ARCHIE McARTHUR Archie McArthur I was brought up on the family dairy farm in Mid Argyll at a time when mostly all the farms in the area had dairy cows. Hill farms were stocked with Blackface sheep and Highland,Galloway or more often cross cows originating from these breeds. The county had many excellent stockmen and great pride was taken at all the shows and sales when their stock was being shown and sold. I remember a lot of respect and support given to fellow competitors from not only winners but losers too and this has always stuck with me. As a six year old showing Ayrshire calves you learn pretty quickly to take whatever award you get with appreciation and not to bare a grudge, not so easy though at that age ! On leaving school I attended Lawers School of Agriculture in Perthshire and later enjoyed being a student at Elmwood College in Cupar. Whilst working at home, Young Farmers took up any spare time and although completely out my comfort zone at times I was encouraged to take part in many of the activities available, as with life itself, the more effort that was put in to the association, the more experience and enjoyment was received. Much of what was learned turned out to very useful in later life. Towards the end of my Young Farmer days, I was awarded the Young Farmers Ambassadors Award and spent six months in Canada working on the prairies in Saskatchewan which I found both enjoyable and educational. I still remember the farmers who I met and the many bits of advice, friendship and kindness which they showed to me not to mention the things I learned and the friends I made.
Bhan Og 6th of Ormsary, 2-3 years old (Oct 1999), Champion, Dalmally at 3-4yo. Sold as in-calf heifer, Oban, October 2000, 4000gns.
44 Highland Breeders’ Journal 2022
After that adventure, I began working on the local Ormsary Estate in Argyll where I was engaged as foreman on the large upland unit owned by Sir William Lithgow. Four years later, I was given the position of farm manager, married my wife Anne shortly afterwards and we hit the ground running. It was whilst at Ormsary that along with a large herd of suckler cows, hill sheep and an expanding lowground sheep flock, I managed the herd of Highland Cattle which had been established by Alan Mac Kenzie in 1946. It was a time when the breed as a whole was lacking numbers and any sort of consideration in the market place. Cross highland females were in demand as suckler cows and many of the larger herds crossed Highland cows with beef bulls with the female progeny sold for breeding. During my time at Ormsary, the cows were always fed on the low hill in the winter and ran with the bull on the higher hill in the summer together with the in calf autumn calving commercial cows. Young stock were summered on the other unit we farmed at Drums in Renfrewshire where they grew on naturally on grass and away from any of the stock bulls at Ormsary. Bullocks were fattened there and we had a successful period of retailing beef from Highland and Shorthorn progeny. Showing Highland stock was centered primarily at the Argyll county shows where getting a ticket with Highlanders was and still is as difficult as it was with good Ayrshires in my formative years. We had a lot of fun over the years, we had good days and bad days but showed what was available at the time. Some years the results were good others not so much but seldom were we particularly hard done to. Showing livestock can be many things, it can be stressful, much work, great fun and rewarding. At times you may get a bit of luck getting awards not expected which you should grab with both hands. I believe the harder you work at it the luckier you will get. Our main annual event would be the Highland Cattle Sales in Oban where we would take our in calf heifers for sale and just like the summer shows, we had good years and less successful years. I always went with heifers which were for sale and not necessarily for showing and am quietly proud of what we achieved. The three herds which I was ultimately responsible for were Ormsary, Inver and Carsaig and I was pleased to have all three herds produce breed champions at the sales. During my Presidency of the Highland Cattle Society which I enjoyed very much, we held the first International Gathering of Highland Cattle Breeders during June 1995 to correspond with the Royal Highland Show.
