Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd [153]
He imported two hundred of them, and it was not long before the woods all around Sarum were rich with their graceful, fluttering presence.
“He’s even improved the hunting!” Tosutigus exclaimed with delight.
But all these changes were insignificant compared with the complex work that Porteus carried out on the high ground. It was this work that was to change the face of Sarum for fifteen hundred years.
One of the first things that Porteus had noticed after his arrival on the island was the sheep. Most of the sheep of Britain at that time were of the ancient soay type: small, agile, hardy animals with short tails, well suited to life on even the most uninviting terrain in the far noth. Their fleece was not coarse, though nothing like the silky quality of the finest Roman wool, but it was coloured brown, and to Roman eyes it seemed primitive and unattractive.
“We can do much better than this,” he told Tosutigus. “There are finer fleeces all over the empire.” And he described the magnificent red wool that came from Asia and the region of Beatica, the pure black wool of the province of Iberia. “But the finest of all,” he said, “is the wool from southern Italy: for that is pure white, and so soft it seems to melt in your hand.”
“Do you want to get rid of our flocks?” Tosutigus asked in dismay.
“No. We shall cross them,” Porteus explained.
Although not trained as a sheep farmer, Porteus had read the works of the great writer Varro on the subject, and had some ideas of his own. It was not long before he had made arrangements to import half a dozen of the finest sheep from Italy, and within months he received letters from the merchants to tell him that they were on their way.
The arrival of the six Italian sheep at Sarum caused a stir. They were brought to the dune one afternoon in a covered cart, and a gaggle of twenty men and women, including both Numex and Balba gathered round to watch Porteus and the chief unload them.
“Now,” Porteus promised his father-in-law, “you will see something remarkable.” And he drew back the flap of the cart and led the first sheep out. It came down the ramp unsteadily and stood before them.
When the crowd saw the sheep there was a roar of laughter, and Tosutigus went red from embarrassment. For the sheep was wearing a jacket which completely covered its body.
“It’s bald!” they cried. “The Roman sheep is bald. It has to wear a coat!” And men and women alike hooted at the animal which stood silently blinking at them. By now Tosutigus was crimson; but Porteus was unperturbed.
“They all wear these jackets – they’re called pellitae,” he explained patiently. “It protects their wool.” Calmly he undid the leather straps that held the jacket, and removed it. And now the laughter ceased.
For the sheep that was revealed was anything but bald: it had a fleece longer and more magnificent than they had ever seen before – it was so long that it trailed to the ground. It gleamed softly. And it was as white as snow.
The laughs turned to a murmur of surprise.
Some of the women moved forward to touch it, and when they did so they gasped at the delicate texture. One by one, Porteus now led the sheep out, taking off the pellitae and revealing the shining white fleece underneath, while the crowd, their respect now restored, watched in wonder.
But Tosutigus was puzzled.
“They’re all ewes,” he complained. “How will you breed without a ram?”
“We don’t need a ram,” the Roman answered. “The only rams we need are already here.”
He was right.
In the coming years Porteus demonstrated the Roman skill in sheep-breeding by his skilful crossing with the soay stock. First he let the native rams breed with the Roman ewes. The results of this cross were mixed in colour, but their wool was coarse, and seeing these indifferent results, Tosutigus shook his head.
“I told you we needed rams,” he said.
But Porteus was patient.
“It’s the second cross that does the trick,” he explained.
And so it proved. For when he selected the white rams from his first crossing, and crossed them again with the Roman ewes, the results