Over 200 years ago the first European colonists settled Australia, bringing sheep with them.

Many of these colonists were English cockneys who were famous for dropping their H's when speaking.

When they started making boots out of sheepskin they would say, "'Ey mate, these boots really 'ug your legs!".

This cottage industry has been in existence for a couple hundred of years.

Today there are more than two dozen manufacturers of ug boots in Australia and New Zealand and there are hundreds of individuals who handcraft these boots as well.