Appendix CASE ONE - Collection Point® | The Total Digital Asset ...

The Influence of Butch Cassidy on English Company Law 183
Romney Marsh, a regulatory regime for reclaiming and maintaining marshes
and fens, which was the fans et origo of much modern drainage law in England.
The Romney Marsh (and its neighbouring marshes) were and are flat, low
lying, exposed to the ravages of the elements and decidedly bleak in winter but
as hot as you get in England in the summer. The pasture was mainly perennial
rye grass and wild white clover: a not particularly dainty repast. The sheep
are, therefore, of a particularly hardy variety even if, as sheep go, they are not
unattractive. The British Wool Marketing Board prosaically describes them
as 'hornless sheep with white, broad face, black nose, poll well covered with
wool. Compact body with broad neck and shoulders and short, strong-boned
legs'. William Cobbett was somewhat more poetic, referring to Romneys as
'white as a piece of paper' and 'very pretty and large . . . With these sheep the
Marsh abounds in every part of it and the sight is very beautiful'. In 1796 the
Agricultural Society declared the Romney to be 'perhaps the most valuable
sheep in the world'.
We have found the following characteristics claimed for this breed:
1. The breed produces a very dense and fine wool, probably the best wool of the
longwool breeds.
2. It provides good lamb and mutton.
3. It matures very early and therefore needs less care and protection when young.
4. It is particularly tough and hardy: it can withstand extreme environments, both
the cold and wet and the hot and dry; it has particularity hard hooves which resist
foot rot and enable it to survive in marshy conditions; it has a high resistance to
worms.
5. It is a particularly good grazer. This results from its unusual but characteristic
pattern of grazing. Instead of flocking closely together to graze, Romneys spread
out and distribute themselves evenly over whatever pasture is available to them.
They remain so spread out even at night. But they are not given to straying and
require minimal fencing. This means that they are tolerant of tight grazing systems
or will get the best out of poor pastures. (We would add, although the standard
sheep reference works do not make the point, that this habit of spreading evenly
would not only make Romneys good for foldage, but would also have made
them appeal to those who supported the theory that close flocks of sheep caused
soil compaction, reducing its agricultural value)
6. It is said to be resistant to salt and therefore able to live in a salty seaside
atmosphere and to eat salt-laden pasture.
The first five of these characteristics can be established by scientific means; the
last characteristic is often claimed but there appears to be nothing to establish
it beyond a peradventure. However, the original wild sheep, from which
modern domesticated animals derive, were animals of the desert margins
and well adapted to a salty diet; and, further, they did not flock together,
flocking being a habit which people have bred for. Soay sheep, the most
primitive breed in this country, are well able to live off seaweed - and also
do not flock. Romneys are a very old breed and do not flock closely. It
seems reasonable to suppose that that if a relatively primitive sheep retains