Flock Of Sheep And Spring Lambs Field Highlands Of Perthshire Scotland

Tour Scotland 4K travel video of a flock of Spring lambs and sheep in a field on visit to the Highlands of Perthshire. As well as longer, lighter days and blossoming flowers, one of the best aspects of a Scottish spring is getting to see adorable lambs gambolling across the fields, hills and glens. March and April are peak lambing time in the United Kingdom, although the main season runs from February to April and some farmers even lamb before Christmas. As the ewes in this example were tupped in October, they will lamb in March or early April. A number on the side of lambs is used to identify which lambs belong to which ewe. Basically it's done to identify and group of sheep in a flock. In the history of the Highlands of Scotland sheep rearing was only introduced on any significant scale in the late 18th or more usually the early 19th century, by the estate owners. The way this was carried out is often regarded as a dark chapter in Scotland’s history, as the highland social structure was destroyed in the process. This is what is known as the Highland clearances, when the population of small farmers who used to raise black cattle and drive them in herds to the lowlands to sell were unable to produce enough rent to keep the estate owners satisfied. They were evicted from their homes, often with little regard for their well-being, as their goods were thrown out of their small cottages which were then demolished. The people had to go to the cities, to emigrate or to live along the coasts while the whole of the interior of the Highlands was more or less depopulated and sheep flocks, managed by shepherds from the lowlands were brought in to provide a more profitable enterprise for the estates. Thus in this area the landscape of sheep husbandry has many other connotations and is not as valued as in England. In Scotland there are also extensive areas managed for deer so that while these are grazed and browsed the landscape is not the result of sheep. There is and has been much more land use change as former sheep grazing areas are converted to forest.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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