![The three-horned one again](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/The_three-horned_one_again.jpg)
The Hebridean is a breed of small black
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, similar to other members of the
Northern European short-tailed sheep
The Northern European short-tailed sheep are a group of traditional sheep breeds or types found in Northern Europe, mainly in the British Isles, Scandinavia, Greenland and the area around the Baltic. They are thought to be derived from the fir ...
group, having a short, triangular tail. They often have two pairs of
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
. They were often formerly known as "St Kilda" sheep, although unlike
Soay Soay (pronounced "soy") is the name of several Scottish islands. It is Sòdhaigh (sometimes anglicised "Soaigh") in Scottish Gaelic, and comes from the Old Norse ''so-ey'' meaning "island of sheep". It may refer to:
* Soay, Inner Hebrides off sout ...
and
Boreray sheep they are probably not in fact from the
St Kilda archipelago.
Characteristics
![Hebridean Sheep](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Hebridean_Sheep.jpg)
Modern Hebrideans have black, rather coarse
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
, which fades to brown in the sun and often becomes grey with age; there is no wool on the face or legs. If not shorn the wool may
moult
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
naturally in spring. Rams and ewes typically have one pair of
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
s, but often have two or even more pairs (
polycerate
Polycerates (meaning "many-horned") are animals with more than two horns.
Sheep
Polycerate sheep breeds include the Hebridean, Icelandic, Jacob, Manx Loaghtan, Boreray and the Navajo-Churro. One example of a polycerate Shetland sheep was a ram k ...
), and occasionally none. They are considerably smaller than most other breeds of
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
, fully grown ewes weighing only around , and rams slightly heavier, at around .
Hebrideans are hardy and able to thrive on rough
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
, and so are often used as
conservation grazing
Conservation grazing or targeted grazing is the use of semi- feral or domesticated grazing livestock to maintain and increase the biodiversity of natural or semi-natural grasslands, heathlands, wood pasture, wetlands and many other habitats. animals to maintain natural
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
or
heathland
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
habitats. They are particularly effective at
scrub control, having a strong preference for
browsing
Browsing is a kind of orienting strategy. It is supposed to identify something of relevance for the browsing organism. When used about human beings it is a metaphor taken from the animal kingdom. It is used, for example, about people browsing o ...
.
History
![Group hebridean rams](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Group_hebridean_rams.jpg)
The sheep kept throughout Britain up to the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
were small, short-tailed, and varied in colour. These survived into the 19th century in the
Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
as the
Scottish Dunface
The Scottish Dunface, Old Scottish Short-wool, Scottish Whiteface or Scottish Tanface was a type of sheep from Scotland. It was one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, and it was probably similar to the sheep kept throughout the Bri ...
, which had various local varieties, most of which are now extinct (some do survive, such as the
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
and
North Ronaldsay
North Ronaldsay (, also , sco, North Ronalshee) is the northernmost island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. With an area of , it is the fourteenth-largest.Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 334 It is mentioned in the '' Orkneyinga saga''; in modern ...
). The Dunfaces kept in the Hebrides were very small, with white faces and legs; their bodies were usually white, but often black, brown, russet or grey. The fleece was short and soft and they were typically horned in both sexes, many of them having two or even three pairs of horns. The Dunface was gradually replaced with long-tailed breeds such as the
Scottish Blackface
The Blackface or Scottish Blackface is a British breed of sheep. It is the most common sheep breed of the United Kingdom. Despite the name, it did not originate in Scotland, but south of the border.
History
The origins of the breed are ...
and
Cheviot; it died out on the mainland and eventually also on the Hebridean islands.
The last known native Hebridean sheep survived on
Uist
"Uist" is a group of six islands and are part of the Outer Hebridean Archipelago, part of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
North Uist and South Uist ( or ; gd, Uibhist ) are two of the islands and are linked by causeways running via the isles ...
, and in the 1880s some were taken from there to
Storrs Hall
Storrs Hall is a hotel on the banks of Windermere in Storrs in the Lake District, Cumbria, England. The hotel, a Grade II* listed Georgian mansion, is also home to the National Trust-owned folly the "Temple" on the end of a stone jetty on Win ...
at
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, northern England.
[Kinsman D. (2001), ''Black Sheep of Windermere: A History of the St Kilda or Hebridean Sheep''. Windy Hall Publications. pp 101–144, 206] These sheep were distributed as
ornamental animal
An ornamental animal is an animal kept for display or curiosity, often in a park. A wide range of mammals, birds and fish have been kept as ornamental animals. Ornamental animals have often formed the basis of introduced populations, sometimes ...
s to various estates in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Scotland, generally being called "St Kilda" sheep. Eventually only black sheep remained in these flocks. The black gene carried by Hebrideans is absent from endemic European sheep, but does occur in some Middle Eastern types. It is thought that it was acquired at some time by the Hebridean (and also by the
Black Welsh Mountain
The Black Welsh Mountain sheep ( cy, Defaid Mynydd Duon, ) is a colour type of the Welsh Mountain sheep, bred for sheep farming in Wales. It occurs occasionally in flocks of other colours, but is now often maintained as a separate strain. Like ...
) through interbreeding with the
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
, which is thought to be derived from Middle Eastern or Mediterranean sheep and which has also been widely kept as an ornamental animal.
[
]
In 1973 the ornamental Hebrideans were identified by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to prese ...
as being in need of conservation. Since then the breed has been revived, and it is no longer regarded as rare; it is kept in many parts of the world, now including its native Hebrides.
See also
*Icelandic sheep
The Icelandic is the Icelandic breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the Northern European Short-tailed group of sheep, and is larger than most breeds in that group. It is thought that it was introduced to Iceland by Vikings in the late nint ...
*Jacob sheep
The Jacob is a British breed of domestic sheep. It combines two characteristics unusual in sheep: it is piebald—dark-coloured with areas of white wool—and it is often polycerate or multi-horned. It most commonly has four horns. The origi ...
*Manx Loaghtan
The Manx Loaghtan ( ) is a rare breed of sheep (''Ovis aries'') native to the Isle of Man. It is sometimes spelled as ''Loaghtyn'' or ''Loghtan''. The sheep have dark brown wool and usually four or occasionally six horns.
The Manx Loaghtan is ...
*Rare breed (agriculture)
In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status ...
References
External links
Hebridean Sheep Society
Hebridean Sheep
at Oklahoma State University.
by Susan Schoenian, Sheep & Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center.
{{Scottish animal breeds
Hebrides
Sheep breeds
Sheep breeds originating in Scotland