Gents Mag 1899 part 2 p.550
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Gentleman's Magazine 1899 part 2 p.550
moss land near the sea farmers are open to take them and keep them alive till spring, and to these places a good many are annually driven. Before this system was broached the mountain farmer could only hope to raise one-half of his lamb crop - about one-sixth succumbing to the perils of early days on the moors, and one-third more during their first winter of sheeer hunger; for the hay crop in these elevated situations is a very small one, and other food is scarce. The sudden change of level and diet involved in wintering out has invariably a bad effect on these immature animals, and often a considerable number die. For the ewes at home the winter is a time of privation. It makes the heart ache to see them follow the shepherd with his load of hay, greedily consuming whatever may fall; to see them, when snow is on the ground, endeavouring to scoop something eatable out of a frozen, half-rotten turnip; to see them lying against the walls for shelter when the blizzard runs riot up the valley, chewing their cud in quiet misery, perhaps thinking of the awful storm that is raging on the higher ground. The shepherd is having a hard time, too, in carrying food through the knee-deep slush, but there is a warm kitchen for his shelter when his work is done. Still, he approaches his hungering flock with genuine pity; he knows that sheep which left the moorland weighing over a couple of hundredweights will only carry half that weight back again, and that many will never range the mountains again. he feels savagely the hardship of it all, but he is powerless to alter it. Therefore he is glad when anything happens which can make him forget the dumb suffering of his flock. Card-playing at night and fox-hunting during the day are the only recreations possible in the dales. Everyone, male or female, has sworn death to the foxes, and hounds always have an eager following. The whole population joins in the hunt, and more than one female has been chosen "Hunt Mayor" in different valleys. As this appointment requires a correct knowledge of "earths" and how they may be stopped, as well as of the especial propensities and whereabouts of the local foxes, it must be conceded that the ladies so honoured could at least hold their own with the men in knowledge of the technicalities of hunting. The "Mayor" is the local deputy M.F.H., having complete direction in the field when hunting in his own district. A new "Mayor" is usually chosen at the supper after the last hunt of the season in a particular district, and this feast is a great event in the shepherd's diary. While in the district the hounds are maintained by the subscriptions of the farmers, many of whom contribute in kind, one sending |
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