Highland show/sheepdog trials Elgin area c. 1881

[doddie]

Not sure if this is the right board for posting this query, but here goes anyway. Does anybody know if there is a way of finding out the details of Scottish highland shows in the late nineteenth century. Alexander Allan - someone I am researching - took part in the sheepdog trials at a highland show/gathering in the Elgin area c. 1881. He was apparently 14 years of age when he won his section with a dog named Dandy. I believe that the trial had the title of the Grand National Sheepdog Trials. I know all of this is a bit vague but I do not kow where to look for information on this subject. Any help will be most appreciated.

Regards

Doddie

[Tracey]

You could try contacting the local heritage at Moray.

Heritage Centre
Old East End Primary School
Institution Road
Elgin
Moray
Telephone No.01343 569011
Email heritage@moray.gov.uk

Extremely very helpful people there, i cant praise them enough.

[Montrose Budie]

Hi Tracey

There just have to be newspapers reports of such an event.

But I don't have any real expertise in this area except to state that I am certain that there will be valuable information for you waiting to be found.

Hopefully 'Currie', TS's newspaper archives expert will pick up on this thread !

mb

[Currie]

Hello Doddie,

This so-called expert has been plodding through the old newspapers and come out the other end covered in dust and ink, and aged considerably.

The Highland Society of Scotland and the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland appear to be one and the same. Their shows were held at the following places: 1875 Glasgow, 1876 Aberdeen, 1877 Edinburgh, 1878 Dumfries, 1879 Perth, 1880 Kelso, 1881 Stirling, 1882 Glasgow, 1883 Inverness, 1884 Edinburgh.

Every County and district seems to have had its own Farmers or Agricultural Association or Club with the potential of running some sort of sheep dog competition in connection with their show. There was the Royal Northern and Agricultural Society, but their shows were apparently usually at Aberdeen. Then there was the Morayshire Farmer Club which appears to have had some connection to the Morayshire Agricultural Association, or Society. And that’s not to mention the various collie and canine clubs who latched onto the sheepdog trial thing.

Here’s an interesting site. See the section for Scotland and the Aberdeen and North of Scotland Collie Club etc. I’ve seen references in the Aberdeen Journal to “the Collie Club” holding sheep dog trials as part of their show from at least 1882. http://www.isds.org.uk/news/EarlySheepd ... oject.html

Not getting far with all that, I put on my Google-book hat.

There’s a reference on page 21 of this book to an Allan Alexander Allan and the Grand National Sheep Dog Trial. He sounds like the same fellow. It goes like this http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&t ... =&gs_rfai=

"He was born Allan Alexander Allan in a small town in Scotland. His father raised sheep and had a blacksmith shop; he was also noted for his ability to understand animals, and their ability to understand and obey him. Young Allan had this rapport to an even greater degree. Short but athletic, Allan once won a footrace for boys under eight, and after that he won races against older boys.
In his early teens he took over the training of a Border collie which refused to work for its owner. Scotty Allan won the dog's confidence, and the team went on to win the Grand National Sheep Dog Trials.
His father then sent the boy to a training school for horsemen. There his remarkable ability to gain the confidence of animals again proved itself. At nineteen, he was hired to take a registered purebred Clydesdale stallion to South Dakota. The horse was notably bad-tempered. During a furious North Atlantic storm, Scotty was able to calm all of the horses being ……….."

The book says that the team went on to win. I think you could read that as the owner won and I would say that the owners name would appear against the awarding of any prize, with no mention of anyone involved in the training.

See also
http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?sectio ... entId=2558

In the 19C Newspapers, the only references I can find for ‘Grand National Sheep Dog Trials’ are some 1877 advertisements for same to be held at Bala, in Wales, referred to in the site I mentioned before. The trials are usually referred to as plain old ‘National Sheep Dog Trials.’

All the best,
Alan

[Montrose Budie]

As I'd hoped could be the case 'Currie' has come good !!

mb

[doddie]

Thanks for all the replies. The information supplied has been most helpful for my research.

Regards

Doddie

[Currie]

And here’s a poem for luck.
http://www.archive.org/stream/upinalask ... rch/scotty

All the best,
Alan

[Alan SHARP]

Great poem you found Alan, and lucky 'doddie' was not researching the name of MacKENZIE. Those dogs and skills were mush sort after in New Zealand too. Though numbers are declining now, we still have plenty of sheep, as does Australia.

Alan SHARP.

[Jamboesque]

Alan,

Do they still have sheep counting competitions in rural NZ?

Is the winner the one that falls asleep last?

Jack

[Alan SHARP]

Alan,

Do they still have sheep counting competitions in rural NZ?

Is the winner the one that falls asleep last?

Jack

Greetings Jack.

The simple answer is yes.

If you GOOGLE; Te Kuiti Sheep Run, you will see mention of the competing TV's video footage plus other items relating to Te Kuiti's annual "King Country" festivities in the North Island, an hour and a half drive from where I live in central Waikato..

QUOTE [4 Apr 2009 ... Watch extended footage from today's 'Sheep Run' in Te Kuiti that got just a little out of control. Te Kuiti Sheep Run - extended footage.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Te-Kuiti-Sheep-R ... fault.aspx - Cached]

Most of the Highland pursuits, that you would be familiar with in Scotland, also have their counterpart here in New Zealand. The one they frown upon though, is rustling with sheep dogs. Don't see it as natural justice, though that’s how the MacKenzie Country got named in the South Island.

Alan SHARP.