'An important book on several levels... Read a few sentences out loud wherever you are.'
Rosamund Young I look at the Ryeland ewes white and fat with fecundity. Replete with
contentment. Contentment is a transmissible condition. I catch it off the sheep. The old time
shepherds used to sleep with their sheep out in the fields. I do it sometimes too on the dry
nights the sheep lying down around me. I'm not sure on those nights who is protecting whom.
Everybody thinks they know what sheep are like: they're stupid noisy cowardly ('lambs to the
slaughter') and they're 'sheepwrecking' the environment. Or maybe not. Contrary to popular
prejudice sheep are among the smartest animals in the farmyard fiercely loyal forming long
and lasting friendships. Sheep farmed properly are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to
taste good and their fleeces warm us through the winter - indeed John Lewis-Stempel's family
supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth's 'hose'. Observing the traditional shepherd's calendar
The Sheep's Tale is a loving biography of ewes lambs and rams through the seasons.
Lewis-Stempel tends to his flock with deep-rooted wisdom ethical consideration affection and
humour. This book is a tribute to all the sheep he has reared and sheared - from gregarious
Action Ram to sweet Maid Marion. In his inimitable style he shares the tales that only a
shepherd can tell.
