|
Gentleman's Magazine 1890 part 1 p.530
severely. On the higher runs they perished by hundreds. The
farmers (four in number) of the farms lying contiguous to
Sca Fell alone lost fifteen hundred sheep out of an
aggregate of about six thousand. The whitened bones and
fleeces of these were dotted everywhere about the fells, and
to the hill farmers in these times of depression this fact
almost spells ruin. The skeletons were bleached, and the
only things that profited by the protracted snows were the
peregrines and ravens of the crags. These birds still find
an asylum in the deepest recesses of the mountains.
In these desolate hill tracts winter usually lasts through
seven months of the year. Layer upon layer of snow becomes
hard frozen, and upon the highest peaks of Skiddaw and Sca
Fell this often lies till June or July. During the
mid-summer day of 1888 the mountains were lashed in blinding
snow-storms. But for the most part April clears the summits
of the mists, and a better time is at hand. The snows have
cleared from the lower grounds, and the sparse vegetation
comes sweet and green. This grows quickly, and the flock
rapidly gains in condition. Now the sheep are ever active;
by the torrent sides, by the leas of the boulders, and along
the rock ledges they seek the freshest grass. And in search
of this they sometimes become crag-fast - that is, they
climb and climb from one narrow ledge to another, sometimes
placing their fore feet upon even a jagged splinter. If a
face of rock intervene, and they cannot climb out to the top
of the crag, they turn to descend. But here, too, retreat is
cut off. Sometimes the sheep remain in this position for two
or three days, eating whatever is within reach, and then one
of two things happens: either they are rescued by the
shepherds, who are let down to them by ropes, or they fall
prey to birds and foxes. The raven, the peregrine, and the
buzzard freely appreciate the creature's position and await
their chance. Sometimes the birds so terrify the sheep that
in its fright it makes one mad leap, and is dashed to pieces
as it descends the crag. The raven hardly waits till death
has come, but immediately goes dallying round and round the
carcass, and soon falls to work upon brain, lip, or palate.
The peregrine feeds only so long as the flesh is sweet,
though the hill foxes and crows visit the spot for a week.
Snow lines are yet sketched along the stone fences of the
fells; but this is all that remains of winter. Everything
testifies to the coming of spring. The foaming fell "becks"
sparkle in the sun and the climbing sheep are sprinkled over
the crags. A breadth of blue is overhead, and towards this
the sheep always climb. When the weather is fine their heads
are infallibly turned towards the skyline. From
|