2macstracks

Sheep, Sheep and more Sheep

Alex’ family left Lewis before he was born but when we visited his family in Keose in 1974 his uncle still kept a house cow which spent the winter in “the byre” beside the house along with his weaving loom. This time I can’t remember seeing cows on the island but sheep were everywhere. Blackface, Cheviots and crossbreeds. In the past the only sheep kept were the Scottish Blackface because they were tough enough to survive the harsh winters and their wool was used by crofters to make warm, waterproof fabric.

When the fabric was originally made the crofter’s wife would have spun the wool but since it was commercialized in the 1800s the spun wool and the commission for the next Tweed is usually dropped off at the Crofter’s and the finished Tweed picked up. The only wool used now to make Harris Tweed is a mixture of wool from Cheviot and Blackface sheep and to qualify as “Harris Tweed” it must be produced manually on a pedal loom.

A friend’s son is a shepherd on the mainland and for 7 months every year he has Cheviot sheep agisted on his land because it is cheaper for their owner to have them trucked from Lewis and pay for the winter agistment than to buy in the extra food they need. Blackface sheep don’t lose their wool but but we visited at the beginning of summer and many of the sheep we saw were shedding theirs.

I think most of the sheep we saw were crossbreeds because Cheviots don’t have horns and Blackface don’t lose their wool.

How could I forget these? I think they are Hebridian Sheep.