The feral goats of Rogart are the stuff of legend and loved by locals

The tiny herd of feral goats at Rogart in Sutherland are highly elusive characters.

They will appear as fluffy, multicoloured dots on the landscape, then disappear deep into the hills on a whim, not to be seen for months.

The mysterious herd is treasured by locals and the subject of centuries-old folklore.

Legend has it that if the goats die out in Rogart, the sea will break through the causeway at The Mound and flood Strath Fleet as far up as Pittentrail.

Secretary of the Rogart Heritage Society, Christina Perera, has done much to research and record the history of the area – and the herd.

“We have fielded some strange questions about the goats over the years,” said Christina.

Christina Perera, Secretary of Rogart Heritage Society, has done much work on the history of the place. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

“Someone asked what time they should come to see the goats, as if they keep to a timetable.

“I don’t know, they’re wild goats, they’re feral, they travel fair distances.

“When you do see them, they tend to have come down from the hills and are on the beautiful green flats at Morvich.

“They might be cropping with sheep, they’ll mix with a flock.”

So how did the legendary goats of Rogart come to be?

Rogart goats have their own road signs

“One couple wanted to try to domesticate the feral goats, which seems a contradiction in terms.

“Last year a Canadian visitor wondered about the size of the herd. Having seen the warning road sign, he had imagined they would number in the millions like feral pigs in the US.”

Signs warning drivers of goats on the road may be the only such signs in Scotland but not the UK; Llandudno in North Wales has wild goats too.

Signs near Rogart warn drivers of the possibility of goats on the road. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

The feral goats of Rogart are a mascot for the area

Asked to describe Rogart’s goats, Christina said: “They are shaggy and look quite exotic.

“You’re not expecting that kind of thing on a Highland road.

“When you see them for the first time, it’s quite astonishing.”

“They are so iconic that a big, handsome billy became the emblem of the local development trust.

“I think the alternative only scored one vote. Everybody wanted the goat as the emblem. They’re a mascot for the area.”

The goats blend into the landscape. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

Rogart’s feral goats are called British primitive goats

With their large horns and shaggy, coarse hair, they are referred to as British primitive goats, because they have gone feral, Christina explained.

“The small flock, numbering around a dozen, are the descendants of domesticated goats that either escaped or were set loose possibly centuries ago, so they are now truly wild.

“They’re considered the oldest type of goat in Europe.”

goats with big horns and shaggy coats in beige, cream and black grazing on gorse on a rocky hillside near Rogart — A group of the large, shaggy British primitive goats grazing on gorse. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

Christina estimates the current herd numbers less than a dozen.

“They’re quite seasonal and they tend to die off over winter if they’re older and frail.

“If it’s been a reasonable winter, you’re likely to get a good number of babies surviving. The older ones survive a good winter as well.

“You get peaks and troughs, but mainly around 10 to a dozen, that’s probably the most I’ve seen.

“Definitely not in the millions the man from Canada thought there might be!”

shaggy goats in beige, cream and black grazing on gorse on a rocky hillside near Rogart with one wee kid — Press and Journal photographer Sandy McCook was lucky to catch sight of the elusive creatures. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

Stories about the goats have passed down the generations through word of mouth.

“There was a huge embankment built when Thomas Telford was improving the road system in the north in the early 1800s,” said Christina.

“They put in this embankment to stop the water from going all the way up from the sea to Pittentrail.

Goats have been in the area for centuries

“They put in The Mound embankment and some sluices and reclaimed a lot of alderwood.

“Then people started saying, ‘if the embankment breaks, something will happen’.

Christina points out that The Mound was constructed just over 200 years ago, between 1814–16, but the goats were around long before that.

“We have records of people from the 1700s saying there were goats in the vicinity of The Mound. There have been wild goats for centuries.”

the causeway at The Mound across Loch Fleet — The causeway at The Mound built by engineer Thomas Telford to provide a shorter route past Loch Fleet.

“A second prophecy is that if Rogart’s goats disappear then Marian’s Rock, a cliff they frequent, will fall.”

Another local yarn is that the Brahan Seer, known as ‘the Highland Nostradamus’, made a prophecy about the goats.

However, having combed through the book of prophecies, Christina has found no evidence of this.

“It’s also claimed the goats have a more prosaic purpose,” said Christina.

“It has been suggested they help keep sheep off the steep cliffs that flank northern Strath Fleet.

a map showing Loch Fleet going out to sea on the east coast, Golspie to the north and Morvich, Pittentrail and Rogart inland — Legend has it that if the goats die out, the sea will top The Mound and flood Strath Fleet up to Pittentrail. Image: Google Maps.

“Pockets of lush grass would entice sheep down on to the craggy rock face and the silly sheep would get stuck.

“Someone had to be lowered down on a rope to remove it to safer ground, if the poor sheep had not already fallen to its death.

“The goats, being more agile, are able reach the tempting grass, preventing the sheep from getting into bother.”

Christina in a field with a little brown spaniel — Christina Perera with her trusty spaniel out in the hilly terrain. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

Two nannies for a lone billy

Christina said that over the years the herd has been replenished.

“During Second World War, Force K6, a special regiment of British Indian soldiers from the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, were stationed in Lairg and Golspie.

“It’s alleged that some of the goats may have ended up in a curry or two!

“When only one billy survived, Nathaniel Murray, then occupying Morvich Farm, felt sorry for the lonely old goat and bought two nannies at a Lairg livestock sale. This revived the herd again.”

Asked how she feels about the goats, Christina said: “Oh, I think they are fantastic.

“They’re really, really loved, I don’t think that’s too much to say.

“We treasure them and we look after them.”