Tales from Yellingham Farm

Enjoy this amusing Blog written by one of our B&B Hosts, Janet East at Yellingham Farm in Devon…

“The grass is always Greener on the other side”. Whoever wrote that must have had my Black Welsh Mountain sheep in mind. The phrase dates back to the Greek poet Ovid, who lived in the first century B.C. The original saying was, “The harvest is always richer in another man’s field.” Whichever phrase you choose, my Black sheep know the meaning and act on it.

So, last week a very kind gentleman pulled up outside the farm gate and alerted us to the fact that a Black sheep was on the lane heading towards Crowders Cross… given I don’t know of any other Black sheep in a radius of 3 miles I was confident it was mine. We have excellent fencing, or so I thought, but the Breed name does include the word “Mountain” so that gives you a bit of a clue, that nothing is a barrier to them.

So, moving on, said sheep was in the road, good fencing or not, but it was hopeless going down the lane with my trustworthy brown collie Ralph, as that would drive the sheep towards Feniton in a nano second. So, I opted for a quick sprint down the field parallel to the lane hoping that said sheep was grazing the hedgerows and I could stop its further meandering. The plan worked and I was able to open a gate at the end of the lane and with the help of Ralph get the sheep back to our very “green grass”.

Satisfied all was safe, I was horrified to find that the next morning, said blinking Black sheep was on the road again, fortunately only outside the farm gate. Without any hesitation I called the very lovely young agile B and B guest Ben, from his beautiful English breakfast and asked for help – our guests love the countryside, so this was a test to see if they really meant it! Clad in white trainers and matching attire, looking more like a tennis pro, I handed Ben a shepherd’s crook which he immediately held upside down – perhaps I should have given him a tennis racket instead. Was this venture going to end in disaster? I told him to stand up the lane to the right and obey my commands – the look on his face was a picture of misbelief. I quickly reminded him that the word “command“ was a technical term we use with dogs, so please don’t think I was being bossy – as if!

I must admit Ben looked more than worried, so I just said if the sheep runs your way stop it by waving the instrument i.e. the crook I gave you. I could see that this was going to be hopeless.

With the field gate open, Ben in position and dog on red alert, the manoeuvre commenced. The sheep certainly gave Ben a run for his money. Moving one sheep is difficult at the best of times but all due respect to this lovely city dweller as he responded to my “commands” and suddenly let out an enormous lion like roar as the sheep tested Ben’s agility to the limits. My dog Ralph looked stunned and laid straight down thinking I’d made up a new command! The combination of the roar and the mad waving of my upside-down crook did the trick. The little Black ewe decided against taking on a wild guest and turned on her heels and ran back into the field. I was delighted, my guest was over the moon and no doubt this story has been elevated in some London pub that 100 Black Welsh lambs who had escaped onto the road were safely returned to their field after Ben saved the day.   Thanks Ben – you were amazing!