“I think you’d better come down to the pigpen,” he said “What’s the trouble?” asked Mr Zuckerman. “Anything wrong with the pig?”

“No—not exactly,” said Lurvy. “Come see for yourself.”

Well . . . it was one-hell of a long day, using a hired 4x4 that could barely scale hills with the borrowed 2-tonne trailer, but we managed to get to Skye and back in one piece, with our valuable cargo: two Gloucestershire Old Spots.


some pigs

Plan A is for them to clear the croft’s potentially arable land of
weeds, grasses, rushes, and reeds, so that we can begin planting more.
Plan B is to get them pregnant and sell options on the piglets. Plan C
(unless some bloody equivalent of Charlotte shows up) is to take them to the abattoir.
They are un-surprisingly clever and having once touched the electric
wire, have not done it again (unlike poor Able who seems to think the
pigs have magical powers of delivering pain at distance). They quite
enjoy  a scratch around the ears, particularly if it comes with a bucket of slops.


able

Unfortunately, these ladies are overweight and will only work as
breeders if they drop a few stone. So, the diet is strict. As for a
little bit of background on the breed:-
The Old Spot is one of the best-known British rare breeds, originating
in the Berkeley Valley on the banks of the River Severn. At first it was
called the Orchard Pig or Cottagers Pig because they often fed on windfall
apples. Hence the lore about the spots. They are bruises caused by the falling fruit.
Pedigree status came much later than records show for horses, cows or even sheep.
Pigs, you see, are a peasant’s animal.
Perfect!


"Smile Piggy!"