SHEEP:
Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap. It is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock. Sheep (Ovis aries) are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like most ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia. Sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber. [Wikipedia]
BUGSY'S STORY:
BluEyz and I were hiking on Wilson Mountain one fine Fall day when we chanced upon a ruined homestead. All that was left was the cellar hole and a fireplace with the old family crest still faintly visible. Featured prominently on it were two sheep: One was right side up and the other was inverted. I thought about sheep that day and wondered if there was once a sheep farm on Wilson Mountain...
There was in the Commonwealth at the turn of a recent century, a thriving sheep farm on Wilson Mountain not far from present day Needham or Dedham. In those days the forest had been cleared and the land devoted to beans or in some cases, either wheat or rye. The mountain did not support these crops well but there was enough profit to continue. Eventually, there came a series of lean years and the entire mountain was sold to a family of newly emigrated Anglo-Saxon sheep farmers. Rogan and Everlea of the Anglo-Saxon clan, Sheply (literally "from the sheep meadow"), realized Wilson Mountain was unique. Clan Sheply had raised sheep since prehistory and today still live in today’s Great Bromley, a village and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. The Normans, of course, killed off the Anglo-Saxon nobility, seized their castles and lands but they spared clan Sheply as they needed workers. Nobility is optional but workers are always needed.
Her knowledge of clan lore, enabled Everlea to recognize that the mountain had the potential to produce normal sheep or a variation they named Spiralae, in that the legs on one side would be shorter. Spiralae was sub-classified into Recto and Verso.
Recto: short right legs – walk clockwise. These were the most highly desired.
Verso: short left legs – walk counterclockwise.
One might ask, what good are short legged sheep? The answer as always was practical. A Recto when bred with a normal sheep, produced a lamb that had exceptional meat but was normal in all other ways. Versos were similar but produced exceptional wool. Everlea’s knowledge of herbs made sure each ewe bore twins. The results of all non-Spiralae produced unexceptional lambs. The birth of Spiralae necessitated the trails be classified Recto or Verso as the sheep had to be kept on trails where the short legs were on the uphill side. The herding dogs had to be trained as to which sheep could go on which trail. Simply put, Rectos were confined to counterclockwise trails and accordingly, Versos were confined to clockwise trails. Except for the dogs skill in keeping the sheep on the correctly spiraled trail, the sheep could easily get confused and wander onto the wrong spiral trail. Then they would go tumbling down the mountain and present the farmers with fresh mutton when they came to rest. At the base of the mountain there was a large flat pasture, where in the Spring, the new lambs could be seen running in tight circles around their mothers.
Everlea was the last of clan, Sheply, and she continued to record the births on little notes she kept in a box on the kitchen shelf. Rogan, her husband, teased her about recording the births but he could not walk all the trails every day, nor keep track of the seasons of the plants, which were so essential for their unique sheep husbandry. Over the years the mountain fell into disorder, the number of lambs being born fell and just before World War I, Rogan died. Everlea hid her precious box on one of the difficult trails and recorded the location on the family crest. If someone could solve the puzzle, they could find methods for breeding Rectos and Versos.
THE PUZZLE:
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.