Cockermouth farmer William Dickinson wrote a prize-winning report on the agriculture of West Cumberland in 1850. His "On the Farming of Cumberland" was published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, volume XIII, and as a book in 1853. Among his other publications was a short essay on the Herdwick sheep, written in 1878 for Gate's Shepherd's Guide (1879). Extracts from all these three publications are presented here.
As with the earlier report by Bailey and Culley, please bear in mind that this page contains only material specifically related to the Eskdale area, so the absence of a topic here does not necessarily mean that it is not relevant to the area.
HERDWICK SHEEP: extract from essay in Gate's Shepherd's Guide, 1879:
I have been well and continuously acquainted with the breed and their habits since prior to the very destructive Martinmas snowstorm of 1807, and have gathered the following information from aged men in my early days, and have omitted no later opportunity, when the chance offered... Since the Commons were enclosed, the stinting better regulated, and prizes given at the Agricultural Shows, the breed is much improved in size, by careful breeding, and in its superior quality of mutton; reteining its original identity, as well as having acquired earlier maturity.
The Herdwick breed is peculiar to Cumberland, and is now nearly limited to the West Cumberland range of mountains, extending from the Derwent to the Duddon. Outside this range, the Sheep have somewhat larger frames, and thereby are claimed to be superior. But they are indulged in more liberal Winter treatment, have better Summer pasturage than the rocks of the West afford; and are not admitted as pure and hardy heaf-going Herdwicks. ...
Being altogether unlike any Spanish breed of sheep we are acquainted with, there is room for assuming them to have been an offshoot from some of the more northern countries of Sweden or Denmark, &c., where hardiness is an indispensible requisite. The nearest approach to the breed in the British Isles is, or was, to be found about fifty years ago on the Morne mountains, on the west coast of Galloway; but the wool of those small Scotch sheep is shorter, closer, and somewhat finer, although the markings of the face and legs are nearly similar, with a mixture of the dun faces of the Shetland breed.
Wm. Dickinson, Thorncroft, 17 Jul 1878
[Dickinson seems to have retired to Thorncroft, near Workington, from his farm at North Mosses, Cockermouth.
The Shepherd's Guide also includes two other essays on breeding and rearing Herdwick sheep for quality, by other authors- neither has specific Eskdale references]
Extracts from "On the Farming of Cumberland"
HERDWICK SHEEP: status in the 1850s
The enclosure of all the low commons, and of portions of the higher, and the consequent cultivation of all the available parts, caused the sheep to be sold off in thousands, till, about the year 1820, few except those on the mountains remained. Since that period, drainage and turnip culture have been widely extended, and the system of feeding sheep on turnips has been approved and practised to such an extent as to cause the numbers of sheep now kept to be little short of what the commons maintained, and the weight of mutton and wool to be considerably increased, and the quality of the latter very much improved by the introduction of superior breeds and crosses.
The Herdwick breed possesses more of the characters of an original race than any other in the county. It stands lowest in the scale of excellence, and shows no marks of kindred with any other race. ... They occupy, to the exclusion of all others, the range of mountains from Wythop to Black Comb. The majority are without horns, and their legs and faces are grey or mottled. Where great care is exercised in selecting and breeding, the nose is of a lighter grey, and is then termed "raggy" or "rimy", from its resemblance to hoar-frost. Except the lambs (which are dispersed over the arable farms during the first winter, at about 3s. 6d. per head, for keep till Lady Day), they are kept on the mountains at nearly all seasons. The wethers are sold for feeding at four and five years old, and weigh from 12 to 14 lbs. per quarter.- the ewes from 8 to 10 lbs., and the mutton is excellent. Formerly, many of this breed had large manes and beards, of very coarse grey hair; the fleeces were also much mixed with greys and kemps [FOOTNOTE: "Black or grey wool and stiff hairs"]. These defects are now removed without injury to the storm-resisting qualities of the fleece. The weight of fleece varies from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lbs. This breed is remarkable for attachment to the place where they are suckled, and this constitutes a part of their value in the eyes of the proprietors. In consequence of this fondness for their heaf or place of breeding they require less of the shepherd's care ; and their heaf may be gradually curtailed or extended on any particular side without the trouble and expense of constant herding. No hay is given to the Herdwick sheep, except on extreme occasions.
... There is another breed resembling the Herdwicks, but stronger in bone and heavier in carcase, which the wners claim to be a superior and distinct breed from the "little Herdwicks," as they derisively call them. ... They inhabit Skiddaw, Saddleback, the Caldbeck group, the Helvellyn range, and the adjoining mountains.
THE SHEPHERD'S DOG
Well might a popular writer say, "Without the shepherd's dog, the mouintainous land of Engand and Scotland would not be worth sixpence. It would require more hands to manage a flock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into houses and folds, and drive them to market, than the profits of the whole would be capable of maintaining."
[Dickinson gives examples of the sheepdogs' value and resourcefulness, particularly during the great snowstorm of 1807]
Another instance, among many, of the sagacity of a Cumberland sheep-dog deserves to be put on record. A plot of low and level ground near Muncaster Castle, called Hestholm Marsh, is usualy covered twice in the day day by the tide, and sheep were constantly depastured on it, with a field on a higher level to retire to on the rising of the tide; but the stupid animals, being fond of the salted grass, were sometimes surprised and impounded by the tide, and then the dog's services were requisite in the rescue. In a little time he learned to go down and clear the marsh of his own accord, as constantly as the tide flowed during daylight; and thus was the means of preventing all loss by the waters, so long as he was able to attend to his self-imposed duty.
CATTLE PASTURE
Agistment of Cattle is largely practised over the whole county. ... Burgh Marsh is also an excellent and extensive pasture of this kind, and so is the park at Muncaster Castle.
VETCHES AS ANIMAL FEED
Spring vetches are sown in small quantities over most of the county, for horse-food in the spring or for dairy cows. In the high-lying township of Birker, where most of the milk cows are depastured on the mountains [FOOTNOTE: "Butter of the very finest quality is made from these heathy pastures"], vetches are constantly grown and given to them at milking-time; and the poor animals soon learn to be very regular in their attendance at home at those hours. In the neighbourhood of Ravenglass and Bootle vetches are occasionally sown among ley oats- the mixed crop is cut, threshed, and given to horses, or ground for pigs and fat cattle. The vetches do not seem to injure the oat crop, and the oats constitute a support, which enables the vetches to ripen sooner than when grown as a separate crop.
GARDENS & ORCHARDS
Gardens are common appendages to the farms, and orchards partially so. The parishes of Irton, Muncaster, and Crosthwaite contain many good orchards, where fruit is grown for sale.
RAINFALL
The report includes rainfall figures (in inches) for various places by Mr Miller of Whitehaven:
| Eskdale (head of vale): |
| 1847 | 74.93 |
| 1848 | 86.78 |
| 1849 | 71.22 |
| 1850 | 81.69 |
| 1851 | 78.58 |
| |
| (centre of vale): |
| 1847 | 58.66 |
| 1848 | 70.38 |
Extract from "An Essay on the Agriculture of West Cumberland" (1850):
RAINFALL: month by month, 1848 (in inches- again supplied by Mr Miller)
| Centre of dale | Head of dale |
| January | 4.92 | 6.35 |
| February | 11.70 | 14.22 |
| March | 5.56 | 6.70 |
| April | 1.87 | 2.82 |
| May | 1.01 | 1.83 |
| June | 6.43 | 6.34 |
| July | 5.98 | 7.21 |
| August | 7.45 | 8.42 |
| September | 3.72 | 3.99 |
| October | 7.87 | 9.90 |
| November | 6.13 | 7.97 |
| December | 7.74 | 11.03 |
