CHAPTER III.

SHEEP BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS--ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, &c.

Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul--In Britain--Improved by the Belgians and Saxons--Sheep-breeding in Spain--Natural dyes of Spanish wool--Golden hue and other natural dyes of the wool of Bætica--Native colors of Bætic wool--Saga and chequered plaids--Sheep always bred principally for the weaver, not for the butcher--Sheep supplied milk for food, wool for clothing--The moth.

According to Tacitus[351], the ancient Germans had abundance of cattle, although we have no reason to suppose that they had acquired any of that skill in sheep-breeding, by which their successors in Silesia and Saxony are now distinguished. On the contrary, we are informed by the same author that the only woollen garment, which they commonly wore, was the _Sagum_, a term implying the coarseness of the material[352].

[351] Terra pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque improcera.--Germania, v. 2.

[352] Nudi, aut sagulo leves.--Germania, vi. 3. Tegumen omnibus sagum. xvii. 1.

We find almost as little in any ancient author in favor of the wool of Gallia Transalpina, the modern France. Pliny mentions a coarse kind, more like hair than wool, which was produced in the neighborhood of Pezenas in Provence[353]. Martial’s account of the Endromis Sequanica, coarse, but useful to keep off the cold and wet, bears upon the same point;

The frousy foster of a female hand; Of name Laconian, from a barb’rous land; Though rude, yet welcome to December’s snow, To thee we bid the homely stranger go:

* * * * *

That into glowing limbs no cold may glide, That baleful Iris never drench thy pride: This fence shall bid thee scorn the winds and showers; The Tyrian lawn pretends no equal powers.

_Elphinston’s Translation._

[353] See Appendix A.

In the following epigram of Martial (vi. 11.), addressed to his friend Marcus, we observe a similar opposition between the fine and fashionable cloth of Tyre, and the thick coarse “sagum” produced in Gaul.

Proud Tyrian thine, gross Gaulish mine array: In purple thee can e’er I love in gray?

Juvenal gives exactly the same account of the woollen manufactures of Gaul. In the following passage the needy dependant of a rich man is speaking of the lacernas from that country, which were sometimes presented to him by his patron.

Some coarse brown cloaks perhaps I chance to get, Of Gallic fabric, as a fence from wet. _Satir._ ix. _v._ 30.--_Owen’s Translation._

To the same effect are several passages in the Epistles of Sidonius Apollinaris, who was Bishop of Clermont in Auvergne in the fifth century. He mentions, for example, that the attendants on Prince Sigismer at his marriage wore green _Saga_ with red borders, and he describes a friend of his own as wearing the Endromis[354]. Also in an account of his own villa he speaks of the pipe with seven holes, as the instrument of the shepherds and herdsmen, who used to entertain themselves during the night with musical contests, while their cattle were grazing with bells upon their necks.

[354] Viridantia saga limbis marginata puniceis. L. iv. Ep. 20. Tu endromidatus exterius. L. iv. Ep. 2.

All these passages are confirmed and illustrated by the testimony of Strabo. According to him Gaul produced cattle of all kinds[355]. The Belgæ, who occupied the most northern part, opposite to Britain, excelled the rest of the Gauls in their manufactures. Nevertheless their wool was coarse, and was spun and woven by them into the thick Saga, which were both worn by the natives of the country and exported in great quantities to Rome and other parts of Italy. The Roman settlers, indeed, in the most northern parts had flocks of covered sheep, and their wool was consequently very fine[356].

[355] L. iv. cap. i. § 2. p. 6. ed. Siebenkees.

[356] L. iv. cap. iv. § 3. pp. 56-59. ed. Siebenkees.

Here also may be produced the evidence of Eumenius, who in his Oration, which will be quoted more fully hereafter, intimates the abundance of the sheep on the western banks of the Rhine by saying, that the flocks of the Romans were washed in every part of the stream[357].

[357] Arat illam terribilem aliquando ripam inermis agricola, et toto nostri greges flumine bicorni mersantur. p. 152.

Cæsar informs us, that the ancient inhabitants of Britain had abundance of cattle (_pecoris magnus numerus_); under the word (_pecus_) “cattle,” sheep must no doubt be understood to be included. It also appears, that in his time the Celts, or proper Britons, lived to the North of the Thames, the Belgians having expelled them and taken possession of the part to the South, called _Cantium_ or _Kent_. These last were by far the most civilized inhabitants of the island, not much differing in their customs from the Gauls. With respect to the others, Cæsar says, that for the most part they did not sow any kind of grain, but lived upon milk and flesh, and clothed themselves with skins[358].

[358] Ex his omnibus longè sunt humanissimi, qui Cantium incolunt; quæ regio est maritima omnis; neque multum a Gallicâ differunt consuetudine. Interiores plerique frumenta non serunt; sed lacte et carne vivunt, pellibusqe sunt vestiti. De Bello Gallico, I. v. cap. 10.

It appears therefore, that before our æra, sheep, and probably goats, were bred extensively in England, their milk and flesh being used for food, and their skins with the wool or hair upon them for clothing; and that the people of Kent, who were of Belgic origin, and more refined than the original Britons, had attained to the arts of spinning and weaving, although their productions were only of the coarsest description.

Eumenius, the Rhetorician, who was a native of Augustodunum, now called Autun, delivered his Panegyric in praise of the Emperors Constantius and Constantine in the city of Treves about A. D. 310. In the following passage he congratulates Britain on its various productions, and also on the circumstance, that Constantine had been recently declared Emperor at York on the death of his father:

O fortunate Britain, now the happiest country upon earth; for thou hast been the first to see Constantine made Emperor. It was fit that on thee Nature should bestow every blessing of climate and of soil. Suffering neither from the excessive severity of winter, nor the heat of summer, thy harvests are so fruitful as to supply all the gifts both of Ceres and of Bacchus; thy woods contain no savage beasts, thy land no noxious serpents, but an innumerable multitude of tame cattle, distended with milk, and loaded with fleeces[359].

[359] Panegyrici Veteres, ed. Cellarii, Halæ Magd. 1703. pp. 147, 148.

The improvements in sheep-breeding which were first introduced into England by the Belgians, appear to have been advanced still further by the Saxons.

The only country, which now remains to be surveyed in relation to the production of sheep’s wool, is Spain; and, as this kingdom retains its pre-eminence at the present day,[360] so we find none, in which sheep-breeding was carried to a greater extent in ancient times.

[360] For accounts of the state of sheep-breeding in modern Spain, including the annual migration of the flocks, which is conducted there as in Italy, the reader is referred to “Travels through Portugal and Spain in 1772, 1773, by R. Twiss,” pp. 72-82; and to De la Borde’s View of Spain, vol. iv. pp. 45-61, English Translation. London, 1809.

Of all the countries in Europe, says Mr. Low, Spain has been the longest distinguished for the excellence of its wool. This fine country, more varied in its surface and natural productions than any other region of the like extent in Europe, produces a great variety of breeds of sheep, from the larger animals of the richer plains, to the smaller races of the higher mountains and arid country. Besides the difference produced in the sheep of Spain by varieties of climate and natural productions; the diversity of character in the animals may be supposed to have been increased by the different races introduced into it:--first, from Asia, by the early Phœnician colonies; secondly, from Africa by the Carthaginians, during their brief possession; thirdly, from Italy by the Romans, during their dominion of six hundred years; and fourthly, again from Africa, by the Moors, who maintained a footing in the country for nearly eight centuries. The large sheep of the plains have long wool, often colored brown or black. The sheep of the mountains, downs, and arid plains have short wool, of different degrees of fineness, and different colors. The most important of these latter breeds is the merino, now the most esteemed and widely diffused of all the fine-wooled breeds of Europe.

Pliny not only refers in general terms to the various natural colors of the Spanish wool, but mentions more particularly the red wool produced in the district adjoining the river Bætis, or Guadalquiver[361].

[361] See Appendix A.

Among the natural colors of the Bætic wool, Columella, a native of Cadiz, (vii. 2.) mentions, as has been already stated, _gray_ and _brown_. The latter is what we call _drab_, and the Spaniards _fusco_. It is now commonly worn by the shepherds and peasants of Spain, the wool being made into clothes without dyeing.

Nonius Marcellus (_cap._ 16. _n._ 13), explaining the word _pullus_, which was called a _native_ color, because it was the natural color of the fleece, also shows, that this was a common quality of the Spanish wool. Another testimony is that of Tertullian.

The sheep of Tarentum were imported into this part of Spain, and there also their fleeces were protected by clothing. Columella (L. vii. 2.) gives a very interesting account of the experiments made by his uncle, a great agriculturalist of Bætica, in crossing his Tarentine breed with some wild rams of an extraordinary color, which had been brought from Africa to Cadiz. (See latter part of next chapter.)

We have a further evidence of the pains taken to improve the Spanish breed in the circumstance, that Italian shepherds passed into Spain, just as we have formerly seen, that they migrated into Italy from Arcadia. In the following lines of Calpurnius (Ecl. iv. 37-49.), Corydon, a young shepherd, tells his friend and patron, Melibœus, that he should have been transported into Bætica, had not the times improved, and his master’s favor enabled him to remain in Italy.

Through thee I rest secure beneath the shade, Such plenty hath thy generous bounty made, But for thy favor, Melibœus, sent Where Bætis’ waves the western plains indent, Plains at the earth’s extremest verge, expos’d To the fierce Moors, which Geryon once inclos’d. There had I now been doom’d to tend for hire Iberian flocks, or else of want expire: In vain I might have tun’d my seven-fold reed: Mid thickets vast no soul my strains would heed: Not even Pan on that far-distant shore Would lend his vacant ear, or be my solace more.

Juvenal in his Twelfth Satire (_l._ 37-42.) describes a merchant overtaken by a dreadful storm, and to save the ship throwing his most valuable goods into the sea. It will be observed, that the poet attributes the excellence and fine natural color of the woollen cloth of Bætica to three causes, the rich herbage, the occult properties of the water, and those of the air.

“Over with mine,” he cries; “be nothing spar’d;” To part with all his richest goods prepar’d; His vests of Tyrian purple, fit to please The softest of the silken sons of ease, And other robes, which took a native stain From air and water on the Bætic plain.

_Owen’s Translation._

Strabo (iii. 144. p. 385. _ed. Sieb._) gives the following account of the wool of Turdetania.

Πολλὴ δὲ καὶ ἐσθὴς πρότερον ἤρχετο· νῦν δὲ καὶ ἔρια μᾶλλον τῶν Κυραξῶν, καὶ ὑπερβολή τις ἐστὶ τοῦ κάλλους· ταλαντιαίους γοῦν ὠνοῦνται τοὺς κριοὺς εἰς τὰς ὀχείας, ὑπερβολὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν λεπτῶν ὑφασμάτων, ἅπερ οἱ Σαλτιῆται κατασκευάζουσιν.

“Much cloth used formerly to come from this country. Now also fleeces come from it more than from the Coraxi; and they are exceedingly beautiful, so that rams for breeding are sold for a talent each. Also the fine webs are very famous, which are made by the Saltiatæ.”--_Yates’s Translation._

The reader will please to remark, that this is the passage of Strabo, formerly referred to as containing evidence respecting the Coraxi.

Martial, a Spaniard by birth, frequently alludes to the sheep of Bætica and especially to the various natural colors of their wool, which were so much admired, that it was manufactured without dyeing. Two of his epigrams (iv. 28. and viii. 28.) have been already quoted, as they refer also to the sheep of Tarentum: to these the seven following may be added.

In the Tartessian lands a house appears, Where Cordova o’er placid Bætis rears Her wealthy domes; and where the fleeces show Metallic tints, like living gold that glow. ix. 62.

Corduba, more joyous far Than Venafrum’s unctuous boast; Nor inferior to the jar, That renowns glad Istria’s coast: Who surmount’st the fleecy breed, That the bright Galesus laves; Nor bidd’st lying purple bleed O’er the hue, that nature craves. xii. 63.--_Elphinston’s Translation._

Bætis, with wreaths of unctuous olive crown’d, For Bacchus’ and for Pallas’ gifts renown’d; Whose waters clear a golden hue impart To fleeces, that require no further art; Such wealth the Ruler of the waves conveys In ships, that mark with foam thy liquid ways. xii. 99.

Lacernas from Bætica.

My wool disdains a lye, or caldron hue. Poor Tyre may take it: me my sheep imbue. xiv. 133.--_Elphinston’s Translation._

Charming Ero’s golden lock Beat the fleece of Bætic flock. v. 37. See § 21.--Ib.

Bætic fleeces, many a pound. xii. 65. l. 5.

Let him commend the sober native hues; Of Bætic drab, or gray, lacernas choose, Who thinks no man in scarlet should appear, And only women pink or purple wear. i. 97.

The numerous passages, which have now been produced relative to the native colors of the Spanish wool, explain the following line of Virgil, in which he describes the clothing of a warrior;

With broider’d chlamys bright, and Spanish rust. Æn. ix. 582.

The poet probably intended to describe an outer garment, a chlamys, made of undyed Spanish wool of a clear brown or yellowish color, resembling that of rust; and afterwards enriched with embroidery.

Ramirez de Prado, the Spanish commentator on Martial (_4to. Paris_, 1607.), says, that two native colors were common in Spain in his time, the one a golden yellow, the other more brown or ferruginous.

In the North of Spain the Celtiberi wore saga made of a coarse wool like goats’-hair (_Diod. Sic._ v. 33. _tom._ i. _p._ 356. _Wesseling_.), and woven _double_ according to Appian[362].

[362] Appiani Hist. Rom. l. vi. de Rebus Hispan., vol. i. p. 151. ed. Schweighäuser.

At Salacia in Lusitania, according to Pliny, a chequered pattern was employed in the manufacture of the coarse wool. This was in all probability the same as the shepherd’s plaid of the Scotch, the weaver taking advantage of the natural difference of the white and black wool to produce this variety of appearance. (See Appendix A.)

Estremadura, a part of the ancient Bætica, is still famous for its wool. There the Spanish flocks hybernate, and under the direction of a peculiar code of laws, called _La Mesta_, are conducted every spring to pasture in the mountains of Leon and Asturias. Other flocks are led in the same season from great distances to the heights of the Sierra Morena, lying to the east of the ancient Bætica, where the vegetation is remarkably favorable to the improvement of their wool.

As bearing directly upon the present inquiry it may be observed, that sheep have always been bred principally for the weaver, not for the butcher, and that this has been more especially the case in ancient times and in eastern countries.

If we may judge from the following epigram of Martial, the Romans regarded with feelings little short of aversion the act of killing a sheep for food except on solemn or extraordinary occasions.

The Ram’s head.

Hast pierc’d the neck of the Phryxean lord, Who oft had shelter’d thine? O deed abhorr’d! xii. 211.--_Elphinston’s Translation._

The customs of the shepherd tribes in the East are in this respect remarkably like those of the ancients.

“The Arabs rarely diminish their flocks by using them for food, but live chiefly upon bread, dates, milk, butter, or what they receive in exchange for their wool. They however sell their sheep to the people in the towns. A lamb or kid roasted whole is a favorite dish at Aleppo, but seldom eaten except by the rich[363].” When the Arabs have a sheep-shearing, they perhaps kill a lamb, and treat their relations and friends with it together with new cheese and milk, but nothing more. Among the Mohammedans sheep are sacrificed on certain days as a festive and at the same time a religious ceremony; these ceremonies are of great antiquity and derived from Arab heathenism. On the pilgrimage to Mecca every one is required to sacrifice a sheep at a certain place near Mecca[364].

[363] Harmer s Observations, vol. i. p. 393. ed. Clarke.

[364] Harmer, p. 39.

Pallas (Spicilegia Zoologica, Fasc. xi. p. 79.) speaks of the beautiful lamb-skins from Bucharia, as being admired for their curled gray wool.

By the Law of Moses the sheep was a _clean_ animal, and might consequently be eaten or sacrificed. A lamb or kid, roasted whole, was the principal and characteristic dish at the feast of the passover. The rich man kills a lamb to entertain his guest in the beautiful parable of Nathan. (2 _Sam._ xii. 4.) Sheep were killed on the festive occasion of shearing the very numerous flocks of Nabal. (1 _Sam._ xxv. 2. 11. 18.) An ox and six choice sheep were sacrificed daily for the numerous guests of Nehemiah, while he was building the wall of Jerusalem. (_Neh._ v. 17, 18.) Immense numbers of sheep and oxen were sacrificed at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. (1 _Kings_, viii. 5. 63.) The prophet Ezekiel (xxxiv. 3.) describes the bad shepherd as selfishly eating the flesh and clothing himself with the wool of the sheep, without tending them with due care and labor.

In the Suovetaurilia among the Romans a hog, a sheep, and a bull, their principal domestic animals, were sacrificed. A sheep was killed every day for the guards, who watched the tomb of Cyrus. (_Arrian_, _vol._ i. _p._ 438, _Blancardi_.) In the Odyssey (ρ. 180-182.) a sacrifice is made and a feast prepared of sheep, goats, hogs, and a cow. Also in Od. v. 3. 250. sheep are sacrificed and furnish part of a feast. In order to ratify a treaty between the Greeks and Trojans, the former sacrificed a lamb of the male sex to Jupiter; the latter one of the male sex and white to the Sun, and another of the female sex and black to the Earth. (Il. γ. 103, 104.) Sheep are sacrificed to Apollo at Delphi in Euripides, Ion, _l._ 230. 380. The rare instances of the use of sheep for food or sacrifice by the Egyptians have been already noticed.

But, although sheep, both old and young, male and female, were sacrificed to the objects of religious worship and on other festive occasions were eaten, especially by the rich and great, yet their chief use was to supply clothing, and the nourishment they yielded consisted in their milk and the cheese made from it, rather than in their flesh.

This fact is illustrated by the words of Solomon, formerly quoted, and in which he speaks of lambs for _clothing_ and goat’s _milk_ for food. In like manner St. Paul says (1 Cor. ix. 7.), “Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?”

Varro thinks, that sheep were employed for the use of man _before any other animal_ on account of their usefulness and placidity, and he represents their use to consist in supplying cheese and milk for food, fleeces and skins for clothing[365]. In like manner Columella in his account of the use of sheep (vii. 2.) says, they afforded the chief materials for clothing. In treating of their use for food, he mentions only their milk and cheese. Pliny refers to the employment of sheep both for sacrifices and for clothing. He also remarks, that as the ox is principally useful in obtaining food, to wit, by ploughing and other agricultural processes, the sheep, on the other hand, supplies materials for clothing[366].

[365] De Re Rustica, l. ii. cap. i.

[366] See Appendix A.

The fact, that wool was among the ancients by far the most common material for making clothes, accounts for the various expressions in scripture respecting the destructiveness of the moth.

“Your garments are moth-eaten.” James v. 2. “He, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.”--Job xiii. 28. “They all shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.”--Is. l. 9. “The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worms shall eat them like wool.” Is. li. 8. “From garments cometh a moth.” Eccles. xlii. 13. “Treasures, where moth and rust corrupt.” Matt. vi. 19.

But it is to be observed, that the sacred writers mention not the moth, but the minute worm, which changes into a moth, and which alone gnaws the garments. In the passages which have been quoted, the word “moth” must be understood to signify the larva[367] of the clothes-moth (_Phalæna Vestianella_, Linn.), or of some insect of the same kind.

[367] When an insect first issues from the egg, it is called by naturalists _larva_.