OBITUARY
A Tribute to Alex Cant By Audrey Anderson
Alexander Small Fleming Cant was born to Bob and Nan Cant on 19th January 1930. Eldest brother to Wilson and Elma. Husband to Jessie. Dad to Wilma and Audrey. Grandad to Alana, Linzi and Abbie. Dad was born at Craigton, Monikie. He attended Monikie Primary School, before going onto the Morgan Academy, Dundee. His parents had high hopes of him becoming a doctor, or lawyer, but dad had other ideas. He left school at 16 to work on the family farm, his passion at that time was for Clydesdale horses. He was winning ploughing competitions from the age of 17, with his greatest achievement coming at the age of 21 when he became the youngest Highland Show Medal winner for ploughing at that time. Young Farmers again proved its worth as a tried and tested matchmaker, with Dad being a Member and later Chairman of South Angus Club, and Mum being a Member and Secretary of Arbroath Club. Despite their differences, often said by Dad to be epitomised by the fact that Mum had a telephone in their house and Dad had to go to the village for one, they were married on 27th June 1956, at Arbirlot Church. In 1969, Mum decided she would like a Hereford heifer, and so they bought one from Dad’s Uncle, Alex Cant, Drowndubbs who also offered to keep it for them. However, they went out one morning to find it dead, at which point, Dad decided they would do it properly, and Panmure Herefords was founded. One of their earliest successes was with Cheviot Lily, who won just about every show she went to, and won the Inter-breed Championship at our local County Show three years running. They bought some of their first poll cattle at the St. Aubrey dispersal sale, where Dad bought big framed cattle, which he saw as the future for the Hereford Breed. He was involved in the development of the Caledonian Cattle Company, along with Denis and Ron Wilson and John Gill, with Mum and Dad hosting the launch. They imported three bulls from Canada, Remitall Patriot, Remitall Prophet and Remitall Marathon, which they used to introduce outside genetics into their herds. As a dedicated Member of the Scottish Hereford Breeders’ Association and avid supporter of the showing circuit, he enjoyed much success. He exhibited at the Royal Highland Show every year, and enjoyed great success, having won every Major Championship apart from the Overall Championship. This honour did not come until 2006 when we won with newly purchased stock bull, Solpoll 1 Brigadier, however, in an unfortunate turn of events, Dad was not able to attend that show, the first time he had ever missed it. This did have people asking if perhaps he should have stayed away sooner! Dad came up with the idea of holding a Scottish National Hereford Show, which would move around the country each year, with the first one being held in 1996 at Fife Show. The Panmure herd have enjoyed great success at these shows, having won them 6 times so far. As well as supporting the shows as an exhibitor, Dad was honoured whenever he was asked to judge. He judged all over the country with the pinnacle of his judging career coming in 1983 at the Royal Highland Show.
108 HEREFORDS
108 HEREFORD BREED JOURN AL 2012
One of Dads greatest achievements in the Hereford world came in 2006, when Panmure was named National Herd of the Year. We had a stellar year, winning the Highland Show, Scottish National and then the Herd competition. The herd consisted of just 16 cows, and Dad was immensely proud that he had achieved so much with so few cows. Despite being a Hereford man at heart, Dad bought his first Charolais in 1992 and formed the Panmure Charolais Herd. He enjoyed early success, with our first ever bull, Ignition, winning first prize at Perth Bull Sales and making 5000gns. We learnt over time that it wasn’t quite as easy as we had first thought. Much to the disappointment of Dad, Abbie fell in love with the Charolais breed, purchasing her first heifer in 2014. Although in recent years Dad had not been able to attend the shows, he still kept in contact with the many friends he had made throughout his time in the Breed. He had many fond memories of Highland Shows past; especially when one kindred spirit thought it would be a good idea to clip his new tie in half, inspired by the Famous Grouse. Dad was extremely proud of all he achieved in this Breed, and greatly valued the many friends he made.