This isn't exactly archaeological, but I'm hoping someone can shed
some light on an item I've found in an Irish paper published in 1819.
"We are sorry to learn, that the atrocious practice of killing
sheep for their fat is carried on, at present, in the neighbourhood of
Thomastown ... one was killed on the land of West Jerpoint ... and the
fat and hindquarters carried away. .. several sheep ... have been stolen
or treated in a similar manner."
Why the fat in particular?
And why the hindquarters, but not the whole sheep? Were the sheep of
that time already too big to carry off easily? Or just easier to hide
the hindquarters than the whole thing?
(One of the three whose sheep were stolen was a brother or cousin of my
gr gr grandfather, hence my interest.)
Eve
Toronto, Canada
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