The Off Topic Topic

[Sheilbh]

Just a joke about how much the British love sheep. They love them so much they once tossed the humans off their land to make room for sheep.

Then they colonized New Zealand and Australia so there would be more room in this world for sheep.

Ah

Here it's regional. The Welsh are sheep-shaggers, in Scotland it's more regional: it's the Aberdonians. I wondered if it was a similar thing in the US about the English.

Although sheep are amazing - knitwear and the best roast

[Admiral Yi]

I love me some lamb vindaloo but based on others comments I have no interest in eating mutton.

[Sheilbh]

Lamb, mutton and hogget are all very different. Lamb is the best roast I swear

[Valmy]

Although sheep are amazing - knitwear and the best roast

I rest my case

But I did have this funny experience that whenever I would read a book on the history of Britain by a Brit there would inevitably be the part where the author would tell me how much they like sheep and how great sheep are. Now i know that sheep do play a big role in British history so it is inevitable the subject would come up but it does get a little weird. When I started listening to David Crowther's History of England (now sadly put on hiatus as he struggles with some kind of health issue) I made a joke to my dad that at some point he would tell us how much he loves sheep and...yeah sure enough

[Admiral Yi]

Hogget?  Is that a real word or are you showing your Gaelic side?

[Valmy]

Also I should bring up that fact that the British once fought a war to protect islands with this flag:



I mean who else would put a sheep on a flag? Got to keep those sheep safe from Argentinian aggression.

[Sheilbh]

Hogget?  Is that a real word or are you showing your Gaelic side?

It's Old English: hog (boar) + et (diminuitive)!

It means a sheep between lamb and mutton, I think about 1 or 2 years old.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Sheep definitely make the best roast; all that melted and crisped fat 

I was amazed to find that the USA has barely any sheep; another of those they are the same as us but totally different things.

[Eddie Teach]

Cause we have cotton and warmer weather. Makes sheep less economical.

[Josquius]

How do other countries fare? Is there a correlation between sheep and gun deaths?

[Sheilbh]

Cause we have cotton and warmer weather. Makes sheep less economical.

Right. You've cotton and warm weather so you don't need to accessorise with a nice jumper, or a scarf

[Richard Hakluyt]

Cause we have cotton and warmer weather. Makes sheep less economical.

Right. You've cotton and warm weather so you don't need to accessorise with a nice jumper, or a scarf

I'm not too sure about the warmer weather either 

[Valmy]

Well it is warmer where Eddie lives anyway.

[Barrister]

I don't think the "warm weather" explanation does it either.

It's pretty cold here in Edmonton (-27c this morning).  But this is still very much cattle country, with hardly any sheep, and mutton is not on the menu anywhere.

[Eddie Teach]

Cotton was the important part. We don't use much wool, so the sheep farmer would have less profit at local markets. Thus, more chose to set up with cattle or pigs.