Adopt the Hebridean Sheep

Description

HEBRIDEAN sheep, as their name implies, originated in the islands off the west coast of Scotland. Towards the end of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth this variety of small, thrifty sheep still provided the mainstay for shepherds in these regions but gradually the agricultural revolution of the period, the
development of new breeds of sheep and the clearance of many farming families from the land began to take its toll. With government and landowner's support the sheep were replaced by "improved" breeds. By the early part of the twentieth century the Hebridean sheep, which had been present in the region for almost a thousand years, had all but disappeared.
By the end of the nineteenth century flocks of Hebridean sheep had begun to appear in the parklands of large country estates, both in Scotland and in England. Had it not been for the existence of these parkland flocks, the breed would not have survived into the middle of the twentieth century.
The dense weatherproof fleece is black but the tips may become sun-bleached to brown; some go grey with age.
The Hebridean is listed as a "minority" breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.