One Woman’s Quest to Save Rare Sheep Breed

Saving the Castlemilk Moorit one woollen scarf at a time, Rebecca McLellan from Rockliffe on the solway at Dumfries and Galloway is on a one-woman mission to use the beautiful woollen scarves, and many other items, she weaves to help save a rare breed of Scottish sheep from extinction.

Rebecca McLellan is one of the remarkable array of highly skilled craft makers taking part in the Spring Fling open studios weekend which takes place across Dumfries and Galloway from 24-26 May.

Rebecca, who has a small flock of 18 of the curvy horned, nimble brown sheep, wanted to raise awareness of the endangered breed and hit on the idea of learning to weave.

She said: “They are a lovely breed, everyone who meets a Castlemilk Moorit is charmed, but they are rare and we really need more people to keep them to save them for the future.

“I realised that learning to weave would mean that I could do demonstrations where I could meet members of the public and talk to them about the sheep.

“At the same time I could show that they are a useful breed, that their wool can be used to make beautiful textiles.”

Rebecca will be welcoming visitors to her farm overlooking Rockliffe Bay on the Dumfries and Galloway coast during the open studios weekend.

They will be able to see her working at the loom, visit the wool store, browse products including scarves, throws, knitting yarns and – of course – see the sheep, including Eddie the Orphan who she raised by hand.

Natasha Kinsella, Events and Exhibitions Development Manager for Upland CIC which runs Spring Fling, said: “People like Rebecca, are doing incredible work in protecting our heritage and making beautiful textiles.

“One of the great things about Spring Fling is that it’s a chance for visitors to meet lots of people like her, with a deep love of their work.

Spring Fling will see more than 80 studios belonging to visual artists and craft makers of every kind open their doors to the public across the region.