There is no longer a need for a lawn mower at the Rams Head Inn’s waterfront location after the addition of two new baby lambs, further enriching the history of the area, and making it five times more adorable. Last November 3-year-old Mary, 7-month-old Sweet Caroline, and 9-month-old George Hamilton became the newest permanent guests to arrive at the Rams Head Inn. However, Mary gave birth to two new little lambs late last month, and the two newest additions, which have been named Frankie and Dino, have officially expanded the level of cuteness at the inn.
Built by ambitious pioneer Joan Covey in 1919, Rams Head Inn was purchased by the Bennett family during the 1940s. The inn has been independently owned and operated ever since. In 2021, Andrea Carter—the current steward—came to own the inn and has remained devoted to preserving and upholding the rich history that the location brings to Shelter Island.
Of course, if you’re asking, “Why lambs?” you would not be the only one. The answer seems to be the opposite question, “Why not?” At this point, many are wondering what type of sheep are at Rams Head Inn. Well, specifically, this newest herd of five is known as South Down Baby Doll Sheep. They are considered a heritage breed whose ancestors originated in Scotland and England. This breed of sheep only reaches approximately 110 lbs. and is the ideal addition to the island. This is because their ancestors were initially bred in very similar climates.
All five members of the herd—Mary, Sweet Caroline, George Hamilton, Frankie, and Dino, keep the lawns at the inn neatly shored down to a height of about two inches, as they are now easily seen grazing the fields. To ensure that overgrazing does not occur, their roaming pens are routinely moved around the property. Furthermore, Carter’s English border collie named “Mike” does an exceptional job of herding the lambs into their enclosures when it is necessary. This theme—filled to the brim with the nostalgic elements of pastoral life—feels like a picture painted specifically to fit the long-standing history of the inn.
Now, for those who may not be entirely convinced that these new additions are enough to make them visit, it is time to go back and remember June 2, 1947. At that time, the inn became most popular for initially hosting the first-ever Shelter Island Conference on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. The three-day conference is remembered as the first time that leading American physicists were able to gather following the well-known Manhattan Project and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Serendipitously, a talking point that was prioritized at the Shelter Island Conference was titled the “Lamb Shift,” which was a theory founded only a couple of weeks before the conference by American physicist Willis Lamb. According to Lamb’s theory, “When probing hydrogen atoms with microwave beams, one of the two possible quantum states had slightly more energy than predicted by the Dirac theory.” The discovery, which seems fairly small, played a central role in proving that quantum electrodynamics (QEDs) were advancing.
In this way, perhaps, the additions of Mary, Sweet Caroline, George Hamilton, Frankie, and Dino can be viewed as homage to an even more exceptional history at the inn. Visitors can come down to 108 South Ram Island Drive on Shelter Island to view all that Rams Head Inn has to offer.
