The Sheep’s Tale

Angebote / Angebote:

I look at the Ryeland ewes, white and fat with fecundity. Replete with contentment. Contentment is a transmissible condition. I catch it off the sheep. The old time shepherds used to sleep with their sheep, out in the fields. I do it sometimes too, on the dry nights, the sheep lying down around me. I'm not sure on those nights who is protecting whom.Everybody thinks they know everything about sheep, because there is nothing to know. They are stupid, noisy, cowardly ('lambs to the slaughter'), and they're 'sheepwrecking' the environment.Or maybe not. Contrary to popular prejudice, sheep are among the smartest animals in the barnyard, fiercely loyal, forming long and lasting friendships. Sheep, farmed properly, are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to taste good, and put clothes on our back - in fact, John Lewis-Stempel's family supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth's 'hose'.Observing the traditional shepherd's calendar, The Sheep's Tale is a loving biography of ewes, lambs and rams through the seasons. Lewis-Stempel tends to his flock with deep-rooted wisdom, ethical consideration, affection, and humour. It is a tribute to all the sheep he has reared and sheared - from gregarious Action Ram to sweet Maid Marion. In his inimitable style, he shares the moments that only a shepherd can tell.