Once, the UK's farmers employed thousands of shepherds, but a slump in sheep farming has cut a swathe through their ranks; nowadays shepherds are virtually a thing of the past, and most flocks are herded by farmers on quad bikes. The Last Shepherds follows hill shepherds Dave Baxter and Stewart and Gwen Wallace through the cycle of hill farming in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland lambing in spring, haymaking, shearing in the summer, then autumn lamb sales and winter feeding. This engrossing book is an extraordinary record of a vanishing way of life on Britain's traditional hill farms."

First published in 1892, this fascinating collection of articles relating to the art of shepherding in Britain is a wonderful glimpse into farming in Victorian Britain. Packed full of snapshots of a rural lifestyle in steep decline, with wonderfully titled chapters including, Contentedness of Southdown Shepherds, A Sussex Shepherdess, Lazy Shepherds and an Exception, Sheep Farming in Cumberland, A Curious Usage in the Lake District, The Bone Eater, The Powers of the Collie, the Sheep Dogs of Ireland and many more including plenty of countryside folklore and a brand new introduction of sheep farming.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

In two places in the First Gospel (Matt 10:5b-6; 15:24) the Messianic mission of Jesus and his disciples is limited to a group called ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’. In light of Matthew’s intense interest in Jesus’ Davidic Messiahship and the Jewish Shepard-King traditions surrounding King David it is argued that the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel' refers to remnants of the former northern kingdom of Israel who continued to reside in the northern region of the ideal Land of Israel.

The old-time shepherd – lamb in one hand, crook in the other – is an emblem of sturdiness, dependability and independence. He was one of the most important men on the farm, responsible for the care and well-being of the flock, with which he might need to spend days and nights out in open pastures. How did he manage his charges and his own life? What skills and equipment did he use? How did sheep farming change in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and what effect did those changes have on the shepherd's work? These are some of the questions considered by this fully illustrated exploration of shepherding life.