The Manx Loaghtan is a small primitive sheep, one of the rare breeds of sheep
on the watch list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The breed originates from
the prehistoric short-tailed breeds of sheep found in isolated parts of North
West Europe where they survived because they were not replaced by more developed
breeds. Other breeds in this same group are Soay, Hebridean, Shetland, Boreray
and North Ronaldsay.
Loaghtans and their relatives grazed the hills of the Isle of Man until the 18th
century but by the 1950s numbers had declined to a handful. As a result of the
work of enthusiasts on the Isle of Man and in England, numbers have steadily
increased over the last 50 years. Continued success will ensure the Loaghtan has
a future providing excellent quality meat and wool as a pure bred.
Originally, most of the sheep were white, however there were also many grey,
some black and relatively few the “loaghtan” colour we see today. Loaghtan is
the Manx word for the brown “moorit” colour of the fleece which is derived from
two Manx words “lugh” meaning mouse and “dhoan” meaning brown, or from “lhosht
dhoan” meaning burnt brown. Clothing made from this loaghtan coloured wool was
highly prized and, as the numbers of the sheep declined, breeders selected sheep
of the loaghtan colour. As the loaghtan colour is recessive to all other
colours, it breeds true and so it was relatively simple to fix that colour as a
characteristic of the breed. This is why the rich brown loaghtan colour is the
only colour, with variations in shade depth, which survives today.
A comprehensive history of the Manx Loaghtan can be found in Peter Wade-Martins’
book “Manx Loghtan Story” (1990). Copies are available from the Secretary of the
Manx Loaghtan Sheep Breeders’ Group.