From The Archives
THE BASQUE SHEEPHERDER AND THE
SHEPHERD PSALM from "The National Wool Grower"
Not many people today realize the practical application of
the Twenty-third Psalm to the highly skilled and now dying craft
of Sheepherding. The average modem has little idea of the immense
knowledge and long training that is necessary for this craft.
Most people today, if they ever think about the shepherd and his
work, think of him as a patriarchal old man leaning on the
traditional crook, or as a half faun-like lad playing upon a
pan-pipe on some deserted hilltop.
"King David," however, as the article states, "knew sheep
and their ways, and he had translated a sheep's musings into
simple words."
The following article may surprise many people in its very
accurate summing-up of sheep-ranging and its generally
unrecognized practical application to the shepherd's most exact
and skilful trade.
Old Ferando d'Alfonso, a Basque herder, is employee by one
of the big Nevada sheep outfits. He is rated as one of the best
sheep rangers in the state, and he should be; for back of him are
at least 20 generations of Iberian shepherds.
But d'Alfonso is more than a sheepherder; he is a patriarch
of his guild; the traditions and secrets of which have been
handed down from generation to generation, just as were those of
the Damascus steel temperers and other trade guilds of the
premedieval age. Despite a thirty-year absence from his homeland
he is still full of the legends, the mysteries, the religious
fervour of his native hills.
I sat with him one night under the clear, starry skies, his
sheep bedded down beside a pool of sparkling water. As we were
preparing to curl up in our blankets, he suddenly began a
dissertation in a jargon of Greek and Basque. When he had
finished I asked him what he had said. In reply he began to quote
in English the Twenty-third Psalm. There on the desert I learned
the shepherd's literal interpretation of this beautiful poem.
"David and his ancestors," said d'Alfonso, "knew sheep and
their ways, and David has translated a sheep's musings into
simple words. The daily repetition of this psalm fills the
sheepherder with reverence for his calling. Our guild takes this
poem as a lodestone to guide us. It is our bulwark when the days
are hot or stormy, when the nights are dark; when wild animals
surround our bands. Many of its lines are the statements of the
simple requirements and actual duties of a Holy Land shepherd,
whether he lives today or followed the same calling 3,000 years
ago. Phrase by phrase, it has a well-understood meaning for us.
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD I SHALL NOT WANT
"Sheep instinctively know," said d'Alfonso, "that before
they have been folded for the night the shepherd has planned out
their grazing for the morrow. It may be that he will take them
back over the same range. It may be that he will go to a new
grazing ground. They do not worry. His guidance has been good in
the past and they have faith in the future because they know he
has their well being in view."
HE MAKETH ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES
"Sheep graze from around 3:30 o'clock in the morning until
about ten, they then lie down for three or four hours and rest,"
said d'Alfonso. "When they are contentedly chewing their ends,
the shepherd knows they are putting on fat. Consequently the good
shepherd starts his flocks out in the early hours on the rougher
herbage, moving on through the morning to the richer, sweeter
grasses, and finally coming with the band to a shady place for
its forenoon rest in fine green pastures, the best grazing of the
day. Sheep, while resting in such happy surroundings, feel
contentment."
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS
"Every shepherd knows," said the Basque, "that sheep will
not drink gurgling water. There are many small springs high in
the hills of the Holy Land, whose waters run down the valleys
only to evaporate in the desert sun. Although the sheep need the
water, they will not drink from these fast-flowing streams. The
shepherd must find a place where rocks or erosion have made a
little pool, or else he fashions with his hands a pocket
sufficient to hold at least a bucketful,"
HE RESTORETH MY SOUL; HE LEADETH ME IN THE PATHS
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE
"Holy Land sheep exceed in herding instinct the Spanish
Merino or the French Rambouillet," went on d'Alfonso. "Each takes
their place in the grazing line and keeps the same position
throughout the day. Once, however, during the day, each sheep
leaves its place and goes to the shepherd. Whereupon the shepherd
stretches out his hand as the sheep approaches with expectant
eyes and mild little baas. The shepherd rubs its nose and ears,
scratches its chin, whispers affectionately into its ears. The
sheep, meanwhile, rubs against his leg or, if the shepherd is
sitting down, nibbles at his ear and rubs its cheek against his
face. After a few minutes of this communion with the master, the
sheep returns to its place in the feeding line."
YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
I WILL FEAR NO EVIL. THY ROD AND STAFF THEY COMFORT ME
"There is an actual 'Valley of the Shadow of Death' in
Palestine, and every sheepherder from Spain to Dalmatia knows of
it It is south of the Jericho Road leading from Jerusalem to the
Dead Sea and is a narrow defile through a mountain range.
Climatic and grazing conditions make it necessary for the sheep
to be moved through this valley for seasonal feeding each year.
The valley is four and a half miles long. Its side walls are over
1500 feet high in places and it is only ten or twelve feet wide
at the bottom. Travel through the valley is dangerous, because
its floor, badly eroded by cloud bursts, has gullies seven or
eight feet deep. Actual footing on solid rock is so narrow in
many places that sheep cannot turn around, and it is an unwritten
law of shepherds that flocks must go up the valley in the morning
hours and down toward the eventide, lest flocks meet in the
defile. Mules have not been able to make the trip for centuries,
but sheep and goat herders from earliest Old Testament days have
maintained a passage for their stock.
About halfway through the valley the walk crosses from one
side to the other at a place where the path is cut in two by an
eight-foot gully. One section of the path is about 18 inches
higher than the other; the sheep must jump across it. The
shepherd stands at this break and coaxes or forces the sheep to
make the leap. If a sheep slips and lands in the gully, the
shepherd's rod is brought into play. The old-style crook is
encircled around a large sheep's neck or a small sheep's chest,
and it is lifted to safety. If a more modern narrow crook is
used, the sheep is caught about the hoofs and lifted up to the
walk.
Many wild dogs lurk in the shadows of the valley looking for
prey. After a band of sheep has entered the defile, the leader
may come upon such a dog. Unable to retreat, the leader bras a
warning. The shepherd, skilled in throwing his staff, hurls it at
the dog and knocks the animal into the washed-out gully, where it
is easily killed. Thus the sheep have learned to fear no evil
even in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, for their master is
there to aid them and protect them from harm."
THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME
IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES
"David's meaning is a simple one," said d'Alfonso, "when
conditions on the Holy Land sheep ranges are known. Poisonous
plants abound which are fatal to grazing animals. Each spring the
shepherd must be constantly alert. When he finds the plants he
takes his mattock and goes on ahead of the flock, grubbing out
every stock and root he can see. As he digs out the stocks, he
lays them on little stone pyres, some of which were built by
shepherds in Old Testament days, and by the morrow they are dry
enough to bum. In the meantime, the sheep are led into the newly
prepared pasture, which is now free from poisonous plants, and,
in the presence of their deadly plant enemies,they eat in peace.
THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL; MY CUP RUNNER OVER
"At every sheep fold there is a big earthen bowl of olive
oil and a large stone jar of water. As the sheep come in for the
night they are led to a gate. The shepherd lays his rod across
the top of the gateway just higher than the backs of his sheep.
As each sheep passes in single file, he quickly examines it for
briars in the ears, snags in the cheek, or weeping of the eyes
from dust or scratches. When such conditions are found he drops
his rod across the sheep's back and it steps out of line.
Each sheep's wounds are carefully cleaned. Then the shepherd dips
his hand into the olive oil and anoints the injury. A large cup
is dipped into the jar of water, kept cool by evaporation in the
unglazed pottery, and is brought out - never half full but always
overflowing. The sheep will sink its nose into the water clear to
the eyes, if fevered, and drink until fully refreshed.
When all the sheep are at rest the shepherd lays his staff
on the ground within reach in case it is needed for protection of
the flock during the night, wraps himself in his heavy woollen
robe and lies down across the gateway, facing the sheep, for his
night's repose,"
"So," concluded d'Alfonso, "After all the care and
protection the shepherd has given it, a sheep may well
soliloquize in the twilight, as translated into words by David:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for ever."
.................
Some very fine instructive books by another one time Shepherd are
the books by PHILLIP KELLER. They are well worth reading, perhaps
your local Library will have them, or can get them for you
through their loan department - Keith Hunt
THE BOOKS ARE:
1. A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23
2. A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd and His Sheep
3. A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit
