The last known native Hebridean sheep survived on Uist, and in the 1880s some were taken from there to Storrs Hall at Windermere in Cumbria, northern England. These sheep were distributed as ornamental animals to various estates in England and Scotland, generally being called "St Kilda" sheep. Eventually only black sheep remained in these flocks. The black gene carried by Hebrideans is absent from endemic European sheep, but does occur in some Middle Eastern types. It is thought that it was acquired at some time by the Hebridean (and also by the Black Welsh Mountain) through interbreeding with the Jacob, which is thought to be derived from Middle Eastern or Mediterranean sheep and which has also been widely kept as an ornamental animal.