Lord, 'tis thy plenty-dropping hand That soils my land, And giv'st me, for my bushel sown, Twice ten for one; Thou mak'st my teeming hen to lay Her egg each day; Besides my healthful ewes to bear Me twins each year; The while the conduits of my kine Run cream, for wine: All these, and better, thou dost send Meto this end, That I should render, for my part, A thankful heart.

In all pastorals, repeated allusions are made to the "fleecy flocks," the "milk-white lambs," and "the tender ewes;" indeed, the sheep occupy a position in these poems inferior only to that of the shepherds who tend them.

In the third year, a shear hog or four-toothed wether, a four-toothed ewe or thaive.

Some men in fixing a price per head stipulate that two late lambs or two toothless ewes shall be counted as one.