Saints Above - a success story at last

.. No kidding, meet baby Charlotte

ROLO: Leader of the pack, or rather herd

THIS winter I took possession of a small herd of wild British Primitive Goats from a lovely farmer in Cumbria who, because of health reasons, had been forced to sell up.
 The goats' main purpose is really conservation management because they're not prolific milk producers and since they're wirey, boney animals you would be hard pressed to breed them for meat. I thought they'd be ideal to bring some of the wilder pastures under control the natural way while fertilising the ground as they went!
 However I'm wondering if they could become a bit of a tourist attraction because the history of this herd is staggering - their lineage can apparently be traced right back to St Cuthbert, one of the most significant saints in Christianity with a cult following.

DAISY: One of the smaller goats in my

herd of British Primitives

St Cuthbert: 634-687

He died in 687 but his followers decided almost 200 years later to set out on a journey to find a fitting, lasting burial place for him after the threat of a Viking invasion, and since everything took months if not years in medieval times, such pilgrimages involved a great deal of forward planning.
 So when they left their island base at Lindisfarne Priory they took with them plenty of livestock to eat on the way. They wandered for a full seven years, lugging the saint's bones about with them, until in 883 they were given a church at Chester-le-Street, near Durham.
 In the late 10th century a fresh Danish invasion threatened, so Cuthbert's bones were moved again, this time to Ripon, over 300 years after he had first come to the great Abbey as a master. After only a few months at Ripon, Cuthbert was once more carted off.  In 1104 they were finally moved to the new Durham cathedral, where a magnificent shrine had been prepared. During this final move the body was found to be perfectly preserved as was the head of St. Oswald (apparently placed with Cuthbert's body for safety).
 Sorry I digress ... you must be wondering what this has to do with my goats. Well it appears that the herd accompanying St Cuthbert's entourage were so badly behaved they either escaped or were cut loose to wander wild and freely around Northumbria and the Borders.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Mum, Ivy and little Charlotte enjoying a

rare bit of sunshine in the Borders

 There are still wild goats that roam around the Cheviots to this day and my little herd is an off shoot. So that's their claim to fame.
 All I can say is that this wandering gene must still be implanted because my goats get all over the place - including the top of a neighbour's roof! They are great climbers but I have managed to bring them under control courtesy of an electric fence. After a wee zap on their noses, they no longer seem curious about the grass on the other side of the fence, thank goodness.

A FEW HOURS OLD: The new kid on

the block makes her first appearance

 One of my goats - Lily - ate a couple of rhododendrum leaves when she escaped ... and that could've proved fatal. Myself and a friend who is training to become a vet, spent a good deal of time over two days pumping her full of Earl Grey tea to cleanse out the toxins. It worked.
 When I took possession of the herd I was told all the nannies were carrying courtesy of the magnificent looking billy or male goat, called Rolo. So far only one - Ivy - has produced a kid and she was without name until the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge named their second born Charlotte.  So please meet Charlotte - the next generation of pure bred British Primitive Goat. And what a lively little cracker she is proving to be.
 There was a heart-stopping moment when she didn't appear to want to take milk from her mum but he-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is intervened. A sharp pull on the udder and a squirt of warm milk in Charlotte's face did the trick - I was well impressed.
 Despite her near brush with death, Lily looks as though she's fit to burst and so I'm hoping she will produce a kid soon but Daisy and Rose look too skinny to be pregnant. We'll see ... watch this space.