From the
Cheviot HillsFrom the
Cheviot Hills
by Ruth Bowles
The history of the Cheviot breed is an interesting one. From the date of Bannockburn, or earlier, to that of the Union, there is no reliable information further than that sheep were in 1372 a small, but very hardy race over large tracts of the Cheviot Hills. Tradition states, "It came from out of the sea," which means, probably, that they swam ashore from some Spanish ship and landed on the shores of Northumberland.
Low's work of Domesticated Animals of Great Britain asserts as a fact that one of the Spanish Armada which was sent to conquer England in the days of Phillip the Second of Spain and good Queen Bess of England, was wrecked on the coast of the hill country and the sheep which were carried for the supply of meat swam ashore. The sheep of Spain at that time were the best in the known world. They migrated into the Cheviot Hills, which traverse the boundary between England and Scotland, and it is from these hills that they take their name and where their improvement has been so long and carefully studied .
For centuries they have grazed their native Cheviot Hills and the
Hills alone afforded their only sustenance and shelter. Down thru the centuries
they have been known and recognized for their hardiness and prolificacy. Cheviot
wool was held in very high esteem in the days of old, as Sir John Sinclair,
president of the British Board of Agriculture, writing about the year 1791
states: "The highlands of Scotland if covered with the coarse wool breeds of
sheep the wool might be worth 300,000 pounds of sterling, whereas, if the same
ground were covered by the Cheviot, the true mountain breed, would be worth at
least 900,000 pounds sterling of fine wool." The Cheviot tweeds made from
the fleece of the Cheviot has been highly esteemed for a very long time. Made up
largely of three-eights and one-quarter blood wool, the fleece is of superior
quality. Cheviot wool, which is principally a carding wool, has been used for
generations in the making of Scotch Tweed, or rather, Cheviot Tweed. This is the
trade name for what is the best, most useful and most lasting of all the
different makes of cloth.
The severe storms in Scotland in 1860 tested the hardiness of the
Cheviots, for they survived while other well known breeds perished with cold.
Since that time they have spread from their native mountains to a large extent
of country and covered a great part of the elevated moors, from which they
have pushed off other breeds. They have spread from the southern mountains of
Scotland, supplanting to a great extent the Heather breed which previously
existed. They have been carried to Ireland and America and to many other parts
of the world.
Records show that as early as 1834 there emigrated from Scotland three
children of Thomas Laidler: Mrs. Robert Davidson, Mrs. William Telfer and
William Laidler, who resided in the town of New Lisborn, New York. In 1841,
Robert Davidson returned to the land of his birth, and in the spring of 1842
returned to America and with him came George Lough, Sr., and wife, his wife
being a sister to the above mentioned. Thomas Laidler, a shepherd on the Cheviot
Hills, wishing to remember his children in America, conceived the idea of
sending them something that might be of value as well as an act of kindness.
He sent each of the four children three Cheviot sheep, and from
that importation, as the foundation, all of the different flocks in Otsego
County, New York and throughout the state have their origin. George Lough, Sr.,
deserves much credit for keeping them in their purity, as he imported rams, as
necessity required, keeping up their standard of excellence.
Mr. Pope of Cookshire, province of Quebeck, Canada, also had an early importation. Messrs, Lough, Davidson and Curry had other small importations in the early 1840's and since that time the importations were greatly increased. During the year 1919, 200 sheep were imported to America, notwithstanding the difficulties of ocean transportation and the prevailing high prices abroad .
Importations of Cheviots greatly strengthened and improved development of the
breed in America. These sheep through years of exhibition, together with their
splendid progeny, added greatly to the spread of the Cheviot industry. 
* It may be interesting to relate how this name of tweed arose. An old border manufacturer, in the early days of cloth manufacturer on the borders, sent a pattern to a London merchant which he called a Cheviot "Twill" and as the manufacturer was a very bad writer, the Londoneer read it as "Cheviot Tweed"." Since then the name has never been changed.