> as lemmas

1640 T. Shepard Sincere Convert v. 127 Cast out all the Prophane people among us, as drunkards, swearers, whores, lyers, which the Scripture brands for blacke sheepe, and condemnes them in a 100. places.

1704 S. Wesley Def. Let. conc. Educ. Dissenters 45 At the former modest Computation of but Two Black Sheep in Fifty, the Total must be Twenty; which if apply'd to the University, he has provided us with a Thousand Rakes.

1785 C. Macklin Man of World v. 62 O! ye villain—ye—ye—yeare a black sheep, and I'll mark ye.

1816 W. Scott Old Mortality vi, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. IV. 109 The curates..know best the black sheep of the flock.

1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter III. iii. 63 To pick out of the whole mass of English clergy, one or two, or one or two and twenty black sheep.

1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Coventry xiii Kate, the ‘black sheep’ of the family.

1958 ‘J. Byrom’ Or be he Dead viii. 115 I'm the Black Sheep of the family, so if you ever meet any of my relatives, you'll be wise not to mention me.

1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 127 650/1 I should like to think that they would do this for any black sheep among the countries who tried to defy all reasonable precautions.

2002 National Trust Mag. Summer 52/2 A series of spectacular debts run up by a typical family ‘black sheep’.