Cattle and Cattle-breeders

by McCombie, William

The payments at Falkirk were all made through the bankers; there were always from four to six bank-tents on the muir. When I took payment for my cattle I went generally with the buyer to the bank-tent. This was merely a common tent, with a bank-office attached. The banker calculated the amount, and received the money, which he put to my credit, and after I concluded my business I got an order for the amount on Aberdeen. This avoided all risk of forged notes, &c. Strange payments were sometimes offered. On one occasion an Irishman, who appeared to have been "holding his Christmas," bought sixty horned cattle from me, the best in the fair, at £14, 14s. a-head—a long price at that time. The beasts were good, and the price was good. He presented first £70 in gold; he then took out a handkerchief, the contents of which were £100, £20, £10, £5, and £1 notes. Such a miscellaneous payment I had never seen offered, and I believe no one else had, at Falkirk or any other place. It would have been hopeless for us to attempt counting it, and Mr Salmon, agent for the Commercial Bank, took the business in hand. Looking first at the confused mass of notes, all "head and tail," and then scanning the appearance of my customer, he began his task; but with all his practice it took him a quarter of an hour to assort the payment. He threw back two £1-notes to the buyer, who got into a towering passion, and, with words that I cannot put upon paper, asked him if he thought he would offer forged notes. Mr Salmon meekly replied that M‘Combie might take them if he pleased, he had got nothing to do with that, but he would not. Our Irish friend then exchanged the notes, for he had no want of money. I did not even know the gentleman's name; I never saw him before, and I never, to my knowledge, saw him afterwards.

  There were in such large markets as Falkirk and Hallow Fair great chances of good prices to be had at times. When cattle were selling dear, buyers from England, Wales, Ireland, and all parts of Scotland, congregated at Falkirk: they were not all judges alike, and some sellers at such a time were always sure of a good price. For the amusement of my readers, I will give a few examples. On the second day of an October Falkirk Tryst (I had sold out, as I generally did, the first day), I was standing with a dealer from the north who had forty or sixty—I think sixty—two-year-old polled stots to sell. He had just parted with a customer for 2s. 6d. a-head, having offered them at £8, 15s., and refused £8, 12s. 6d. A gentleman's land-steward came through the lot of cattle with a milk-white horse, and his eyes looked first to the right and then to the left with wonderful quickness. He asked the price of the cattle. I thought the seller's conscience a trifle lax when he asked £13, 13s. a-head. Being very young I turned my back, as I could not keep my gravity. The owner then asked what he would give. £11, 11s. was the answer. No sooner were the words out of the man's mouth than down came the clap, "They are yours." I could stand it no longer, and drew back aghast. The buyer became suspicious that all was not right; and my father, who was held in great esteem both by buyers and sellers, acted as umpire, to whom both parties referred the transaction. Being the only witness, I was closely interrogated by the umpire, the buyer, and the seller. I told the price asked and the price offered. The matter had now assumed a serious aspect. My father, after hearing the evidence, which was not denied, and the price having been fairly offered and accepted, could only decide one way. I recollect his words when he gave his decision: "Well, sir, the beasts are dear according to this market, but they are good growers, and you will soon make them worth it; my decision is, you must take them." They were paid for, and went across the ferry to Fife again. In a rising market I have seen cattle raised £1 a-head; and if the jobber does not take a price when there is a rise, and fairly in his power, he is a fool, for he will soon find out that the buyers will have no mercy upon the sellers when in their power. In all my experience, the above, in a dull day, or any other day, was the most glaring start I remember.

  I never attended the fairs in Angusshire, but on one occasion Mr Thom hauled me off to Forfar market in the beginning of November, before Hallow Fair of Edinburgh. We were in partnership at the time, and bought seventy small polled stots to take to Hallow Fair, to which we had sent off two or three droves the week before. We could get but one drover, a townsman, to assist in lifting them, and had to turn drovers ourselves. We had not gone above a mile on our way to Dundee with the cattle when it came on a fearful night of rain, and got very dark. Mr Thom quarrelled with the drover—a useless creature—and sent him about his business, so that we were left alone with our seventy beasts in the dark, on a road with which we were entirely unacquainted. We went on for hours, not knowing where we were going, till at last we came to a bothy, where we asked the servants what we were to do with our charge, and if we were on the road to the ferry at Dundee. We were told, first, that we had taken the wrong road, and were miles out of our way; and second, that we might put the cattle into a field close at hand. We put the cattle up accordingly, and went to a public-house near by, which was kept by a very decent man, Edward, a cattle-dealer. We got supper, and took an hour or two in bed; and between one and two o'clock in the morning, the rain having abated and the moon risen, we started the drove and had the beasts at Dundee and across the ferry by the first boat at eight o'clock in the morning, with no assistance whatever. We now started fairly on our destination for Edinburgh, and having got food for the cattle and bread and cheese for ourselves, about three miles up the south side of the Tay we hired a sort of drover, and bent our way by Rathillet. About dark we arrived at —— (Mr Walker's), where we not only got as much turnips and straw to our beasts as they could eat, but were ourselves treated like princes by Mr Walker. He gave us the best bed in the house, would not let us go without a good breakfast in the morning, and would accept of scarcely any remuneration. We started for Lochgelly after breakfast, but Mr Thom persuaded me to turn off and take Falkland market, which was held that day, while he and the drover proceeded straight to Lochgelly with the cattle. Falkland was far out of the way, but he assured me there were plenty of horses to hire there, and that I could easily join him at Lochgelly at night. When I got to Falkland I found there were only four beasts in the market that suited our trade, which was not encouraging, as I did not want plenty of money if I could have got anything to lay it out on. I found also that Mr Thom had been mistaken about the hiring. Not a horse was to be got at any price, and I had no help but to set off on foot for Lochgelly, on a road I had never travelled. I had scarcely left Falkland when I was overtaken by a heavy rain which continued throughout my journey. I had first to climb a long steep hill for about three or four miles, and when at last I got to the public road, I found it one mass of mud, in consequence of the large coal traffic, and the heavy fall of rain. I had a deal of money with me, and as it was quite dark, I was rather uneasy about it, meeting so many miners and coal-carters under such circumstances, and in a part of the country with which I was utterly unacquainted. The road is a very long one, and with such a protracted soaking in the mud, my feet began to fail me. I at last reached my destination, however; and with considerable difficulty—for I had never been in Lochgelly before—I hunted up Mr Thom, whom I found comfortably quartered beside a good fire, with supper before him. But my troubles were not yet over. One of the servants at the place was leaving, and what was termed a "foy" was being held that night. She had collected a great number of her friends, who kept the house in an uproar the whole night. We went to bed, but could get no sleep, the row these revellers made was so great, and our bedroom door was all but broken open two or three times. Our remonstrances had no effect, and sleep being out of the question, we got up about one o'clock, hunted up our drover, and started our drove once more, although the night was as bad as could be. By about nine o'clock a.m. we arrived at Queensferry; but by this time I had strained my leg, and was unable to proceed. I was therefore left on the north side in charge of the cattle, while Mr Thom crossed to the south side to procure the necessary food for the other droves during the market. It will thus be seen that we droved the seventy cattle from Forfar market all the way to Queensferry in two days and three nigh
ts during the short day of November, going out of our way once as much as six miles. I cannot say what the distance was exactly, but it must have been at least seventy miles—a feat in cattle-droving unparalleled in my experience. After a day's rest I crossed the ferry with the cattle, assisted by the drover. The beasts were dreadfully jaded, and with difficulty reached their destination, within a mile of the market-stance. The journey had told severely upon them, and two went down immediately on reaching the field. We tried every means to stir them, but failed. They were hand-fed, and with great difficulty got to the market, where they were quickly sold, though how they were got to their destination I never learned.

  At a very good Hallow Fair, I had forty small-horned Cabrach beasts and forty small polled stirks standing alongside of each other. I had been within 7s. 6d. a-head of selling them once or twice, when a stranger priced them, a very well-to-do and apparently young man. My price was £7, 7s. a-head for the eighty. He just took one look through them, and said, "Well, I shall have them, and you meet me at the Black Bull at eight o'clock, and I will pay you for them." It not being the custom of the trade to get all our askings, I was a little nervous about my customer, but found he was all right. I met him at the Black Bull at the hour mentioned. He was in great spirits, and paid me in Bank of England notes.

  Arthur Ritchie, Bithnie, a cattle-dealer from Aberdeen, used to tell the following story: In a bad Hallow Fair, towards sunsetting, a gentleman came round and asked the price of a lot of cattle. Arthur had given him a large halter, and he got an offer which he accepted. It was a great price for the market. The buyer refused afterwards to take them, and my father was made umpire. The buyer said that a glimmer came over his eyes, and he thought them better when he offered the price. However, he got ashamed, and took the cattle. An old respected servant of my own, who assisted me for years in the buying and selling of cattle—James Elmslie, very well known here and in the south—had sold twenty beasts very well at Hallow Fair for me. There was a "buffalo" among them of the worst type—a great big "buffalo dog." The buyer, when he paid them, said, "Well, James, if they had all been like the big one, I would not have grudged you the price." "Ah, sir," said James, "you would have difficulty in getting a lot like him!" I could scarcely keep my gravity. A very grave and solemn conclusion to a sale occurred to me at Hallow Fair. I had sold twenty beasts to a very rich farmer near North Berwick, who had bought many lots from me. He had employed a marker, who had just marked nineteen out of the twenty. The buyer was joking with me about the dearness of the cattle, when, in a moment, he dropped down dead, falling on his back, and never moving or speaking more. The event created such a sensation, that no more sales were made that day.

  The English dealers seldom came north except to Aikey Fair. Then we had the Armstrongs, the Millers, Murphy, and other English dealers, and it was quite a sight to witness the droves going south; but Aikey Fair has now lost its ancient glory, and is only the shadow of what it was. It was a sight I shall never witness more to see the whole hillside covered with innumerable herds of "Buchan hummlies." Mr Bruce of Millhill showed the largest lots, and stood at the top as an exhibitor. Talking of Buchan, the names of Bruce, Millhill, and Smart, Sandhole, were household words at my father's board. My father and myself have bought thousands of cattle from them; no agriculturists have ever been more respected in Buchan. Mr Bruce, perhaps, was as solid, but Smart was the more dashing man. I have never met any one who would do the same amount of business with as few words as Smart, and do it as well. As one example: He brought sixty beasts to Mintlaw market—cattle were low-priced at the time. I had the first offer of them: he asked £12, 12s. a-head. I offered £12, and we split the 12s. The whole transaction did not take up half of the time I require to write it. Mr Bruce and Mr Smart were the best judges in Buchan. We had other great exhibitors, Mr Bruce, Inverwhomrey; Mr Scott, Yokieshill; Mr Milne, Mill of Boyndie; Mr Paton, Towie; Mr Milne, Watermill, &c. Mr Mitchell, Fiddesbeg, the Browns, the Rattrays, Hay of Little Ythsie, and Wm. M‘Donald, were all extensive dealers in cattle in those days. The following anecdote of William M‘Donald was told by my father: It had been a very good September Falkirk market, and Mr John Geddes, Haddoch, who was an extensive home grazier and dealer, had a large stock of cattle on hand. M‘Donald and my father were both anxious for the chance to buy them, and pushed through their business at Falkirk as fast as possible to get to Haddoch. At that time the dealers accomplished all their journeys on horseback, and prided themselves on the fleetness of their saddle-horses. My father thought no one his match in the saddle. He reached Haddoch on Wednesday at midnight—the first cattle-market day at Falkirk being on Tuesday—but the first thing he observed on drawing near to the house, which remains on the farm to this day, although a new one has been built, was the main room lighted up. On coming nearer, he heard voices fast and loud, and one was that of M‘Donald! It was all over! M‘Donald had fairly beat M‘Combie in the chase. My father got hold of Mrs Geddes, worn-out and disappointed, and got quietly to bed; and I have often heard him tell how M‘Donald's peals of laughter rang in his ears as the punch-bowl went round, even to the dawning of the day. Neither M‘Donald nor Haddoch knew my father was in the house. He left in the morning for Clashbrae, where he bought some smaller lots from the farmer there, who was a local dealer.

  A word as to M‘Donald: He was a stout-made middle-sized man, and spoke so fast over the "bowl" that no one could follow him. He had a good deal of mother-wit; and his great ambition was to be the owner of large droves of cattle. I have seen a drove belonging to him a mile and more long. Mr John Geddes was a man of high standing and great firmness of character. He wore the broad blue bonnet, with a long blue coat and clear buttons, and boot-hose, and rode a very fine cob pony with a long tail. He was of great strength of constitution, and could have sat twenty-four hours with the punch-bowl before him (it was always the bowl at Haddoch), and risen as sober as when he sat down. Such were the habits of those days. I never pass on the railway from Huntly to Rothiemay, but on casting my eye over the old house I recall the night described so graphically by my father. He and Haddoch had large transactions. After a bad October Tryst, where my father had sixteen score of Aberdeenshire cattle, and when he lost £4 a-head upon every beast, Mr Geddes returned him £70 as a luck-penny upon a large lot he had bought from him. There have few men appeared in the north of greater influence or of higher moral worth than the late Mr John Geddes of Haddoch. His landlord, the late Duke of Gordon, was proud of him, as well he might be.

  It was the general custom that the dealers came to the market-ground with their cattle, and immediately before them, to the part of the market-stance where they wished them to stand. It was quite a sight to see Mr Geddes on an Old Keith market-day (Old Keith Market, like Aikey Fair, is now only a shadow of its ancient greatness), with his broad bonnet, the long blue coat, the overall stockings, and mounted on a strong bay pony with its tail to the ground, at the head of a large lot of heavy cattle. Every one made room for his cattle, as he rode before them to the upper wall; it would have been of no use to resist, as the weight of his animals would have soon cleared the road for themselves; and as soon as the large black mass of horned cattle appeared in the valley below, the cry was, "There comes Haddoch! We must clear the way, or else his cattle will soon clear it at our expense." After the first lot was stationed, another and another followed in succession, which were placed beside the others, till perhaps there were 200 altogether; the different lots being all kept completely separate for the inspection of purchasers. Mr Geddes never went south with cattle, but sold them all at home. In a bad year he once got as far south as Tillyfour with 120 cattle in November. They were at Tillyfour a night, and my father bought them in the morning, but they were about a mile on the road before the bargain was struck. No one could have seen Mr Geddes without pronouncing him a man of mark.

  But the greatest dealer the county could claim, and one at the same time deeply engaged in agriculture and its interests, was Mr
James Innes of Durris. Mr Innes was born at Leuchars in Morayshire; his father was Sheriff of Kincardineshire, and proprietor of Leuchars; his brother, Cosmo Innes, Esq., was Sheriff of Morayshire. The father of Mr James Innes bought the lease of the estate of Durris for ninety-nine years from the trustees of the Earl of Peterborough for £30,000 and an annual feu-duty of a few hundred pounds. Owing to some new views of the law of entail, the Duke of Gordon, the legal heir of the Earl of Peterborough, turned Mr Innes out of the estate after he had expended £95,000 in improvements, and after the case had been in court for fifteen years. Mr Innes farmed extensively, having had seven or eight farms in his own occupancy at the same time. He rode on horseback yearly to Falkirk, and bought a large lot of Highland cattle. He generally had 200 cattle, 1500 sheep, and from ten to twelve pairs of horses on his farms. Mr Innes's horses went at the top of their speed in cart and plough; they had all breeding. No standing was allowed when the horses were in harness. In a busy day in harvest, and when the horses were yoked double, you would have seen Mr Innes's horses driving in the corn at a smart gallop. The harvest-carts were wide, railed and framed on both sides, with one or two cross bearers. In a "leading" day Mr Innes was a sure hand at the fork in the stackyard, and the man on the stack and the man on the cart had to look out. Mr Innes was no trifler, and would not be trifled with; but if an accident happened he made no remarks. He did not transact business by commission, but purchased both the cattle and sheep himself. The aged West Highlanders were sent to the wood during winter; the year-old Highlanders were put into the strawyards; and the four-year-old Aberdeens were bought for stall-feeding. Black-faced wethers were sent to the low pasture and for turnip-feeding. An annual sale of cattle and letting of grass took place about the 20th May. Mr Innes was famed for growing turnips. He gained the prize of £50, given by the Highland Society for the best field of turnips in the north of Scotland, twenty acres of yellow and ten of globe turnips. Deacon Williamson's six and eight year old Aberdeen work oxen—these were not the days of quick returns in cattle—consumed them, and they went to the Greenland whale-ships at last. Mr Innes was the poor man's friend, and a kind master to his servants, but a cool determined man. Although standing almost six feet three inches in height, he was a splendid horseman; when crossing the Dee he made his horse jump into the boat with himself upon his back. He galloped as the crow flies from one farm to another, and was at the head of everything himself. He was an intimate friend of the late Lord Kennedy, Captain Barclay of Ury, Farquharson of Finzean, Davidson of Balnagask, and Cruickshank of Langley Park. He sometimes took a holiday with them; and even entered for a time into some of their frolics, when his seedtime and harvest were finished: he was quite fit to keep his own with them. He was well educated, wrote out his leases, collected his rents, could floor any one in court, and was very popular as a justice.