DC Dalgliesh

[figheadair]

Hard to believe that my trip to Scotland was two years ago now, but I do have a question for you Jock. While riding around on a tour bus, we saw a lot of sheep, too many to estimate their number, (but not as many as I have seen elsewhere,) yet we were told by the guide that the wool used in the mills there comes not from Scotland but from New Zealand. Is this true? If so, why? Different sheep? Different climate?
Thanks,

David

It depends on where in Scotland and therefore to some degree, which type of sheep. Good quality tartan uses a cross-bred yarn that is typically a 70/30 mix of Cheviot and something like Romney March. In the Highlands the principal breed is the Blackface and most of their wool is used for Harris Tweed, other course material, and carpets. The fleece many of the Lowland sheep is generally the wrong type (too short or short) and they are breed mainly for meat.

There are insufficient crossbred sheep in Scotland to provide sufficient yarn for all the tartan produced and so, for the past 50+ years most of it has been imported. Lochcarron have start to reverse that trend and for their heavy-weight yarns now have a stable supply of Scottish breed sheep wool but at the moment their is insufficient to enlarge that to include their medium and light-weights, the former being their biggest market.