Herdwick almost shearlings.

Saturday  means cleaning duties at the Lodge and it often doesn't leave much time for blipping.  Today was no exception!  To ensure I had something in the camera I took a few shots of these Herdwicks.

Herdwicks are a breed peculiar to the Lake District.  I say peculiar as they are native to the Lakes and unlike any other of the forty odd breeds of sheep in the UK.  There are two folk stories as to where they originated one says the vikings brought them over when they settled Cumbria the other has them swimming a shore from sinking Armada galleons as they tried to make their way back to Spain having been forced to flee round the north of Scotland.  In my experience the average sheep has the swimming ability of a brick if asked to swim more than about 100 yards.  So I would go with the vikings.

Another oddity of Herdwicks is they are born black and grow lighter as they age.  These would be shearlings if they had been sheared (in other words about a year old) but they are in my opinion a bit old to be referred to as lamb.  I suppose they are technically gimmers.