Compiled from previously published books and in a handy, pocket-sized format, this is a fresh look at Henry Brewis’s fondest enemy: the mule yow.

Each pair of pages has a Brewis cartoon on one page with one of his verses or snippets facing it. They writings and drawings complement each other as they proceed through the sheep farmer’s trials and tribulations.

Sections cover: first getting your sheep; then keeping them in; they need feeding; the shepherd and hill farmer; tupping; sheepdogs; shearing – a man’s job; lambing (time to go insane); dipping; worms; the vet; the sheep’s ambition (to die); off to the mart.

The yow is a truly remarkable beast
that man’s never been able to tame.
She would never be caught if God hadn’t thought
to make most of the stupid things lame.

The auld yow is born a peculiar beast
she defies mother nature’s great plan –
no creature on earth has ambition at birth
to drop dead just as soon as she can.

The yow is a thoroughly awkward beast
From her lugs to the tip of her tail –
Two tits and a tooth and t’ tell you the truth
A brain like a mouldy straw bale.