SCOTLAND: sheep and other problems

George Sassoon says: "Mary Huyck is right about Ullapool. There are indeed the Tropical Gardens of Kinlochewe nearby. My main experience of the town is as a member of a boat crew, and in this capacity my impression of the younger male inhabitants was that their sole occupations were drinking and fighting. The whole west coast has a very mild climate, thanks to the Gulf Stream. Last winter I never recorded lower than -1.5 deg. C.

As regards sheep, the (Scottish) Blackface is a distinct breed with a white body and black face. Any animals with black on the body are throwbacks and will be eliminated by any competent flockmaster. They are much hardier than the Cheviot breed originally introduced to the Highlands after the Clearances.

I remember the nursery rhyme as:

Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for the master, one for the maid
And one for the little girl who lives down the lane.

There is supposed to be a further verse about white sheep. The point is that black wool is worth less than white and black wool would be put in the bottoms of bags containing white. Politically correct extremists in Britain at one time tried to change this to green sheep, the rhyme being deemed insulting to our coloured brethren".

My comment: This troubles me in several ways. Is is at little girl or a little boy? Probably girl, since she would do the spinning. For once, I agree with the Greens. What's wrong with black wool? It would be fine for making uniforms for the Black Watch, of which the Scots are so proud. "Colored brethren" is politically incorrect. Say "coloured siblings". More seriously, I am sorrier to see the decline of the sober, industrious Scot. I bet Scottish youths watch commercial TV. Der Untergang des Abendlandes, i.e Western civilization is going west, presumably to California.

Ronald Hilton - 9/19/02