OF SHEEP AND MEN

A year on the north bank of the Tweed occupies the author of Of Whales and Men (1954) and his photographer wife and informs them of the cycle of sheep raising, introduces them to the small in number (but wide in variety) of ""Lanzier's"" population, and gives him a chance to be ""gey"" entertaining about the whole thing. The pastoral life nearly ""knocked the bluidy stuffin' out o'"" them; they were introduced to their surroundings at dipping time, and followed the calendar through the matings, the mass obstetrics of lambing, on through the clipping; they met the gypsies and vagrants in May, and gave up trying to save and succor the tourists in the summer, and took a fascinated part in the ""tup"" auctions. They were part of the local salmon poaching; they went to the Billy Graham All-Scotland Crusade; they watched ""the Anatopism"", (an American Wall Street lawyer,) become naturalized; they have superior guides and counselors in Tam, the herd, Barry l'Original, Auld Kenneth and his dogs, and Mrs. Tam; they become part of all the human tangles throughout the glens. Things ovine may not be as spectacular as things cetacean but Dr. Robertson is the man to find the unusual and the fascinating -- in the villagers as well as in the animals. Sure to call out his previous enthusiasts and a certain pleasure for any new experimenter.