The Castlemilk Moorit breed was created in the first quarter of the 20th Century by Sir John Buchanan-Jardine (known as Sir Jock) on his Castlemilk estate in Dumfriesshire. Sir Jock had a strong preference for brown livestock and hounds and had a number of breeding programmes to develop his own ideal stock. He was personally involved in the choice of foundation stock and breeding decisions through the years but unfortunately no breeding records were kept so for years it was educated guesswork as to how he created his beautiful and productive breed of brown sheep.
However in 2017 some breed owners decided the time had come to do more research and with the improvements in DNA testing to try and answer the question once and for all!
We know the journey started in 1927 when Sir Jock acquired some ‘brown shetlands’ and continued until 1947 when the flock was closed but the story turned out to be much more complex than the guesswork implied!
You can read all about this journey by clicking the link below including the final reveal of the DNA testing telling us how this wonderful breed as really created.
Here is a clue to the results
Click here to download history booklet CM history booklet
The Castlemilk Moorit is one of the larger of the primitive sheep breeds and is naturally short-tailed. There is no height or weight limit for the breed but mature ewes typically weigh up to 40kgs, and mature rams typically up to 55kgs.
Ewes are always horned and exhibit two uniform and wide spreading horns, the degree of curl of the horns back towards the head may vary from little to a full semi-circle.
The rams have two much heavier horns, these should be uniform and may have a single curl facing forward or a second curl flaring out away from the face. The horns must not touch the cheeks.
Both sexes are uniformly moorit (brown) in colour although the actual shade can vary from dark chocolate to mid-brown. The fleece bleaches in the sun often giving an overall colour impression of light brown when fully fleeced.
The face colour can vary from dark chocolate to mid-brown but both sexes should have definite mouflon pattern markings to include some white on the lower jaw and around the eyes, pale or white on the lower leg with brown knee patches and a pale belly and rump patch. White patches are not acceptable.
The fleece is tight and even throughout, very soft to the touch with the fibres varying evenly from darker to lighter brown along their length. Kemp in the main fleece is undesirable as is hair; although this is sometimes seen along the backline of mature males.
Both sexes should be upstanding on fine-boned legs with naturally small feet. The overall appearance should be graceful and well-balanced and they are agile and fleet footed.