Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

Black Welsh Mountain sheep have been around since the 13th century and are native to the southern mountains of Wales.  Originally they were an occasional anomaly from the regular Welsh Mountain breed but during the 19th century they were used for selective breeding for the colour and developed into a breed in their own right and now they are a pure black breed.  The black fleeced sheep have been around since medieval times and was falls gwlân cochddu (red-black wool) and was considered to be a highly desirable commodity. 

The Black Welsh Mountain sheep, at the time of writing, is in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust category 6: "Other UK Native Breeds" (over 3000) registered breeding ewes and they can be found mostly in Mid Wales but there are specialist flocks across the UK.  They are a small sheep with a black head and legs, which are wool free, with a mature ewe weighing about 45kg and rams are around 60-65kg.  Ewes are polled and rams grow horns. They have a placid temperament and are easy to handle.

They produce a good sized fleece of  around 1-2kg and it is black, a proper true black.  Unusually these sheep do not grey with age like other coloured sheep breeds do.  Their fleece is also of better quality than their forebears and other Welsh Mountain breeds, probably because they have undergone a process of selective breeding in the past to develop the breed for its colour and no doubt only animals with the highest quality and softest of fleece were used to make the most of the desirable black fleece.  The fleece is still slightly on the crisp side but has very little kemp and is softer than their counterparts.  The staple length is generally 3-4 inches (7.5-10cm).

The locks are not particularly distinct but can be separate from the fleece by locating a tip and pulling outward and so spinning from the lock is achievable.  It can be carded or combed.  Drafting is easy.  There is no point trying to dye this fleece as it is so dark that it is just a waste of time and dye. 

Yarns spun from Black Welsh Mountain fleece very nice and can be used for sweaters, hats, scarves, mittens, blankets and more.  

I have bought this breed in as pre-prepared fibre in a box containing 50g each of four British Breeds. I also had a 25g sample that I got with another pack so broke the 50g into two shorter lengths and then split the 25g down the length into two thinner strips.  This made the pieces almost the same length so I stretched the thinner piece out to the same length as the 50g and pre-drafted and spun them together at the same time. Then done the same for the other two pieces.  There are some white fibres on the larger sample but this could of come from one of the other breeds in the same box.

There are a small amount of tiny non-white hairs/fibres that are easy to remove.

My finished yarn is of medium quality to the touch of the hand and it is quite soft with a slight crispness and definitely quite sturdy.  I have 74g/128m of lovely natural black sport weight yarn.  My knitted piece for the project took 49g/85m so I have a small amount left to do whatever with.