Herdwick (sheep)
Encyclopedia
The Herdwick is a breed
of domestic sheep
native to the Lake District
of Cumbria
in North West England
. The name "Herdwick" is derived from the Old Norse
herdvyck, meaning sheep pasture. Though low in lambing capacity and perceived wool quality when compared to more common commercial breeds such as Merino sheep, Herdwicks are prized for their robust health, their ability to live solely on forage
, and their tendency to be territorial and not to stray over the difficult upland terrain of the Lake District. It is considered that up to 99% of all Herdwick sheep are commercially farmed in the central and western Lake District.
The wool quality of a Herdwick has unique qualities relating to durability. Thick bristle type fibres will often protrude from garments forming a protective barrier layer in blizzards. Most likely the same qualities that protect the sheep in similar conditions.
Severely threatened by the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease
in England
and Wales
, the breed has survived due to the intent to preserve this unique animal as a crucial part of traditional Lakeland agriculture. Still far less in number than most commercial breeds, Herdwicks survive largely due to farming subsidies
and the aid of the British National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
.
settlers. According to this, it was brought to the region somewhere between the 10th and 11th centuries during the Viking
invasions of western England. Alternatively, a piece of local folklore
once suggested that it came from a wrecked Spanish Armada
ship.
For centuries, the husbandry of Herdwick sheep has been a large factor in shaping the culture and terrain of the Lake District. Topographically, grazing by sheep continues to keep the hillsides of fells largely treeless, and the ubiquitous dry stone walls of the valleys were built to protect grazing land and to confine livestock. Linguistically, many words of Lakeland speech relate to sheep husbandry. The ancient Yan Tan Tethera
counting
system for sheep is a survival of Brittonic counting systems.
was involved with keeping and breeding Herdwicks, even acting as president of the breed association for a time. Between 1930 and 1938 she won a number of prizes for Herdwick ewes at shows across Cumbria. Upon her death in 1943, she bequeathed fifteen farms – approximately a total sum of 4,000 acres (16 km²) - to the National Trust, and per her instructions all continue to graze Herdwick flocks.
In the late 20th century, the keeping of Herdwicks became economically unviable without outside support; open market
prices for Herdwick fleece
s sometimes drop as low as a penny
a kilogram (which is about the weight of wool from a single sheep). Without direct monetary guarantees for wool prices from the National Trust, it actually costs farmers a considerably larger amount of money to shear their Herdwicks than they would receive in compensation; the majority of farmers once burned their fleeces as waste products. The Trust now acts as a wool merchant itself, thus being able to bargain for better prices directly with the British Wool Marketing Board
and operate a Herdwick wool trademark
. Most farmers survive through the sale of lambs, as well as both National Trust and European Union
farm subsidies. Lake District farmers in particular receive subsidies for operating in a designated Less Favored Area from the England Rural Development Programme
. Those who agree to maintain their land in accordance with sustainable farming practices also receive additional subsidies.
95% of all 50,000 or so Herdwicks live within 14 miles of Coniston, Cumbria
, and this makes them particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 led to the destruction of many flocks, and to fears for the survival both of the breed and of the typical Lakeland sheep farming industry. Of the estimated 100,000 Herdwick sheep present before the outbreak, a full 25% were lost. They were not easily replaceable because long-standing herds are hefted so the introduction of new stock to the fell
s would have required extensive fencing. The call for vaccination
rather than culling to preserve what is considered a part of the traditional identity of the fells and moor
s was led by parties – such as the Duke of Westminster
, Earl Peel
, Lord Barnard and Lord Lonsdale – who wished to save the hill sheep on their lands. Many Lake District residents saw the breed as an indispensable icon of the region. Longtime resident and writer for The Guardian
A. Harry Griffin expressed this feeling:
by wandering if they replaced the original Herdwicks. The Cumbria Hill Sheep Initiative was set up to "reassess the position and circumstances" in the aftermath of the disease; tough government restrictions in order to prevent another outbreak are still in place.
In 2008, an Oregon
sheep farmer began importing semen
from Herdwick rams in to the United States to begin a breeding program using artificial insemination and designed to bring the breed to the country for the first time.
A Herdwick's grey fleece is not easily dyed, and is coarse, and so is best suited to use as carpet
wool. The wool is also an excellent natural insulator; it is possible to buy sheets of fireproofed wool to fit as loft insulation
. Herdwick lamb
and mutton has a very distinct taste, and was even eaten at Queen Elizabeth II
's 1953 coronation
banquet. Herdwick ewes also commonly produce desirable market lambs and mules
by cross-breeding with Suffolk
, Cheviot, Charollais
and Texel
sheep.
Herdwick lambs are born black, and after a year they lighten to a dark brown colour (the sheep are called hoggs or hoggets at this stage). After the first shearing, their fleece lightens further to grey. Rams are horned, and ewes polled. For shows and auctions, Herdwicks traditionally have their wool ruddied up (the local term for raddled) with dye. Rams are also ruddied when put out with the ewes to show which have been mated, and the dye is also one method (called a smit) of marking sheep for ownership. Before chemical dyes became available, this dye was made from either iron ore or graphite
mixed with grease. For many years the legal method of identifying a particular shepherd
's sheep were notches cut out of a sheep's ear, called lug marks – now replaced by ear tags.
Breed
A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...
of domestic sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
native to the Lake District
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is located in the north-west of England and is the largest of the English National Parks and the second largest in the United Kingdom. It is in the central and most-visited part of the Lake District....
of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
in North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
. The name "Herdwick" is derived from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
herdvyck, meaning sheep pasture. Though low in lambing capacity and perceived wool quality when compared to more common commercial breeds such as Merino sheep, Herdwicks are prized for their robust health, their ability to live solely on forage
Forage
Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially...
, and their tendency to be territorial and not to stray over the difficult upland terrain of the Lake District. It is considered that up to 99% of all Herdwick sheep are commercially farmed in the central and western Lake District.
The wool quality of a Herdwick has unique qualities relating to durability. Thick bristle type fibres will often protrude from garments forming a protective barrier layer in blizzards. Most likely the same qualities that protect the sheep in similar conditions.
Severely threatened by the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the breed has survived due to the intent to preserve this unique animal as a crucial part of traditional Lakeland agriculture. Still far less in number than most commercial breeds, Herdwicks survive largely due to farming subsidies
Agricultural subsidy
An agricultural subsidy is a governmental subsidy paid to farmers and agribusinesses to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the cost and supply of such commodities...
and the aid of the British National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
Early history
The root word of the breed's name, herdvyck, "sheep pasture", is recorded in documents dating back to the 12th century. The origin of the breed itself is unknown, but the most common theory is that the ancestors of Herdwick sheep were introduced by early NorseNorsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
settlers. According to this, it was brought to the region somewhere between the 10th and 11th centuries during the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
invasions of western England. Alternatively, a piece of local folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
once suggested that it came from a wrecked Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
ship.
For centuries, the husbandry of Herdwick sheep has been a large factor in shaping the culture and terrain of the Lake District. Topographically, grazing by sheep continues to keep the hillsides of fells largely treeless, and the ubiquitous dry stone walls of the valleys were built to protect grazing land and to confine livestock. Linguistically, many words of Lakeland speech relate to sheep husbandry. The ancient Yan Tan Tethera
Yan Tan Tethera
Yan Tan Tethera is a sheep counting rhyme traditionally used by shepherds in Northern England. Until the Industrial Revolution, the use of traditional number systems was common among shepherds, especially in the dales of the Lake District. The Yan Tan Tethera system was also used for counting...
counting
Counting
Counting is the action of finding the number of elements of a finite set of objects. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a counter by a unit for every element of the set, in some order, while marking those elements to avoid visiting the same element more than once,...
system for sheep is a survival of Brittonic counting systems.
Beatrix Potter
In the latter half of her life, the children's author Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
was involved with keeping and breeding Herdwicks, even acting as president of the breed association for a time. Between 1930 and 1938 she won a number of prizes for Herdwick ewes at shows across Cumbria. Upon her death in 1943, she bequeathed fifteen farms – approximately a total sum of 4,000 acres (16 km²) - to the National Trust, and per her instructions all continue to graze Herdwick flocks.
Modern history
In the modern era, the main industry of the Lake District has shifted from agriculture to tourism. The subsequent influx of tourists to the District has at times conflicted with traditional life, including the raising of Herdwicks. One Lake District farmer summed the problem up as, "We get 100,000 visitors across our land every year...If just one in a thousand forgets to shut a gate or can't be bothered, that's a hundred times we have to go out and round up our sheep."In the late 20th century, the keeping of Herdwicks became economically unviable without outside support; open market
Open market
The term open market is used generally to refer to a situation close to free trade and in a more specific technical sense to interbank trade in securities.-Use of the term in economic theory:...
prices for Herdwick fleece
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
s sometimes drop as low as a penny
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
a kilogram (which is about the weight of wool from a single sheep). Without direct monetary guarantees for wool prices from the National Trust, it actually costs farmers a considerably larger amount of money to shear their Herdwicks than they would receive in compensation; the majority of farmers once burned their fleeces as waste products. The Trust now acts as a wool merchant itself, thus being able to bargain for better prices directly with the British Wool Marketing Board
British Wool Marketing Board
The British Wool Marketing Board operates the central marketing system for UK fleece wool. A farmer-run organisation, the BWMB was established in 1950 with the aim of achieving the best possible net return for producers. It is the only organisation in the world that collects, grades, sells and...
and operate a Herdwick wool trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
. Most farmers survive through the sale of lambs, as well as both National Trust and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
farm subsidies. Lake District farmers in particular receive subsidies for operating in a designated Less Favored Area from the England Rural Development Programme
England Rural Development Programme
England Rural Development Programme was the instrument by which the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs fulfills its rural development obligations in England, as set out by the European Union. It is derived primarily from Council Regulation European Union Regulation No...
. Those who agree to maintain their land in accordance with sustainable farming practices also receive additional subsidies.
95% of all 50,000 or so Herdwicks live within 14 miles of Coniston, Cumbria
Coniston, Cumbria
Coniston is a village and civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man; about north east of Barrow-in-Furness.-Geography and...
, and this makes them particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 led to the destruction of many flocks, and to fears for the survival both of the breed and of the typical Lakeland sheep farming industry. Of the estimated 100,000 Herdwick sheep present before the outbreak, a full 25% were lost. They were not easily replaceable because long-standing herds are hefted so the introduction of new stock to the fell
Fell
“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...
s would have required extensive fencing. The call for vaccination
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
rather than culling to preserve what is considered a part of the traditional identity of the fells and moor
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
s was led by parties – such as the Duke of Westminster
Duke of Westminster
The title Duke of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. The current holder of the title is Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster....
, Earl Peel
Earl Peel
Earl Peel is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1929 for the Conservative Party politician William Wellesley Peel, 2nd Viscount Peel, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1921 to 1922, Secretary of State for India from 1921 to 1922 and 1928 to 1929 and First...
, Lord Barnard and Lord Lonsdale – who wished to save the hill sheep on their lands. Many Lake District residents saw the breed as an indispensable icon of the region. Longtime resident and writer for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
A. Harry Griffin expressed this feeling:
There are other mountain sheep on the Lakeland fells, notably SwaledalesSwaledale (sheep)Swaledale is a breed of domestic sheep named after the Yorkshire valley of Swaledale. They are found throughout the more mountainous areas of Great Britain, but particularly in County Durham, Yorkshire, and most commonly around the pennine fells of Cumbria....
and Rough-Fells, but the hardy Herdwick is the sheep most likely to be seen in and around the Duddon valley, the Coniston fells, the Buttermere fells and, through Borrowdale or Wasdale, up to the highest land in England, the Scafells. More than the old drystone walls that quarter the fells, the packhorse bridges or the whitewashed farmsteads, the little grey Herdwick sheep typify the Lakeland.
If they and their shepherds go, that is the end of the Lakeland where I have climbed, walked, skied and skated for nearly 80 years; of the Lakeland I have written about nearly all my life.The destruction of entire flocks meant that the shepherds were forced to undergo the process of again heafing (the local term for hefting) their new sheep to the hills. Normally, ewes teach this behaviour to their lambs, but with no more ewes left acquainted with a particular heaf the behavior had be taught all over again to new ewes, inevitably involving much rounding up of flocks that had strayed over the often inaccessible fells. Unheafed sheep might also cause overgrazing
Overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, or by overpopulations of native or non-native wild animals.Overgrazing reduces the...
by wandering if they replaced the original Herdwicks. The Cumbria Hill Sheep Initiative was set up to "reassess the position and circumstances" in the aftermath of the disease; tough government restrictions in order to prevent another outbreak are still in place.
In 2008, an Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
sheep farmer began importing semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
from Herdwick rams in to the United States to begin a breeding program using artificial insemination and designed to bring the breed to the country for the first time.
Characteristics
Herdwicks are a dual-purpose breed, producing strongly flavoured lamb and mutton and a coarse, grey wool. This slowly maturing breed is one of the most hardy of all the British hill sheep breeds, withstanding the cold and relentless rain of the Lake District at heights upwards of 3,000 feet (about 1,000 metres). Most Herdwicks spend winter on the fells, from approximately December to April. They are normally left to graze freely on the hillsides (without any additional feed), but each ewe tends to stay in her heaf (the local term for heft), the same small area of fell. Due to the rough conditions on fells, lambing losses can be as high as 25%. This ability to thrive unassisted is part of the reason fell farmers so highly value Herdwicks over much higher-producing lowland breeds.A Herdwick's grey fleece is not easily dyed, and is coarse, and so is best suited to use as carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
wool. The wool is also an excellent natural insulator; it is possible to buy sheets of fireproofed wool to fit as loft insulation
Building insulation
building insulation refers broadly to any object in a building used as insulation for any purpose. While the majority of insulation in buildings is for thermal purposes, the term also applies to acoustic insulation, fire insulation, and impact insulation...
. Herdwick lamb
Lamb (food)
Lamb, mutton, and hogget are the meat of domestic sheep. The meat of a sheep in its first year is lamb; that of a juvenile sheep older than 1 year is hogget; and the meat of an adult sheep is mutton....
and mutton has a very distinct taste, and was even eaten at Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
's 1953 coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
banquet. Herdwick ewes also commonly produce desirable market lambs and mules
Mule (sheep)
In sheep farming, the term Mule is used to refer to a cross between a lowland ram and a purebred upland ewe....
by cross-breeding with Suffolk
Suffolk (sheep)
Suffolk are a black-faced, open-faced breed of domestic sheep raised primarily for meat.-Ewes:They are mainly raised for wool and meat production especially when crossed with the progeny of a mountain ewe. For example, a purebred upland ewe such as a Welsh Mountain ewe might be bred with a breeding...
, Cheviot, Charollais
Charollais (sheep)
The Charollais is a breed of domestic sheep originating in France. It has been exported internationally, and is commonly used in the U.K. as a sire to produce market lambs with purebred ewes and mules.-Characteristics:...
and Texel
Texel (sheep)
The Texel is a breed of domestic sheep originally from the island of Texel in the Netherlands. It is now a popular lean meat sheep in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and Europe. The Texel is a heavily muscled sheep. It produces a lean meat carcass and will pass on this quality to crossbred...
sheep.
Herdwick lambs are born black, and after a year they lighten to a dark brown colour (the sheep are called hoggs or hoggets at this stage). After the first shearing, their fleece lightens further to grey. Rams are horned, and ewes polled. For shows and auctions, Herdwicks traditionally have their wool ruddied up (the local term for raddled) with dye. Rams are also ruddied when put out with the ewes to show which have been mated, and the dye is also one method (called a smit) of marking sheep for ownership. Before chemical dyes became available, this dye was made from either iron ore or graphite
Graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
mixed with grease. For many years the legal method of identifying a particular shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
's sheep were notches cut out of a sheep's ear, called lug marks – now replaced by ear tags.