Herdwick a "smit") of marking sheep for ownership. Before chemical dyes became available, this dye was made from either iron ore or graphite mixed with grease. For many years the legal method of identifying a particular shepherd's sheep were notches cut out of a sheep's ear, called "lug" marks—now replaced by ear tags. Herdwick The Herdwick is a breed of domestic sheep native to the Lake District of Cumbria in North West England. The name "Herdwick" is derived from the Old Norse "herdvyck", meaning sheep pasture. Though low in lambing capacity and perceived wool quality when compared to more common commercial
Viking Age arms and armour and the Gokstad shields have holes along the rim for fastening some sort of non-metallic rim protection. These were called shield lists and they protected ship crews from waves and the wind. Some Viking shields may have been decorated by simple patterns although some skaldic poems praising shields might indicate more elaborate decoration and archaeological evidence has supported this. In fact, there is a complete subgenre of Skaldic poetry dedicated to shields, known as "shield poems", that describe scenes painted on shields. For example, the late-9th-century skaldic poem, "Ragnarsdrápa", describes some shields painted with mythological scenes. Viking shields were also