively em ployed in the improvement or establishment of other longwool breeds of sheep. The Leicester, as seen now, has a white wedge shaped face with a few dark spots, the forehead covered with wool; thin mobile ears; neck full towards the trunk, short and level with the back; width over the shoulders and through the heart ; a full broad breast ; fine clean legs standing well apart; deep round barrel and great depth of carcass ; firm flesh, springy pelt, and pink skin, covered with long, fine, curly, lustrous wool. The breed is now chiefly centred in east and north Yorkshire and Durham,-but its chief value is for crossing, when it is found to promote maturity and to improve the fattening propensity.
The Border Leicester originated after the death in 1795 of Bakewell, when the Leicester breed, as it then existed, diverged into two branches. The one is represented by the breed still
known in England as the Leicester. The other, bred on the Scottish Borders, with possibly an early admixture of Cheviot blood, acquired the name of Border Leicester.
The Wensleydales take their name from the Yorkshire dale of which Thirsk is the centre. They are longwool sheep, derived from the old Teeswater breed by crossing with Leicester rams. They have a tuft of wool on the forehead. The skin of the body is sometimes blue, whilst the wool has a very bright lustre, is curled in small distinct pirls, and is of uniform staple. The rams are in much favour in the N. of England for crossing with ewes of the various black-faced horned mountain breeds to produce mutton of superior quality and to use the cross-ewes to breed to a pure longwool or sometimes a Down ram.
The Cotswold is an old-established breed of the Gloucestershire hills, extending thence into Oxfordshire. It was but slightly crossed for improvement by the Dishley Leicesters and has retained its characteristic type for generations. They are useful for crossing purposes to impart size, and because they are exceptionally hardy.
The Lincolns are descended from the old native breed of Lincolnshire, improved by the use of Leicester blood. They are the largest and most massive British breed and they are quite hardy. Breeders of Lincoln rams like best a darkish face, with a few black spots on the ears; and white legs. The wool has a broad staple, and is denser and longer, and the fleece heavier, than in any other British breed. For this reason it has been the breed most in favour with breeders in all parts of the world for mating with Merino ewes and their crosses. The progeny is a good general-purpose sheep, giving a large fleece of wool but only a medium quality of mutton. With a greater proportion of Lincoln blood in the mixed flocks of the world there is a growing tendency to produce finer mutton by using Down rams, but at the sacrifice of part of the yield of wool.