From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As I read it the Southdown sheep breed comes from the South Down, the
Hampshire Down sheep breed from the Hampshire Down - and so forth.
Collectively the breeds of sheep from the various Downs are called
Downs breeds.
I was sure that someone else from the Uk would have jumped in by now (I've
been offline over Christmas/New Year.)
So....
Downs (geographical) are a plural word. I have never heard of them
addressed singly always en masse eg "the South Downs are situated to the
North of Brighton" ... you can however find uses as in "the South Down
Hills", and that sort of geology (chalk hills with short flowery
grassland) referred to as "Downland"
I have always used the singular for the breed and so do the UK breed
societies eg www.southdownsheepsociety.co.uk, which refer exclusively to
Southdown sheep. (except perhaps if you say "a flock of Southdowns" in the
same way as you would say a "flock of Texels")
Other parts of the world may (and it looks like they do) vary :-)
Chris
In non-downland Cheshire - which does not appear to have a sheep breed of
its own :-(
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