American RBST Foundation Flock USA0001
British Registered Soay sheep

  WOOL AND FIBER:
Soay, a Heritage Breed, a Novelty wool

A specialty market exists for Soay wool. While the fleece has a short staple length of two or three inches it can be handspun or commercially processed to make rich, dark brown or warm tan yarn. Reflective of surviving an intensely harsh and challenging environment, Soay fiber presents unaltered characteristics of strength, density, and resilience.  This combination becomes complete as an overall softness emanates to the touch. It is highly sought by spinners, felters, knitters and artisan handweavers who desire a fiber with quality of 44's to 50's. The fine inner coat allows for next-to-skin pieces, so soft that it was used by the St. Kildans for their knitted undergarments. It is a most versatile and unique fiber and is so uncommon in the United States that the demand is greater than the sheep owner can ever supply.

Soay fleeces range in color from dark chocolate to pale blond.  Shed after lambing each spring, a primitive characteristic, the wool can be gently rooed (hand plucked) from the sheep.  In the early summer bits of fiber are found on the ground around the pasture and clinging to fences and bushes.  The term "wool gathering" comes from prehistoric times when these hunks of shed wool were gathered from the fields and later spun on hand spindles.The raw fleece as it comes off the sheep may be used by felters or processed into yarn for use by various fiber artists - a handknit sweater or afghan, a handwoven tapestry, table runner, bookmark or a wrap.


                           
                                              An Oregon wool grower collecting her wool

                                      From the farm in Oregon ...

        
              Shedding of the raw fleece begins around the neck and works it way down the back                                                                                        

                                 
                                                                                          "Is mine in there?"
                                rooed Soay wool ready for shipment to Still River Mill
                    in Eastford, Connecticut where it will be processed into yarn
                                                                 July 2006

...to a "wee woolen wrap" in  Massachusetts

    
           fleece is spun into yarn, in this case by Still River Mill in Eastford, CT and the yarn is woven into a  Soay wrap                                               photos by Margaret B. Russell, Antrim Handweaving

Southern Oregon Soay Farms is now actively working with Margaret B. Russell of Antrim Handweaving in Byfield, Massachusetts. A mutual concern for what is easily lost and often irreplaceable, whether it be a  breed of sheep or the art of handweaving, has led to an ongoing collaborative effort to preserve both.  What has grown out of a simple request for Soay fleece from an east coast handweaver to a west coast farmer has evolved into a full fledged commitment to raise awareness, through its woven wool, of a most legendary breed of sheep, the Soay. The process begins when the animals are rooed (hand plucked) in Oregon in the spring.  In the summer the bits of fleece are stuffed into a carton and shipped to Still River Mill, a small, family-owned operation in Connecticut.There they are processed and sent on sent on to Margaret in Massachusetts in the form of cones of spun yarn. She in turn weaves a variety of different pieces; scarves, wraps, book-marks and table runners throughout the fall. Through their combined efforts, Soay handwoven pieces are now available in a limited quantity.  

 
                     
                                    Soay wall hanging (commemorative piece) and a Soay table runner           

For more information about Margaret's weaving and the availability of
handwoven Soay pieces (and those of other primitive British breeds of sheep)

visit Antrim Handweaving at
  http://www.antrimhandweaving.com/

   

MEAT

Soay, an Environmentally Friendly Heritage Meat

The Soay is an animal with a variety of economic uses. In North America it is not widely known, but in Great Britain it is a heritage breed valued for its lean meat which is tender, has an excellent mild flavor and is low in cholesterol. It has been prized by chefs in specialty restaurants in London and available in certified heritage breed meat shops through the UK for a number of years.  Farmers in the US are beginning to discover that beyond their own home use, there are also ethnic markets where Soay is in demand for special feast days and holiday celebrations. For those who do not wish to do their own butchering many towns have custom butchers who will come directly to the farm. They will handle the entire procedure and provide you with cut and wrapped meat for your freezer. Barbecued, roasted, smoked or pan fried it makes a wonderful meal.

Because of its diverse genetics and life in a harsh environment, the Soay has evolved into an adaptable, relatively hardy animal that is more resistant to many of the ailments that commonly afflict improved breeds. It is a browser and as such prefers a varied diet which enables it to thrive on land often considered too marginal for use by more domesticated sheep. Because of this we believe it to be ideal for organic farmers and homesteaders. By eighteen months of age it can reach a hanging weight of  twenty-five to forty pounds and the resulting small carcass is easy to handle.

In the UK during the 1990's butchers who began to offer meat from heritage breeds were accredited by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. According to Richard Lutwyche, former editor of the  RBST "ARK",  this accreditation amounted to a seal of approval and has been proving to be " extremely successful in helping rescue certain [breeds of] sheep, cattle and pigs.';...meat from certain 'very primitive' sheep-- such as the Hebridean, Soay and Manx Loughtan-- contains very little cholesterol and an unusually high ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats. This has permitted farmers who raise such breeds to develop health-conscious specialty markets for the meat."¹

^{1 Raloff, Janet.(October 4, 1997) Dying Breeds, Livestock are developing a largely unrecognized biodiversity crisis. Science News 152:14}

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