Sheep's Milk and Welsh Goats
I confess that when the Hermit first told me that his best cheese owed its superiority to the addition of sheep's milk, I thought he was jesting; and although I…
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From Good Cookery Illustrated by Augusta Llanover, 1867.
Sheep's Milk
I confess that when the Hermit first told me that his best cheese owed its superiority to the addition of sheep's milk, I thought he was jesting; and although I saw the ewes being milked, and admired the Arcadian scene, I supposed, in my ignorance, that the milk was to feed the calves! But I am now fully aware that the milk, of that valuable animal (the Welsh sheep), when mingled with that of the cow, produces cheese which is not only excellent to eat new, but, when old, is more like Parmesan than anything else I ever tasted.
The following are memoranda of facts relative to the Hermit's flock of Welsh sheep:—
His lambs were sold when I was with him, about the beginning of July, at 1l. each, being then from three to four months old. The ewes were then milked for three months. They were twenty-four in number, and they gave on an average twenty-four quarts a day. The proportions for cheese were one quart of ewe’s milk to five quarts of cow's milk, and six quarts of ewe's milk to thirty quarts of cow's milk made a cheese, weighing from twelve to fourteen pounds, of a most superior quality, with the sharpness so much admired in Parmesan. Some of these ewes became so fat after they were dried in October, that when they were killed at Christmas, their weight was from fourteen to fifteen pounds a quarter, and the mutton of the very finest flavour.
Of course there was no stall-feedings or confinement or quackery with artificial food, but only pastures, often changed, and a good shed to run into at pleasure. The Hermit seldom or ever lost a lamb, but his sheep were supplied with chaff and cut roots in winter, when there was not sufficient grass to support them well.
To give an idea of the profit of Welsh sheep when properly managed, I have made a note of the profits often of the Hermit's Welsh wethers, which were bought the latter end of March and sold the beginning of the following May; their price was 1l. 10s., and they were sold at 2l. off turnips.
It is also to be remembered that the Welsh wool is a very fine quality, and peculiarly well adapted for cloth as well as flannel, and those native Welsh cottagers who are still wise enough to make use of their wool-wheels, produce a home-spun cloth which, like the brocades of old, is so durable that they may almost be considered as heir-looms. The home-knit Welsh stockings of the black Welsh sheep's wool, are also very superior, and do not need any dye.
I also observed that the Hermit's flock was so tame that they followed the shepherd about, and some of them would eat out of his hand, and on remarking that I had always been told the Welsh sheep were so wild that it was impossible to keep them within bounds, I was informed that there was not the slightest inconvenience in keeping Welsh sheep if they were properly managed but that if purchasers chose to go to Welsh fairs or markets, and bought sheep of different flocks, drove them to a strange place, and then took no precautions to reconcile them to their new locality, they would be very likely to find the next morning that their sheep had all disappeared in different directions; but that if a flock was purchased that had been accustomed to live together, and if they were at first placed in a well-fenced pasturage with plenty to eat, they would soon become reconciled to the change, but when born and brought up on the same spot, they never wished to stray.
In short, it appears that Welsh sheep exactly resemble the Scotch Highland cattle—if untamed, untended, uncared for, they are as unmanageable as wild beasts, but when domesticated they are mild, docile, and have no inclination to wander. The Welsh sheep certainly is one of the most symmetrical animals I ever beheld and appears to particular advantage when black, their arched necks, slender legs, small, compact, and well-proportioned, bodies, their long graceful tails, and picturesque curling horns, with their soft dark fleeces and brilliant dark eyes, would render them fit studies for Rosa Bonheur.
Goats
The Hermit's Welsh Goats were differently managed to those I have seen on the Continent, and they are much handsomer animals than the foreign goats, with which I am acquainted. It is surprising that no specimen of the real Welsh goat is preserved in the Zoological Gardens. The Welsh goat being an aboriginal of Britain, ought to be specially protected, whereas it appears that the breed is likely to become extinct. The gallant regiment of the Welsh Fusiliers ought to protest against this neglect of an animal which has always been associated with Welsh regiments and the Principality of Wales.
The Welsh goat has a very picturesque appearance, from its long coat and beautifully formed head. There are two species equally aboriginal; one with magnificent horns, and the other without horns. The Hermit had both kinds, and he made a point of keeping as many as he could without horns, because they were not dangerous to the numerous peasant children who were continually playing with them. The Hermit said that his goats certainly had a predilection for the bark of young trees, and he therefore for many years had adopted the plan of tethering them.
Each goat was provided with a leather collar and chain, one end of which was attached by a ring to the leather strap which forms the collar, and at the other end there was a ring which was fastened to the ground by a sharp wooden hook. The goats seemed perfectly happy, their chains were very long, and they were moved twice or thrice a day. They were always brought into a large yard at night, where they were left at perfect liberty, with an open shed where they had prunings of shrubs or vegetables or anything that was convenient, given them to eat.
The she-goat gives when in full milking more than two quarts a day. The value of their milk for children and invalids has been admitted in all ages; their milk makes excellent cheese alone, without the mixture of any other, and the whey is particularly nourishing and wholesome; as well as the curd which is produced a second time from boiling the whey. Kids are always marketable, being excellent food, and their skins very valuable.
Llanover, Augusta. Good Cookery Illustrated and Recipes Communicated by the Welsh Hermit of the Cell of St. Gover, with Various Remarks on Many Things Past and Present. Richard Bentley, 1867.
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