Scottish Blackface
Scottish Blackface, often simply Blackface, is a horned hill sheep with a white fleece and black or black-marked face and legs. Despite the name, its deeper history reaches the Anglo-Scottish border before it became strongly associated with Scottish uplands and islands. It is one of the most important hill breeds in the United Kingdom, used mainly for meat and commercial crossing.
The breed's practical strength is the ewe: hardy, mobile, protective, and able to rear lambs on rough ground where lowland breeds would struggle. Blackface ewes are commonly crossed with Bluefaced Leicester or Border Leicester rams to produce mule-type females for lower country. The wool is coarse and better suited to carpets, tweed, or durable textiles than soft apparel. Good shepherding still matters on hills: lambing weather, mineral balance, feet, and gathering ability all affect results. A true Scottish Blackface should be judged by hill performance as much as by markings.
Colors: Badgerface, Black, Blackbelly, Black/Brown Face and Legs, Brown, Gray, Gulmoget, Katmoget, Moorit, Piebald, Red, Silver, Spotted, Tan, White, White with Black Points, White with Brown Points, White Wool
