Blackface; Cheviot; Shetland; North Ronaldsay Sheep breeds

All native sheep breeds are hardy and can be kept on exposed hill and marginal land throughout summer and winter, eating a natural diet which they convert into high quality lamb. There are rare breeds, like the sheep on North Ronaldsay, which live entirely on the shoreline, eating mostly seaweed which they convert into a distinctive flavoured lamb. None of the native breeds are large but what they lack in size, they make up for in flavour. Until the mid-twentieth century, most sheep was eaten as mutton rather than lamb. Then a meat industry policy concentrated on producing under-a-year-old lamb instead of mutton which disappeared from the menu. Used for pies, it was also exported to countries where it was appreciated for its flavour and suitability for long-cooked stews. A few butchers have revived mutton, or young mutton as it is sometimes called, since it is usually not more than two years old. Salting was the original method of preservation and continues in some areas (see Reestit Mutton).