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Post by Jaga on May 23, 2007 22:17:34 GMT -7
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Post by leslie on May 24, 2007 5:11:19 GMT -7
Jaga
Your posting on sheep trailing reminded me of something that happened in the English Lake District, near to where I lived when I was a boy. At one place there is a high, plateau-like ridge between two valleys. In each of the valleys are farms and because of the mountainous area the principal farming is sheep farming. The sheep were taken in the summer to the top of the ridge from all the farms to eat the rich grass that had grown in the Spring. Obviously with several farmers doing this the sheep got all mixed up together. So at the end of the summer they had to be separated to be taken down to their appropriate farms for the winter. The farmers met and treated it as both a working day and a social occasion.
But the peculiarity of the occasion dates back to when the Vikings settled in the Lake District. While the farmers were separating their sheep, they counted them, using the old Norse form of counting - this was still going on in the 1940s - I don't know whether it is still the practice. The counting system they used was not one, two, three, four etc. but yan, twan, tethra,sethra etc. The only thing that remains of this among ordinary people is in the Cumbrian dialect where 'one' is 'yan', as in 'There's only one' = 'Theers nobbut yan'!!
Leslie
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Post by hollister on May 24, 2007 5:13:19 GMT -7
Jaga,
Do you have dates for this year's festival? Also do you know if anyone breeds Polish Mountian dogs in Idaho?
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Post by kaima on May 24, 2007 7:09:09 GMT -7
Jaga,
Is there any such activities with the Vlachs or other sheep herders in the Polish hills today? There is some remnant of sheep herding activity on the Slovak side of the border, but I can't give any detail.
Kai
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Post by Jaga on May 24, 2007 9:42:28 GMT -7
Holly,
according to the link to the main website of the festival - it will be OCTOBER 12 - 14TH, 2007.
Kai, I do not really know whether there are any activities involved with trailing sheep down the mountains. I presume it should be something - but I never really heard too much about it.
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Post by Jaga on May 24, 2007 9:45:16 GMT -7
Jaga Your posting on sheep trailing reminded me of something that But the peculiarity of the occasion dates back to when the Vikings settled in the Lake District. While the farmers were separating their sheep, they counted them, using the old Norse form of counting - this was still going on in the 1940s - I don't know whether it is still the practice. The counting system they used was not one, two, three, four etc. but yan, twan, tethra,sethra etc. The only thing that remains of this among ordinary people is in the Cumbrian dialect where 'one' is 'yan', as in 'There's only one' = 'Theers nobbut yan'!! Leslie Leslie, this is really interesting. So, the old tradition and the old counting survived by counting sheep!! Thanks for sharing! |
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