Tuesday 19 November 2013

More sheep than people

Lakeland Shepherd

11 comments:

  1. A lovely essay, Rob. Will look out for this for you.

    Whenever I see border collies kept as pets in a sprawling city like Tokyo I tend to wonder what they'd make of sheep -- or even grass -- if that unlikely meeting should ever happen.

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    1. That's a bit shocking to hear. Borders are bred for speed, intelligence and herding, working dogs.

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    2. Well I'm sure they adapt somehow and learn to do the cleaning or how to assemble electronics, but I like to whisper "come by" and "take time" to them, as in the lovely video you mention below. Thank you for that link -- it put a tear in my expatriate eye.

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  2. Don't know much about shepharding, but I could use a cold ale.

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  3. Very interesting about the mutilations as markings. I wonder if the restaurant would sell you their copy. I bet they bought it for pennies from some used book seller and wouldn't miss it a bit. They might even give it to you if you took them another old book to trade.

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    1. I'm sorely tempted to fire off an e-mail and make them an offer.

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    2. Should add that 'mutilation' is my term. It amounts to the same as branding cattle and freeze marking horses.

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  4. Last time I was in the Lake District (2009) I remember seeing some black sheep with white faces - they were like sheep negatives. Harder to steal I'm guessing!

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    1. It won't have changed much since then. Just wetter. Herdwick and Dalesbred are common on the fells but there's an exhaustive list here.

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  5. Nice! Locally here sheep are mostly colour-marked.
    (Myself now usually look at AbeBooks for 2nd hand books - that sheep guide is indeed pricey!)

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