Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/294

 CHAPTER II

SHEEP-BREEDING AND PASTORAL LIFE OF THE ANCIENTS—ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, &c.

Sheep-breeding in Sicily—Bucolic poetry—Sheep-breeding in South Italy—Annual migration of the flocks—The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting his flock—The ram an emblem of authority—Bells—Ancient inscription at Sepino—Use of music by ancient shepherds—Superior quality of Tarentine sheep—Testimony of Columella—Distinction of the coarse and soft kinds—Names given to sheep—Supposed effect of the water of rivers on wool—Sheep-breeding in South Italy, Tarentum, and Apulia—Brown and red wool—Sheep-breeding in North Italy—Wool of Parma, Modena, Mantua, and Padua—Origin of sheep-breeding in Italy—Faunus the same with Pan—Ancient sculptures exhibiting Faunus—Bales of wool and the shepherd's dress—Costume, appearance, and manner of life of the ancient Italian shepherds.

Still shall o'er all prevail the shepherd's stores, For numerous uses known; none yield such warmth, Such beauteous hues receive, so long endure; So pliant to the loom, so various, none.—Dyer.

We now pass over to Sicily. The pastoral life of the Sicilians was marked by peculiar characters as well as that of the Arcadians. The bucolic poems of Theocritus represent many of its circumstances in the most lively colors; and, while their dramatic spirit and vivacity are unrivalled, they seem to be most exact copies of nature, the dialogues which they contain being in the style, the language, and the precise dialect of the Sicilian shepherds, and indeed only differing from their real conversation by being composed in hexameters. It is to be observed, that the mountains and pastures of Sicily were browsed by goats and oxen as well as by sheep. These animals were, however, under distinct keepers, called respectively Shepherds, Goatherds, and Herdsmen. But the tastes, manner of life, and the superstitions of these three classes of rustics appear to have been undistinguishable. They were probably not always independent proprietors of the soil, but in many cases the servants of a landed aristocracy who lived in Syracuse and