The recent Kendal Wool Gathering held in early October provided a great template for a celebration of wool which could be held in towns throughout Oxfordshire with a history in the wool trade.
The event in the famous Lake District town mixed demonstrations, fun activities and displays, all connected to wool on which the town’s wealth was built. Stands and stalls representing all aspects of commercial wool products, including carpets, looms, spinning wheels and crafts were on display.
A guided wool walk took in sites in the town where, in the past, the wool trade had flourished. The ‘gathering’ also featured fun events such as a knitting blitz and other have-a-go activities, all organised by volunteers. The event confirmed that there is a growing interest in natural fibre.
You can imagine a colourful festival of this sort being held in Witney, a town with a long history of blanket making, or maybe at Blenheim Palace, where the estate has begun marketing its own wool products.
One of the stallholders at the ‘gathering’ was The Wool Clip, which began as a co-operative of Cumbria-based crafts people back in 2001. The group were all enthusiastic designers and makers who enjoyed working with wool and wished to promote British wool and sheep farming and highlight the loss of traditional craft skills.
The group went on to set up a shop at Priest's Mill at Caldbeck . Each member spends a couple of days per month in the shop and the commission from sales pays for the upkeep.
Members of the group also organise the popular annual Woolfest in Cockermouth, Cumbria which began in 2005 and now attracts more than 100 stallholders and 4,000 visitors every year.
Wool seems to be on the up after many years of decline. Wool prices have risen 34 per cent this year, due to competitive bidding by wool buyers. The indicator price for wool settled at 153p/kg in September, up from 114p/kg at the same time last year, according to figures from the British Wool Marketing Board.
Tony Oakland-Smith, head of marketing at the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) said: “In the past few years there has been a growing trend towards natural, sustainable fibres, which has placed British wool in a favourable position with consumers. There has been an increased demand for wool products right across the spectrum from the innovative to the traditional, vintage appeal.”
For example, a modern twist on a 300-year-old idea could see many more people opt for what could be the ultimate green send-off – in a coffin made of wool.
Almost 350 years ago, an Act of Parliament decreed that everyone had to be buried in a woollen shroud to boost support for the English wool industry. Unfortunately for English sheep farmers, the law was repealed in 1814. But Yorkshire-based family-owned textile firm Hainsworth hopes to rekindle at least some of that demand with its novel Natural Legacy woollen coffins. Company director Adam Hainsworth explained: “It takes three sheep fleeces to make each coffin. We settled on a blend of Dorset Horn and UK Downs breeds,” Adam said. “This has the microns, fibre lengths and crimps suitable for the felting properties needed for coffins.”
As you can see, there are many more uses for wool than knitting!
For details visit www.naturallegacy.co.uk/
You will recall that a couple of weeks back I mentioned my new ram Percy, and mentioned organising a meeting between him and our other tup, Valentine.
It did not go well.
After a week of getting to know each other through the fence, things looked promising. But when I brought them together fisticuffs ensued – they were running at each other and clashing heads, which produced a horrible sound which could probably be heard above the hum of traffic on the A34.
Percy looked bemused, while Valentine was strutting about like Mike Tyson. As Percy is a valuable animal and we are relying on him for some good lambs next year, I decided that caution was the best approach and separated them again.
I am not sure they will ever be best mates – but at least they are sitting sort of together, side-by-side on each side of the fence.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Monday, 28 October 2013
Not so dumb . . .
Most people think sheep are stupid – after all they have had a bad press over the years. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm sheep represent the ignorant and uneducated, unable to grasp the subtleties of revolutionary ideology. ‘Four legs good, two legs bad’ they bleat.
But I’d like attempt to prove otherwise. One of our flock, the matriarch in fact, has learned how to push open a gate – and push off the lid of the bin where we keep sacks of sheep feed. And along with the rest of the flock she also recognises people who come to visit them regularly – but doesn’t come near strangers.
Don’t believe me?
In Australia researchers have been testing the intelligence and learning abilities of sheep by sending animals through a maze, similar to those used to test rats. The sheep displayed outstanding spatial memories and the ability to learn from experience.
When the maze was populated with photographs of familiar and unfamiliar sheep faces, 80 per cent of the sheep stuck to a route through the complex maze where they found images of familiar sheep. Apparently, when shown images of familiar faces, their ovine brains process visual images in the same way as we do when viewing our own photographs of friends and relatives.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge have discovered that sheep can identify human faces and remember them for at least two years.
One the researchers, neuroscientist Keith Kendrick, Gresham professor of physics at Cambridge University, said: "We now have a fair amount of evidence that sheep are not dumb. In fact, they can be quite cunning in terms of getting in and out of things, and coming back and looking as if they never went out in the first place."
“We have found that sheep can recognise both human faces and emotions, and emotional changes on sheep faces. They are also able to form mental images of faces. They can recognise at least 50 different faces, and remember them for a couple of years or more," he added. "They are quite sophisticated in their social environment. They know what a happy face looks like compared to an angry one."
Then there are the famous ‘rolling sheep’ on the Yorkshire moors.
A few years back hungry sheep taught themselves to roll across cattle grids to raid villagers' gardens. The crafty animals have also perfected the skill of hurdling fences and squeezing through narrow gaps.
Dorothy Lindley, a Conservative councillor for Marsden, near Huddersfield, a former textile town on the edge of the Pennine uplands in West Yorkshire, was reported as saying: "They lie down on their side, or sometimes their back, and just roll over and over the grids until they are clear. I have seen them doing it. It is quite clever.”
Scientists have also discovered that sick sheep can accurately self-medicate for stomach problems. When animals were given food than made them slightly unwell, they were able to select and eat the right plants which then ‘cured’ constipation and heartburn.
Sheep stupid? No, they just know who their friends are.
But I’d like attempt to prove otherwise. One of our flock, the matriarch in fact, has learned how to push open a gate – and push off the lid of the bin where we keep sacks of sheep feed. And along with the rest of the flock she also recognises people who come to visit them regularly – but doesn’t come near strangers.
Don’t believe me?
In Australia researchers have been testing the intelligence and learning abilities of sheep by sending animals through a maze, similar to those used to test rats. The sheep displayed outstanding spatial memories and the ability to learn from experience.
When the maze was populated with photographs of familiar and unfamiliar sheep faces, 80 per cent of the sheep stuck to a route through the complex maze where they found images of familiar sheep. Apparently, when shown images of familiar faces, their ovine brains process visual images in the same way as we do when viewing our own photographs of friends and relatives.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge have discovered that sheep can identify human faces and remember them for at least two years.
One the researchers, neuroscientist Keith Kendrick, Gresham professor of physics at Cambridge University, said: "We now have a fair amount of evidence that sheep are not dumb. In fact, they can be quite cunning in terms of getting in and out of things, and coming back and looking as if they never went out in the first place."
“We have found that sheep can recognise both human faces and emotions, and emotional changes on sheep faces. They are also able to form mental images of faces. They can recognise at least 50 different faces, and remember them for a couple of years or more," he added. "They are quite sophisticated in their social environment. They know what a happy face looks like compared to an angry one."
Then there are the famous ‘rolling sheep’ on the Yorkshire moors.
A few years back hungry sheep taught themselves to roll across cattle grids to raid villagers' gardens. The crafty animals have also perfected the skill of hurdling fences and squeezing through narrow gaps.
Dorothy Lindley, a Conservative councillor for Marsden, near Huddersfield, a former textile town on the edge of the Pennine uplands in West Yorkshire, was reported as saying: "They lie down on their side, or sometimes their back, and just roll over and over the grids until they are clear. I have seen them doing it. It is quite clever.”
Scientists have also discovered that sick sheep can accurately self-medicate for stomach problems. When animals were given food than made them slightly unwell, they were able to select and eat the right plants which then ‘cured’ constipation and heartburn.
Sheep stupid? No, they just know who their friends are.
Warm welcome for Percy
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There was much excitement in our house last weekend as we awaited the result of an auction in York where a good farmer friend (a fine judge of sheep and chair of the Northants Rare Breeds Survival Trust group) of ours was looking for a new tup for our Ryeland flock.
My mobile was red hot as calls went to-and-fro during the auction – and it was a great relief when I got the news that our favoured animal had been secured, and for a bargain price too.
If you have never been to a livestock auction it is worth going even if you don’t intend to buy anything. The sights and sounds make for great entertainment.
The ram – Ruslin Persil White or Percy for short – is two-years-old and comes originally from an award-winning Ryeland breeder. According to his pedigree certificate he also has some Australian blood in his veins.
Percy is a handsome chap and I am really looking forward to seeing the results of his labours next spring. However, after a wet week in our field, he is not quite so Persil White any more.
He also has yet to be introduced properly to our coloured ram, Valentine, although they have met through the fence. As they will have to live together for part of the year I am hoping a pecking order will be established swiftly without too much head-butting.
Ram sales are still a highlight of the farming year – and Oxford used to host one of the largest.
The Oxford Ram Fair is a vanished feature of Oxford life according to Oxford historian Malcolm Graham. He told me that, according to the Victoria History of the County of Oxford, vol. 4, a ram fair was first recorded in august, 1902, and held in St Thomas’s parish. But, in 1927, when around 7,000 sheep were sold at the fair, the event was said to have been established 40 years previously.
In 1918, the fair attracted around 600 Oxford and Hampshire Down rams as well as nearly 3,000 ewes, theaves (first year ewe lambs if you have been paying attention) and store lambs.
The event was originally held in the Oxpens, but, as that area was developed between the wars, the fair was moved to a field north of the bridge over the Bulstake Stream in Binsey Lane.
When Malcolm interviewed the late Charles Gee, of Binsey Manor Farm, in 1998, he said the fair continued to be held annually in Binsey until the early 1960s.
You can find some fascinating film footage of the event from the 1930s on the British Pathé website (www.britishpathe.com). It is a fine reminder of Oxford’s agricultural heritage.
Summer clipping
It’s shearing time down on the farm, with our very woolly Ryeland sheep being relieved of their fleeces. Most shearers don’t enjoy dealing with this breed. They have wool everywhere: on their bellies, around their face – even down their legs, resembling 1980s disco-dancer’s leg warmers.
Fortunately we’ve found a friendly farmer willing to take on the task of shearing – one of the highlights of the sheep-keeping year.
What to do with the result of all this work? You end up with a pile of fleece which looks like the carpet in a student’s bedsit. It’s full of bits of twig, straw, grass seeds, and other, more rather unsavoury, stuff.
Fortunately I had the founder of Oxfordshire’s world famous blanket weaving empire, Victorian
businessman Charles Early, to provide inspiration.
In its heyday, Early’s Witney blanket industry employed more than 3,000 people, and its blankets were recognised as the finest in England. The establishment of an overseas trade in the 18th century was a further boost to the industry, especially when the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company in North America
began placing regular orders.
Even before Charles began learning his trade, the economy of Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds could be said to have been built on wool. Sheep have grazed here since Roman times. In fact the literal translation of ‘Cotswolds’ is ‘sheep hills’. By the 15th-century the wool trade was bringing great wealth to
local merchants, who built the fine houses and elegant churches which grace the landscape today.
When I first started keeping sheep I sold unprocessed fleeces to local spinners, but most of them ended
up ‘insulating’ the roof of our barn.
At the time, I was amazed at the lack of value put on this glorious and valuable resource, and horrified
by tales of fleeces being discarded or burned. This has changed recently, with fashion designers discovering the versatility of wool.
But, with the weight of all Oxfordshire’s textile history behind me, I felt I should begin tinkering
in the wool trade. I had some of my flock’s wool turned into yarn – and then discovered a weaver in Wales who was making beautiful throws and scarves using wool from my chosen breed, which I took to our local farmer’s market in Wolvercote. This proved successful and this year I hope to produce items to my own design.
Oxfordshire seems to have turned its back on the wool business since Early’s Witney Mill shut its doors in 2002. But a group of local folk are currently working to bring the town’s Blanket Hall back to life.
This was once the meeting place of the local weavers’guild and in the past saw many lively
gatherings. Once restored The Blanket Hall could act as a hub for local spinners and weavers and
perhaps also provide a home for the last remaining handloom used at Early’s, currently at the nearby Cogges Farm Museum.
A restored Blanket Hall may not bring a return to the wonderful sight of Witney blankets hanging on
drying frames alongside the Windrush. But it would be fantastic to see weaving, an industry that
shaped our economy for hundreds of years, return to this bustling Oxfordshire market town.
Fortunately we’ve found a friendly farmer willing to take on the task of shearing – one of the highlights of the sheep-keeping year.
What to do with the result of all this work? You end up with a pile of fleece which looks like the carpet in a student’s bedsit. It’s full of bits of twig, straw, grass seeds, and other, more rather unsavoury, stuff.
Fortunately I had the founder of Oxfordshire’s world famous blanket weaving empire, Victorian
businessman Charles Early, to provide inspiration.
In its heyday, Early’s Witney blanket industry employed more than 3,000 people, and its blankets were recognised as the finest in England. The establishment of an overseas trade in the 18th century was a further boost to the industry, especially when the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company in North America
began placing regular orders.
Even before Charles began learning his trade, the economy of Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds could be said to have been built on wool. Sheep have grazed here since Roman times. In fact the literal translation of ‘Cotswolds’ is ‘sheep hills’. By the 15th-century the wool trade was bringing great wealth to
local merchants, who built the fine houses and elegant churches which grace the landscape today.
When I first started keeping sheep I sold unprocessed fleeces to local spinners, but most of them ended
up ‘insulating’ the roof of our barn.
At the time, I was amazed at the lack of value put on this glorious and valuable resource, and horrified
by tales of fleeces being discarded or burned. This has changed recently, with fashion designers discovering the versatility of wool.
But, with the weight of all Oxfordshire’s textile history behind me, I felt I should begin tinkering
in the wool trade. I had some of my flock’s wool turned into yarn – and then discovered a weaver in Wales who was making beautiful throws and scarves using wool from my chosen breed, which I took to our local farmer’s market in Wolvercote. This proved successful and this year I hope to produce items to my own design.
Oxfordshire seems to have turned its back on the wool business since Early’s Witney Mill shut its doors in 2002. But a group of local folk are currently working to bring the town’s Blanket Hall back to life.
This was once the meeting place of the local weavers’guild and in the past saw many lively
gatherings. Once restored The Blanket Hall could act as a hub for local spinners and weavers and
perhaps also provide a home for the last remaining handloom used at Early’s, currently at the nearby Cogges Farm Museum.
A restored Blanket Hall may not bring a return to the wonderful sight of Witney blankets hanging on
drying frames alongside the Windrush. But it would be fantastic to see weaving, an industry that
shaped our economy for hundreds of years, return to this bustling Oxfordshire market town.
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Woolly thinking
I am in the process of working out what to do with the wool from my flock which has been carefully processed and made into weaving yarn by Curlew Weavers in Wales.
I have to decide between blankets, throws, scarves and maybe cushions. Scarves are a must as they sell well at our local farmers’ market – and people have been asking me about large throws, big enough to cover a sofa or top-to-toe a bed. I am not so sure about about cushions, but they do seem to becoming a popular among interior designers again.
It is an exciting time and, together with our weaver Roger Poulson, we hope to work out a design which says something about the provenance of the wool, which is one of the main reasons I keep sheep. After all, wool is one of the most sustainable natural materials you can get. Each year, sheep produce a new fleece, making wool a renewable source of fibre.
We don’t dye our wool . Our throws and scarves are all designed using the natural colours of the fleeces. Fortunately, Ryeland sheep come in white and coloured fleeces. I am looking forward to welcoming a couple of new coloured ewes this autumn to add to the variety of fleeces we can use.
During October’s Wool Week, people were encouraged to pick up its knitting needles and celebrate all things wool. Knitting parties are being planned for cafés, schools and even beaches as part of the event.
Oxford has some fine haberdashery and wool shops, such as Darn It and Stitch in Blue Boar Street, off St Aldates, and The Oxford Yarn Store in North Parade, which runs a regular series of courses for beginners and more skilled knitters.
The organisation behind the event, The Campaign for Wool, is inviting people to host their own knitting party for family and friends. To help you cast off in style the campaign is offering invitations and a free knitting pattern for a blanket and matching cushions on its website.
Wool Week celebrations ended with a special appearance by a flock of Merino sheep in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (pictured).
For more information about Wool Week and to download a free knitting pattern, visit the website: www.campaignforwool.org
I have to decide between blankets, throws, scarves and maybe cushions. Scarves are a must as they sell well at our local farmers’ market – and people have been asking me about large throws, big enough to cover a sofa or top-to-toe a bed. I am not so sure about about cushions, but they do seem to becoming a popular among interior designers again.
It is an exciting time and, together with our weaver Roger Poulson, we hope to work out a design which says something about the provenance of the wool, which is one of the main reasons I keep sheep. After all, wool is one of the most sustainable natural materials you can get. Each year, sheep produce a new fleece, making wool a renewable source of fibre.
We don’t dye our wool . Our throws and scarves are all designed using the natural colours of the fleeces. Fortunately, Ryeland sheep come in white and coloured fleeces. I am looking forward to welcoming a couple of new coloured ewes this autumn to add to the variety of fleeces we can use.
During October’s Wool Week, people were encouraged to pick up its knitting needles and celebrate all things wool. Knitting parties are being planned for cafés, schools and even beaches as part of the event.
Oxford has some fine haberdashery and wool shops, such as Darn It and Stitch in Blue Boar Street, off St Aldates, and The Oxford Yarn Store in North Parade, which runs a regular series of courses for beginners and more skilled knitters.
The organisation behind the event, The Campaign for Wool, is inviting people to host their own knitting party for family and friends. To help you cast off in style the campaign is offering invitations and a free knitting pattern for a blanket and matching cushions on its website. Wool Week celebrations ended with a special appearance by a flock of Merino sheep in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (pictured).
For more information about Wool Week and to download a free knitting pattern, visit the website: www.campaignforwool.org
Down on Adam's Farm
It was a visit to the Cotswold Farm Park more than 20 years ago that kick-started my interest in rare breeds in all their myriad variety. Opened in 1971 by Joe Henson, one of the founders of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, the Cotswold Farm Park was the first of the RBST’s ‘Approved Centres’ and is home to more than 50 breeding flocks and herds of native British farm animals.
These days the farm park at Guiting Power, near Cheltenham, is a big tourist attraction and probably better known as 'Adam's Farm' as seen on BBC 1's Countryfile programme.
We took the guide book from our original visit with us, much to the delight of older members of staff, who spotted friends and family in early photographs featured in the guide.
Many things have changed since my first visit – there is a bistro-style restaurant selling tasty dishes made using local produce, a shop, and a play area for kids – but the rare breeds, which Joe and his son Adam have worked so hard to preserve, remain at the heart of the farm.
It is a great attraction for schools – and the groups of children at the farm on the day we were there were lucky enough to watch the arrival of a donkey foal.
What I wasn’t expecting to witness was the farm’s ‘pyramid of sheep’ show.
Sadly you don’t get to see acrobatic sheep performing tricks on the back of a motorcycle as seen in Wallace and Gromit’s A Close Shave. This show is slightly more serious, but just as entertaining. It provides a visual tour through the development of our native sheep breeds, from their primitive beginnings to today’s commercial money-makers.
Stars of the event are the farm’s well-trained group of rams, who obviously enjoy meeting their public. The ‘pyramid’ is the ram’s stage which, encouraged by a bit of feed, they leap on, one-by-one, to strut their stuff.
The show begins with the primitive Soay ram, called Samuel, before moving on to Bronze Age North Ronaldsay sheep, Shetland sheep from the Iron Age, before moving on to the well-known Cotswold sheep, said to have been brought to this country by the Romans, then the Viking age Hebridean sheep, and the still quite rare rare Norfolk Horn, first seen in post-conquest Norman Britain.
It is said that the ancestors of the attractive Portland breed swam ashore from wrecked ships of the Spanish Armada, while the attractive multi-coloured Jacob breed, which may have originated in Syria, has huge horns and a fine fleece much sought-after by spinners and weavers.
The show ended with the arrival of the chunky Texel ram, today’s top commercial breed which produces fast-growing, meaty lambs .
I have to say that of all the fine chaps on show, I fell for Bill the Portland , with his foxy red fleece and calm demeanour. The Jacob may have a fine fleece, but its spear-like horns would make handling very difficult.
This was confirmed by Matt, our host for the sheep show, who admitted that shearers don’t like the hefty horns (they can have up to four) which are a definite threat to their wedding-tackle during the job of clipping the valuable fleece. Doesn’t bear thinking about!
The Cotswold Farm Park is well worth a visit, even if you have just a passing interest in farm animals and farming. Visit the new website at www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk
Monday, 21 October 2013
The vocabulary of shepherding
Listening to Fry’s English Delight on Radio 4 – a fascinating and highly recomended programme which delves into the intricacies of the English Language – made me realise that shepherding has a vocabulary of its own.
When I began keeping sheep the lingo took a bit of getting used to – and I still struggle with some of the various regional alternatives that pop up. However, if you ever get into a conversation with a farmer here is a brief primer to help you along.
Dags – the lumps of dried dung which adhere to the back end of sheep.
Dagging – getting rid of aforementioned lumps. A lovely job. These dags are great for making your own liquid manure by the way. Just soak them in a bucket of water for a while. Also great for using as a mulch around the trunks of fruit trees.
Gimmer – a ewe (female sheep) in her second year, but before she has had her first lamb. Also known as ‘ theaves’ (pronounced ‘thaves’) in some parts of the country. Theaves are also a band from New South Wales, Australia, who should know all about sheep.
Hefting – now th is interesting as it means the instinct of hill breeds of sheep to stick to one area (or heft) without the need for fences. Try and tell Shetland sheep about that.
Hogget – a young sheep of either sex from the January after its birth until it cuts its first teeth at about 18 months old. Also known as tegs or shearlings.
Mule – a type of crossbred ewe, usually a cross between a hill breed ewe and a Border or Bluefaced Leicester ram. They may be called a Scotch Mule (from a Blackface ewe) or Welsh Mule, if from a Welsh Mountain ewe or other geographical term. Usually put to a terminal sire to produce fat lambs.
Raddle – a lovely word this. It is the coloured pigment used to apply to a ram’s chest at tupping time. It helps show which ewes have been mated – the shepherd can then keep a pretty accurate calendar to predict when lambs will arrive. The colour of the raddle is changed after a few weeks to catch any ewes which may not be in lamb after the first mating. This is why you see sheep with multi-coloured backsides in fields across the county the autumn – it isn’t an installation for Oxfordshire Artweeks.
Rig – a male sheep with only one testicle descended. More properly called a Monochid.
Rooing – I only recently discovered this word. And it has nothing to do with large marsupials. It means plucking the fleece by hand.
Tup – a ram or uncastrated male. Hence the term tupping, a word that often turns up in off-colour folk songs. It is also apparently a term for head-butting up north. So be careful where you use it.
Teaser – a vasectomised ram which still has all the hormones but fires blanks. Sometimes ’teasers’ are used prior to the 'real' ram being introduced, as it helps to bring the ewes into season.
Wether – a real Old English word this, describing a castrated ram. Not to be confused with a ‘teaser’. You sometimes see wethers kept as a partner for a lone ram so he doesn’t get lonely during the 11 months of the year when he isn’t doing anything - apart from eating and being pampered.
Wool-blindness – obvious really, but refers to the excessive wool growth which stops some breeds of sheep (like my Ryelands) being able to see properly. I often have to give ours a trim around the face so they can see where they are going.
Anyone with more sheep related terms please get in touch!
When I began keeping sheep the lingo took a bit of getting used to – and I still struggle with some of the various regional alternatives that pop up. However, if you ever get into a conversation with a farmer here is a brief primer to help you along.
Dags – the lumps of dried dung which adhere to the back end of sheep.
Dagging – getting rid of aforementioned lumps. A lovely job. These dags are great for making your own liquid manure by the way. Just soak them in a bucket of water for a while. Also great for using as a mulch around the trunks of fruit trees.
Gimmer – a ewe (female sheep) in her second year, but before she has had her first lamb. Also known as ‘ theaves’ (pronounced ‘thaves’) in some parts of the country. Theaves are also a band from New South Wales, Australia, who should know all about sheep.
Hefting – now th is interesting as it means the instinct of hill breeds of sheep to stick to one area (or heft) without the need for fences. Try and tell Shetland sheep about that.
Hogget – a young sheep of either sex from the January after its birth until it cuts its first teeth at about 18 months old. Also known as tegs or shearlings.
Mule – a type of crossbred ewe, usually a cross between a hill breed ewe and a Border or Bluefaced Leicester ram. They may be called a Scotch Mule (from a Blackface ewe) or Welsh Mule, if from a Welsh Mountain ewe or other geographical term. Usually put to a terminal sire to produce fat lambs.
Raddle – a lovely word this. It is the coloured pigment used to apply to a ram’s chest at tupping time. It helps show which ewes have been mated – the shepherd can then keep a pretty accurate calendar to predict when lambs will arrive. The colour of the raddle is changed after a few weeks to catch any ewes which may not be in lamb after the first mating. This is why you see sheep with multi-coloured backsides in fields across the county the autumn – it isn’t an installation for Oxfordshire Artweeks.
Rig – a male sheep with only one testicle descended. More properly called a Monochid.
Rooing – I only recently discovered this word. And it has nothing to do with large marsupials. It means plucking the fleece by hand.
Tup – a ram or uncastrated male. Hence the term tupping, a word that often turns up in off-colour folk songs. It is also apparently a term for head-butting up north. So be careful where you use it.
Teaser – a vasectomised ram which still has all the hormones but fires blanks. Sometimes ’teasers’ are used prior to the 'real' ram being introduced, as it helps to bring the ewes into season.
Wether – a real Old English word this, describing a castrated ram. Not to be confused with a ‘teaser’. You sometimes see wethers kept as a partner for a lone ram so he doesn’t get lonely during the 11 months of the year when he isn’t doing anything - apart from eating and being pampered.
Wool-blindness – obvious really, but refers to the excessive wool growth which stops some breeds of sheep (like my Ryelands) being able to see properly. I often have to give ours a trim around the face so they can see where they are going.
Anyone with more sheep related terms please get in touch!
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