The Farmyard Set E-Book

Hannah Dale

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Hannah Dale's Animals
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 28

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

An exciting larger edition of a beautifully illustrated celebration of our favourite farmyard animals. This beautiful new edition of The Farmyard Set is bigger in size, ensuring a closer look at the world's favourite farm animals. Readers of The Country Set and Flying the Nest should dust down their wellingtons once again and come and meet The Farmyard Set. This handsome and lavishly illustrated gift book features 50 of farming's best-loved creatures, brought to life by award-winning artist Hannah Dale. Among them are old favourites, such as the Jersey cow and the Gloucester Old Spot, the Indian Runner duck and the Shetland pony, known for their charm and striking appearance. Alongside each illustration, Hannah Dale provides detailed descriptions and fascinating facts that help us learn more about the character and background of each beloved animal.

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction

1   Brood (Hens)

2   Drove (Pigs and Donkey)

3   Team (Horses and Ponies)

4   Raft(er) and Gaggle (Ducks, Turkey and Geese)

5   Herd (Cows and Alpaca)

6   Flock (Sheep)

7   Tribe (Goats)

Index

Introduction

To say that the animals featured here have shaped our very existence is no exaggeration, and this book is intended as a celebration of, and tribute to, the amazing variety of breeds that have played such an important role in our history.

My love for farm animals began as a small child – living in the Lincolnshire countryside, we were surrounded by sheep, cows and pigs of all descriptions. Our garden backed onto a field that was home to a herd of beautiful Lincoln Reds, and some of my fondest childhood memories are of bottle-feeding orphan lambs or chasing playful piglets around a barn at a local farm. An early ambition to be a farm vet (largely motivated by obsessive consumption of All Creatures Great and Small, the 1980s television adaptation of the diaries of Yorkshire vet, James Herriot) shifted as I grew older and instead I studied Zoology, which encompassed a broader spectrum of life on Earth, but my respect and love for farm animals has not diminished.

Our relationship with domesticated animals goes back a long way – over 10,000 years to be precise – and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. It is thought that sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated somewhere in the Middle East, and this transformed the human species from hunters into nomadic farmers who moved around with their flocks, following them to fresh pastures. As well as providing meat, these animals also gave our ancestors milk products, manure to fertilise crops, wool and skins for clothing, and horn and bone for tools. Without this close association with their animals, humans would never have achieved what they have today.

As well as shaping our own evolution, farm animals have also moulded some of our most iconic landscapes. The most striking examples are the hills and uplands, where grazing livestock not only form the backbone of rural economies, but by happily munching away they reduce the dominance of invasive species, which allows native plants and trees to flourish and in turn provides habitats for an abundance of life. The dry-stone walls that criss-cross the countryside were originally built to protect and contain flocks and herds of livestock and are now an important and valuable feature of the landscape.

This book includes a number of breeds now considered to be endangered – between 1900 and 1973 when the Rare Breeds Survival Trust was established, many native breeds, including the fabulous curly coated Lincolnshire pig, have become extinct and many more have been rescued from the brink by a handful of dedicated and devoted pioneers. As important as any historical building or landscape, the wonderful variety of domestic breeds offers an insight into our cultural and historical heritage. In addition, as more breeds die out the gene pool is becoming increasingly narrow, meaning that surviving animals will be more vulnerable to devastation by illness and disease.