Swaledale sheep

They are found throughout the more mountainous areas of Great Britain, but particularly in the Yorkshire Dales, County Durham, and around the Pennine fells of Cumbria.

[2] Although the specific origins of the breed are unknown, a non-indigenous and exotic ancestor for the Swaledale was considered by two noted names of the eighteenth century, John Naismyth and Charles Findlater.

Published in 1796, Naismyth's opinion in Young's Annals of Agriculture was that the origin of the black-faced highland breeds was "impossible to trace".

[6] This tenuous link between domestic sheep and the wild Argali has since been proved to be insupportable due to a significant difference in genetic make-up and number of chromosomes.

[6][8] At the beginning of the 18th century, the market is recorded as having sold upwards of 9,000 sheep in a single day, numbers which surely helped establish the breed firmly in upland areas.

[5] The Swaledale Sheep Breeders Association was founded in 1919[9] and originally consisted of farmers living within a seven-mile radius of the Tan Hill Inn, on the North Yorkshire moors.

Being a hardy breed, farmers are able to rear their Swaledale flocks in remote and exposed locations, generally without needing to provide indoor accommodation.

[15][16] A commercially successful breed, the North of England Mule, has been produced from the Swaledale ewes, by mating with Bluefaced Leicesters.