Shepherds counting sheep - rescuingthepast.co.uk

Shepherds have many reasons for keeping tally of their flock and for hundreds of years relied upon an aged Celtic custom of counting. An old-fashioned shepherd that worked the Dorset downs until his death in the mid 1970s ( over seventy years of age and always known only as Shep) who couldn't read or write, would count his sheep as they were driven through a gap or gateway by his trusted bobtail and tally the count by placing turnips or flints on the ground in front of him and kicking each one away as the tally dictated. Each turnip or flint would be a tally of ten but the last flint or turnip would equal five and he would always have extra ones placed slightly away from the last. For instance, knowing he was counting say 318 sheep, he would have 31 flints totaling 310, one flint totaling 5 and 3 flints placed away from the rest. He would always kick the last flint away with satisfaction, knowing all his charges were accounted for, but if you asked him why a flint was still lying on the ground, he would say ''Thats for my old dog, I never kicks him''. Shep would count to ten using the Celtic numerals listed below, but always under his breath as he thought it rather embarassing if others were with him.   Shepherds all over the British Isles would have had their own way of remembering the tally once the inclements of five, ten, fifteen or twenty sheep had been counted, and unlike the Dorset shepherd above, would add a pebble in his pocket or keep tally with the notches on his crook to confirm the final tally. We know a fencing contractor that still uses the Celtic counting words and he always paces out the ground counting to twenty then places a tally pebble (equaling twenty) from his left pocket to his right, the tally of all the right pocket pebbles equals the fence line.

   For various reasons Shepherds would need to count their sheep rather
often, especially when moving them to new grazing grounds which were
mostly open or unenclosed before the Eighteenth Century. Open lands gave
ewes and lambs an easy chance of roaming away from the main flock or
brought down by predators, so a constant check on the flock had to be
maintained. Also, sheep being driven to distant markets along the lonely
open downs, tracks and lanes had to be constantly counted to guard against
the straying flock.

   As you can see in the counting method below, once ten is reached, the counting proceeds by adding units to fifteen and again to twenty. This Celtic origin system of counting lasted to at least the turn of the 1900s and was used in the South but more-so in the North of England and Wales and places where Celtic customs survived. We have various references to this form of counting, being used by Women making clothing (counting stitching), Gardeners and others in need to keep tally of their labours. A count to twenty, a score, was easy to tally up to one hundred and so on and I suppose ten fingers and thumbs, easy to tally with, was the start of this simple custom.

Sheep counting - Yorkshire Dales (From our own source)						Modern Welsh
	Wensleydale (Redmire)	Nidderdale (Pateley Bridge)	Ribblesdale (Rathmell)	Upper Wharfedale	Wharfedale (Barden Fell)	Welsh
1	Yan	Yain	Aen	Jan	Yain	Un
2	Tahn	Tain	Taen	Tyan	Tain	Dau
3	Tether	Eddero	Tethera	Teddera	Eddero	Tri
4	Mether	peddero	Fethera	Peddera	Peddero	Pedwar
5	Minph	Pitts	Phubs	Pimp	Pitts	Pimp
6	Hither	Tayter	Aayther	Sethera	Tayter	Chweth
7	Lither	Later	Layather	Lethera	Later	Saith
8	Anver	Overra	Quoather	Overa	Overro	Wyth
9	Danver	Coverra	Quaather	Dovera	Covvero	Naw
10	Dic	Dix	Dugs	Dic	Dix	Deg
11	Yandie	Yain-dix	Aena-dugs	Jan a dic	Yain-dix	Un-ar-deg
12	Tahndic	Tain-dix	Taena-dugs	Tyan a dic	Tain-dix	Daw-ddeg
13	Theterdic	Ederro-dix	Tethera-dugs	Teddera dic	Eddero-dix	Tri-ddeg
14	Metherdic	Peddero-dix	Fethera-dugs	Peddera dic	Peddero-dix	Pedwar-ar-deg
15	Minphit	Bumfitt	Buon	Mimph	Bumfitt	Bymtheg
16	Yan-a-minphit	Yain-o-bumfitt	Aena-buon	Jan a mimph	Yain-o-bumfitt	Un-ar-bymtheg
17	Tahn-a-minphit	Tain-o-bumfitt	Taena-buon	Tyan a mimph	Tain-o-bumfitt	Dua-ar-bymtheg
18	Tether-a-minphit	Ederro bumfitt	Tethera-buon	Teddera mimph	Eddero-o-bumfitt	Tri-ar-bymtheg
19	Mether-a-minphit	Peddero bumfitt	Fethera-buon	Peddera mimph	Peddero-o-bumfitt	Pedwar-ar-bymtheg
20	Jiggit	Jiggit	Guu-a-guu	Tigit	Jiggit	Ugain

Shepherd hut at Acton Scott working farm

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Preserving rural bygones

Shepherding - Counting sheep - sheep-scoring

Ancient, ruined sheep enclosure, Sheep shelter in the Brecons, Wales

	Sheep counting - Lake District (From our own sources)
	Seathwaite Dunnerdale Cumbria	Borrowdale Cumbria	Coniston Cumbria	Kirkby Lonsdale Cumbria
1	Aina	Yan	Yen	Yaan
2	Peina	Tyan	Taen	Tyaan
3	Para	Tethera	Tedderte	Taedere
4	Peddera	Methera	Meddert	Meadere
5	Pimp	Pimp	Pimp	Mimp
6	Ithy	Sethera	Haata	Haites
7	Mithy	Lethera	Slaata	Saites
8	Owera	Overa	Lowra	Hoaves
9	Lowera	Dovera	Dowra	Doaves
10	Dig	Dick	Dick	Dik
11	Ain-a-dig	Yan-a-dick	Yan-a-dick	Yaanedik
12	Pein-a-dig	Tyan-a-dick	Taen-a-dick	Tyaanedik
13	Par-a-dig	Tetheradick	Tedder-a-dick	Teaderedik (Tae...)
14	Pedder-a-dig	Metheradick	Medder-a-dick	Meaderedik
15	Bumfit	Bumfitt	Mimph	Boon or Buom
16	Aina-a-bumfit	Yan-a-bumfitt	Yan-a-mimph	Yaaneboon
17	Pein-a- bumfit	Tyan bumfitt	Taen-a-mimph	Tyaaneboon
18	Par-a-bumfit	Tethera bumfitt	Tedder-a-mimph	Teadereboon (Tae..)
19	Pedder-a-bumfit	Methera bumfitt	Medder-a-mimph	Meadereboon
20	Giggy	Giggot	Gigget	Buomfit buumfit

Old shepherds hut used as a free-range chicken house

Disused shepherds hut with an arch top roof

Shepherd bringing home the orphan - Old post card

A nice picture showing the shepherd in his smock and his Shetland collie