Page:Omniana 2.djvu/114

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104
OMNIANA.

Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza. . . and that King D. Alfonso had instituted it in the person of Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza when the English sheep were first brought over to Spain.

That merino sheep were originally exported from England, is not only remembered in this country, but even the place is specified from whence they were sent. In a work entitled England's Gazetteer, by Philip Luckombe, under the head "Dymock, Gloucestershire," it is stated, that "from the Ryelands, a hamlet in this parish, King Edward sent the sheep to Spain which produce their fine wool[1]." Martin Sarmiento, whom Mr. Semple quotes in his second travels through Spain, speaks of the introduction of these sheep from England, as a well known historical fact, and he affirms that their name implies their foreign ex-

  1. This is transcribed from some magazine or newspaper, but I have no doubt of its accuracy.