Teeswater

The Teeswater is a large longwool from the dales of northern England, named for the River Tees. At home it is a crossing sire, put over smaller hill ewes to produce market lambs.

They came to the US in the 1800s, lost ground to other longwools like the Wensleydale, and had nearly died out here by the 1920s. The modern American population is a rebuild. Semen came in from the UK in 1997, the first half-blood lambs were born in 1998, and purebreds were developed from there using imported semen, embryos and a few rams. A registry opened in 1998 and the American Teeswater Sheep Association followed in 2007, with reciprocity to the UK society.

That history matters when you buy. Ask where an animal sits in the grading-up program, because the breed here was reconstructed rather than continuously bred.

Ewes run 150 to 250 pounds and rams 250 to 300. They are polled, with an off-white or grey head, dark markings at the nose and ears, and a topknot hanging over the eyes. Mature ewes average 250 percent lambing.

The fleece is long, curly, lustrous and kemp-free, which handspinners want. It does not felt well.