Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1912 — HOLY LAND SHEPHERDS NOW [ARTICLE]

HOLY LAND SHEPHERDS NOW

They Aril Very Much Like Those Who ——hatched Tlwtri^tockr^OOO' Years Ago. There are few more picturesque sights in the Holy Land them the shepherd and his flock of shpep. You can never see one without the other, says a writer in Country Life In America. They live entirely with their flocks. Their business is not only an honorable calling but it 1b one of perpetual difficulty and danger. Shepherds in the eaßt are men of war; also they are men of some initiative and practical intelligence. The shepherds come unSer the head of peasants, or fellaheen, but nevertheless they are virtually a race apart. Unlike the other native tribes, they have maintained their ancient character intact. They attended to the wants of their sheep and led them from pasture to pasture among the hills and valleys long before the coming of the Children of Israel. Their Shoes are of the roughest description, almost circular iu circumference. They wear an outer garment of bright colors. It is woven from camel’s hair, as was that of John the Baptist. The coats are without seam, as was the one worn by our Saviour and of which it was said at his crucifixion that -it- was—^without—seam, woven from the top throughout” These cloakß are made by the peasant women of Galilee. They are square and sleeveless and fit any man. They bang in picturesque folds from the shoulder. A kerchief for the head, tied in two black rings of rope and wool, completes the shepherd's outfit In the winter, however, shepherds take an undressed fleece, which they girdle about their loins, when they more than ever appear like members of their own flock. ’ > . The flocks vary considerably in size, some numbering only a score or even less, while others ran into several hundred. Speaking generally, a shepherd in and around Jerusalem will tend thirty or forty sheep, while his brethren in northern Palestine will possess flocks double size. In tbe Lebanon* there are some very large herds. ; * . . ..." - The shew themselves are distinctly of the Syrian breed and famed for their fat tails. Much has been made of the foot that the shepherds of Pal-

estine lead their sheep. ,Thls custom has arisen, of course, through the absence of roads and the scanty nature of the pasturage found on the mountain sides. It would be impossible to drive the flocks from place to placq unless dogs were employed, and there are no sheep dogs in eastern countries. Hence the shepherd goes on in front, the sheep following behind, a shepherd boy as a rule bringing up the rear. This is the shepherd’s principal duty, to guide his Bheep and find pasturage for them. The sheep know their master, or rather his voice* Over' and over again I have seen two or more shep? herds meet with their flocks at a well and sit and chat for hours together. When they got up to move away the flocks have become one large herd. There is mo attempt, however, to separate them. Each man moves in the direction lie wishes to take and shouts to his sheep, “Tabbo! Tabbo!” short and sharp, never thinking of looking round until he is some distance away. One by one the sheep hear the voice and follow slowly after their master. There is never a mistake, though all use the same word; the voice of each shepherd is unmistakably his own and it has a distinct individuality about it, caused by the constant hue of the same tone. Then the shepherds of this interesting land are men of arms. In the southern districts of Palestine and also in the Lebanon country they all carry firearms, and thoße around Jerusalem and in the neighborhood of Tiberias on the Sea qf Galilee and in other parts of the country carry weapons in the shape of heavy wooden clubs or slings, the latter as primitive as that used by David when ha tended his father’s flocks. The guns are invariably old-fashioned flintlock muskets or some other obsolete type of firearm. With these weapons the shepherd protects his flojpk from wild beasts —leopards, panthers and wolves. Bat his worst enemy is not the wild animals of the country, hilt the roving Bedouins. The latter are always making raids and carrying off the sheep, with the result that even today many a good Bhepherd Is called upon to lay down his life for the sheep.