romney

   Colored Romney

American Romney Breeders Association

HISTORY

The millions of Romneys today all descend from sheep peculiar by the late 1700s to a small corner of southeastern England, 27 miles from France. The whole region of "
The Marsh" (approximately 100 square miles) is the size of Martha's Vineyard. "Romney" comes from the Saxon for "marsh water." Like the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, the area is below high-tide sea level, but above low-tide. Diked piece-by-piece between 1150 and 1400, this outwash plain grows some of the world's most prized pasture. 

The Marsh is important in English history. It holds four of the seven "Cinque Ports" confederated in the 12th C. for the defense of England --Romney, Hythe, Winchelsea and Rye. Portsmen spearheaded five sea battles against France or Spain between 1213 and 1350. 

During the 13th C, the River Rother changed its course, with the final twist coming during the great storm of 1287. After this, the towns of Old and New Romney were no longer ports. Before 1700 all the rivermouth harbors of The Marsh had silted up. Rye, the last one commercially alive, supplied warships to fight the Armada in 1588, while landlocked Romney had to send a promise of cash. Around "the ports of stranded pride" sheep now grazed where ships had docked, where kings' warships had been built. Ever adapting, the Marshmen of the 17th and 18th Centuries traded English wool with France, not always paying the Crown duty. This industry held the area in thrall much as the Mafia held Sicily. 

The lngoldsby Legends, a series of regional tall tales written around 1840 by the Vicar of Snargate, The Rev Richard Barham, tells us "The World, according to the best geographers, is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Romney Marsh. In this last-named, and fifth, quarter of the globe, a witch may still be occasionally discovered in favorable, i.e. stormy, seasons weathering Dungeness Point in an egg-shell, or careering on her broomstick over Dymchurch Wall."

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT FOR NORTH AMERICAN ROMNEYS THROUGH THE NATIONAL SHEEP IMPROVEMENT PLAN  (NSIP)

by Stephen Shafer, Saugerties, NY

Want to improve your flock without changing feed, schedules or labor? Do it through systematic genetic improvements guided by a Performance Recording System (PRS). Improvements in traits such as weight-for-age, maternal milking ability, fertility, yearling sheared fleece weight or average fiber diameter come far faster with a PRS than even the most astute breeder will get without one. ARBA members can now join an established PRS, the National Sheep Improvement Plan (NSIP).

Seeing a project that can benefit every member, the ARBA Board resolved in August 2003 that all ARBA members should consider joining a PRS. The Board preferred NSIP to two other good PRSs, both based in New Zealand. As the designated Romney coordinator for NSIP I go further, to urge that all but our very smallest flocks join. (The smallest flocks are welcome, but would not themselves suffice.) Bringing Romneys into NSIP will help people who never show and circuit regulars alike. It will be a new incentive to “go Romney.”   More....