Pribek

Ear marks. Everywhere I turn, that’s all anybody is talking about…ear marks…Ear Marks…EAR MARKS!

I Googled this phrase “strongly in favor of ear marks” and guess what? Apparently, no one in the entire history of the world has come out decidedly in favor of ear marks. Is it possible that we, the collective entirety, have reached a consensus on something?

Seems unlikely. If you asked five people, “do you like tacos?”, one of them is going to go against the grain. People don’t all agree on anything. Do they?

Just what is it about these ear marks that makes them so unpopular?

I did a little research and thanks to Barry McKay, I’m starting to understand.

The smit marks were originally applied to the fleece with rudballs made from red haematite ore, or from graphite from the Seathwaite wad mines in Borrowdale, or occasionally from tar. Until well into the twentieth century, many farms used to make their own ruddle but these days chemical dyes are used.

No wonder…when people hear about things like smit, rudballs, haematite, wad mines and ruddle, it’s bound to make them a little uneasy. Not to mention chemical dyes.

William Hodgson, Shepherds’ Guide, or a delineation of the wool and ear marks of the different stocks of sheep in Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmorland. Ulverston: printed by S. Soulby, 1849.