“ewe have been tupped”…there’s just too much material there to work with…I’m off for a lie down…
“An old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” - Iago, Othello
The colours are applied to save the need for dyeing at a later stage. Pink will be very ‘in’ next year. It’s all decided at a secret annual meeting between the fashion industry and sheep farmers. Don’t say it was me who told you.
Tupp ewe???
And all is suddenly clear…
In the part of Scotland I’m from, the paint was known as “keel” and is indeed used for identification. The sheep from various crofts all feed on the same piece of ground known as “common grazing” and so it helps to be able to identify them from a distance.
Each person has their own mark, depending on colour and position. Some would use more than 1 colour, since the simpler variations were already taken. The mark is put on immediately after shearing.
The sheep’s ears are also notched, and this is the main mark since the keel can fade and it can be difficult to make out exactly what mark it is. Obviously, the advantage of the keel mark is that it’s difficult to see a sheep’s ears at any distance.
I did a quick Google search to see if “keel” was a regional term, or if it was widespread. I found fewer relevant sites than I would have thought. For some reason I found the “SHEEP - CHEAPER collectables on eBay.co.uk!” at the top of the list slightly disturbing…