Sheep Shears
for hand cutting the wool from the sheep
early C20th rusty steel 11"long
from Pool Sanday
Patrick Neill, in his account of a Tour around Orkney, published in 1806 observed " When sheep are to be caught, they are still hounded down by dogs instead of being driven into folds and seized by gentler means. In many places, still, the wool, instead of being shorn with scissors, is forcibly torn from their backs. During winter the sheep betake themselves to the shores to pick up the tender sea-weeds cast up by the waves; and many of them perish in this pursuit, being washed away by sudden swells of billows. "
