Mule! Where did the name came from?

[Downunder]

Why are BFL crosses called 'mule' ? Mules can't breed as I understand. Half breed is a truer I'd have thought

 

[Gulli]

Bfls are like donkeys and blackfaces are assholes...

 

[Agrivator]

Why are BFL crosses called 'mule' ? Mules can't breed as I understand. Half breed is a truer I'd have thought

Simply because the Teeswater and Wensleydale crosses were referred to as either Mashams or Halfbreds.
And Border Leicester x Cheviots were called Scotch Halfbreds.

So someone, presumably in the Tyne valley or surrounds, thought that the next commonest term for a cross was ''Mule''.

And the term caught on very quickly. And the Bluface Liecester soon replaced the Teeswater when it was rumoured that Mules as breeding sheep were far less susceptible to scrapy compared to Mashams

 

[Downunder]

Simply because the Teeswater and Wensleydale crosses were referred to as either Mashams or Halfbreds.
And Border Leicester x Cheviots were called Scotch Halfbreds.

So someone, presumably in the Tyne valley or surrounds, thought that the next commonest term for a cross was ''Mule''.

And the term caught on very quickly. And the Bluface Liecester soon replaced the Teeswater when it was rumoured that Mules as breeding sheep were far less susceptible to scrapy compared to Mashams

 

[Downunder]

Thanks, I feel educated now! Another question answered

 

[Downunder]

Bfls are like donkeys and blackfaces are assholes...

Crack up!

 

[primmiemoo]

Mule: from the Latin mulus via Old French mule meaning a hybrid. (Source: Counting Sheep. Author, Philip Walling. Worth a read, imv.)

In the case of sheep, it's generally a cross of a BFL ram onto a Swaledale ewe, or variations on the theme of producing a handy first cross ewe by crossing upland/mountain breed ewes with Leicesters.

Hth

 

[Downunder]

Mule: from the Latin mulus via Old French mule meaning a hybrid. (Source: Counting Sheep. Author, Philip Walling. Worth a read, imv.)

In the case of sheep, it's generally a cross of a BFL ram onto a Swaledale ewe, or variations on the theme of producing a handy first cross ewe by crossing upland/mountain breed ewes with Leicesters.

Hth

More education! This is better than school thanks

 

[Paul E]

No.
It is a direct copy of the equine term "mule" .donkey x horse.
In that the breed "mule" can die out, but can be replaced in as far as the parent breeds still exist.

or a kawasaki gator.

 

[chaffcutter]

Every day’s a school day on here!

 

[Downunder]

Every day’s a school day on here!

School was never this educational!!!