Along Foundry Road sits a very old stone Quaker cottage ( circa 1749 ) that once belonged to Jacob and Hannah Janney , two of the earliest Quaker settlers . Raising twelve children here , Hannah was one of the leading lights of the congregation , praying near a fallen log as her natural altar until the first meetinghouse was built in 1765 . that the Cochran ewes are on the move , neighbors make their way to that little corner , where Allen grew up . Little hooves crunch the gravel road , bells flung around fluffy necks clink clink , and worried sheep with one eye on the dogs bleat . The sounds spill into village , causing the best kind of disruption on an otherwise quiet morning .
“ This has become quite a spectacle ,” Allen says . “ It ’ s something that just doesn ’ t happen anymore . People come to watch because they can associate it with Scotland or Ireland and the old country — and agriculture in Loudoun County that they want to believe is still alive and well .”
He smiles and adds , “ It lets us believe we ’ re in another time ,
in another place .” But we ’ re not . It ’ s here , it ’ s now , at this dusty street corner in Lincoln , Virginia .
“ I don ’ t think there ’ s any prettier place in the world ,” the sheep farmer says . “ I ’ ll never call any place home except Lincoln .” He clarifies , “ The south end of Lincoln . This corner right here .”
Journalist and author Danielle Nadler grew up in South Dakota , where a patient writing teacher fostered in her a love for stories told well . She ’ s worked for newspapers in the Midwest , on the West Coast and the East Coast , and recently launched a storytelling company called Tales and Ales . Her favorite place to be is riding bike along a quiet gravel road . Follow her work at DanielleNadler . com .
to the protection of Unison … and rural Loudoun ’ s other historic villages , farms and crossroad communities .
They are what make the county unique , beautiful and prosperous !
mission
To preserve , enhance and celebrate the Blue Ridge Mountains as a valuable resource and treasured space for present and future generations
Join the fight , donate at unisonva . org unisonva . org friendsofblueridge . org • Purcellville , VA
10 wander I fall • winter 2021