Masham south-east, lies St. Mary's Church with its large yard. Although Masham is a relatively small town it has two working breweries, Black Sheep Brewery and Theakstons, situated only a few hundred yards from one another. The Black Sheep Brewery sponsors annual folk festivals. Previous performers have included Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers. The town was also for a long time home to Lightfoot Brewery. this was bought by the Theakston family and closed in the 1920s. The Lightfoot brewery buildings are now used by Black Sheep. The Masham Steam Engine & Fair Organ Rally is held annually, organised by the
Black Sheep Astray status quo. In a flashback of his last conversation with Isobel, we learn that Crawford does not believe he will survive the revolution this time around. As with "Black Man's Burden", "Border, Breed nor Birth", and "The Best Ye Breed", the title "Black Sheep Astray" plays on a Rudyard Kipling poem; in this case, as the story's epigraph ("We're little black sheep/Who've gone astray,/ Baa-aa-aa!") indicates, on the refrain of "Gentlemen Rankers." A gentleman ranker is person of privilege who, despite his education, serves as an enlisted man, usually because he has disgraced himself or transgressed his society's mores, and