Awww . . .
One of the markers of spring in Williamsburg is the appearance of the first baby lambs in the restored area. When they appear (around the middle of March), their arrival is heralded with great excitement. Locals and visitors alike pay a call on the babies. But these are not just any old lambs; they are the most recent products of a Colonial Williamsburg program that has been around for more than 30 years – the Rare Breeds Program.
Many visitors to Colonial Williamsburg see it as a kind of a theme park – costumed characters, people talking funny, other people riding around on horses or carriages. You can buy sno-cones and tee shirts. But Colonial Williamsburg is much more than that – it is a serious historical research institution. Its archaeology department is constantly involved in digging up and analyzing artifacts from the area, its costuming department is constantly learning more about what people wore and how their clothing was made, its landscapers are constantly updating their understanding of 18th-century gardens and translating their understanding to the gardens all over the town. The Rockefeller Library on the Bruton campus (just a couple of blocks away from the restored area) serves the people who work for Colonial Williamsburg as they try to learn more about the characters and the era they are helping explain to visitors.
In 1986, Colonial Williamsburg founded its Rare Breeds program, to promote the genetic diversity in livestock that thrived in 18th-century colonial British America. Under the broad umbrella of the Coach and Livestock department, the Rare Breeds program raises horses, oxen, sheep, and fowl in the ways they would have been raised in colonial Virginia. This team works to preserve rare breeds that were common in the 18th century but now are threatened or endangered. The Foundation’s menagerie contributes to the preservation of endangered breeds – including the Leicester Longwool sheep, Cleveland Bay horses, and American Milking Red Devons. I have copied the names of these breeds from the CW website — I don’t know much about animals, but maybe you do and these names will mean something to you.
All of these animals are used in the way they would have been used in the 18th century. The sheep provide wool that the spinners, weavers, and milliners use in their shops to demonstrate traditional trade skills, the horses transport people (either on their backs on in carriages), the cows pull carts and provide milk. In the 18th century, the cows would also have provided meat for the town, but Colonial Williamsburg doesn’t slaughter their Rare Breed cows and serve them in the local taverns. I’m kind of glad about that, actually.
Next time you come to Colonial Williamsburg, take some time to look at the animals. If you see a costumed employee driving a carriage or a cart, ask him about the animals pulling his vehicle. Ask where the baby lambs are. The employees will know about the animals, and they will enjoy talking to you about them. In order to be hired by Colonial Williamsburg, you have to pass a sequence of tests about life in the 18th century; the costumed employees have a lot of information they would like to share with you.