In the Tempest Shakespeare refers to the fairies: 

                                         “...  That
     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
     Whereof the ewe not bites.”

John carried a magic bottle of caustic liniment for application to the feet of sheep affected with the complaint called “foot-rot.”  The cause of this troublesome disease is excessive development of the walls of the hoof, owing to the animals grazing exclusively on wet pasture, the surface of which is too soft to keep them worn down; the walls gradually double over and collect wet mud, which causes inflammation.  It never occurred on my arable land, either among ewes or younger sheep, but whenever I bought sheep from the flint stones of Hampshire and grazed them on soft pasture, it soon made its appearance.  The remedy is timely and constant paring of the hoof before any tendency to lameness is observed, and when this is properly attended to no caustic application is necessary.  Lame sheep indicate an inefficient shepherd, and the disorder has been well called “Shepherd’s Neglect.”

An eminent breeder of prize Hampshire Down sheep told me that, when contemplating the exhibition of sheep, the first necessity is to get a “prize shepherd,” a man with a presence, and a reputation which he would not risk in the show-ring without something worth exhibiting.  I started a flock of pedigree Shropshires, but my land was too good and grew them too big and coarse for showing, and I soon found that it was useless to try, though I succeeded in taking a prize at the Warwickshire county show.  It so happened that when my shepherd (not John) returned in great triumph from the show, he found his first-born son, who had arrived in his absence, awaiting him.  “Well done, shupperd,” said a neighbour, “got him a son and a prize the same day!”

John was jealous of any interference in his remedial measures for ailing sheep, but my wife, who doctored the village generally, was anxious to try her hand, having little faith in his skill; so we arranged that the next time he had what he considered a hopeless case it was to be given over to her exclusively.  The opportunity soon occurred; a ewe was found caught by the fleece in some rough briars in an old hedge, where it had been some hours in great distress, and, with much struggling to free itself, it was quite exhausted.  Pneumonia supervened, and when John thought it impossible to save its life he handed the case over to my wife.  She succeeded, chiefly, I think, by careful nursing, in pulling it through, much to John’s surprise; doubtless he thought its recovery a lucky fluke.  John was given to occasional alcoholic lapses; on one occasion I found him aimlessly driving sheep across a field of growing mangolds!  I could see that he was muddled, and on reaching home later I sought an interview.  He was not to be found, but at his cottage his wife told me that John was not very