A romanticized view of life in the St. Kilda archipelago drive much of the hype. Sheep drive my interest but I am not free of either fantasy or idolized life separated from the world with the community purported.
Did viking bring the sheep
St. Kilda sheep confusion with heberdean sheep
Heberdean sheep descended from Hirta population taken in the early 1900s were probably blackface mixed with Cheviot’s. The mix might not be great as the white phenotype didn’t last (Love, 2009).
they also had cows and “As the preparation for the evacuation of the St Kildans started, the cattle was taken from the island – only Donald Gillies kept his cow, the rest were sold” according to the Stkildaclub on instagram.
Soay
introduced during the late bronze age (1550-1200 BC)
Brown color and white belly wild type, different than other domesticated sheep (Ryder, 1984).
Linked with retrovirus typing to Mediterranean and Asiatic Mouflon rather than Nordic Breeds (Chessa et al., 2009).
Have been kept at Woburn Estate since 1910, 100 years later a vet noted in a letter in a journal that they had been eating yew a toxic plant with no noticeable effect (Scott, 2010)
Ecology project https://biology.ed.ac.uk/soaysheep/project/history
Use in conservation
Boreray
First population for the admixture (Iron Age 1200-550 BC) but could extend between 500 BC and 500 AD, evidence of a broch or wheel house and pottery present suggest habitation in the neolithic 12000-2200 BC.
mixed with Scottish tan face? Dunface mixed with Blackface. Dunface present in the 1700s and Blackface added in the 1870s. Closest living relative to the Dunface. Left alone from 1930-1971, brought to the mainland.
Use in conservation
Life on Hirta: what St. Kilda allowed
To be cont
Cited
Chessa et al. (2009). “Revealing the history of sheep domestication using retrovirus integrations.” Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 324,5926 doi:10.1126/science.1170587
Ryder, M. L. (1984). Medieval Sheep and Wool Types. The Agricultural History Review, 32(1), 14–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40274301
Scott, W. (2010). Apparent low toxicity of yew in muntjac deer and Soay sheep. The Veterinary Record, 166(8), 246. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.c971
Love, J., 2009. A Natural History of St Kilda. Edinburgh: Berlinn
