Record-breaking Cheviot ram trade at Lairg

Top prices of £22,000 and £20,000 helped push average to new high of more than £1,776.

By Reporter

October 12 2024, 6:00 am

This sale topper from the Dorrery flock, near Halkirk, sold for £22,000.

North Country Cheviot sheep breeders enjoyed record-breaking trade at their latest ram sale at Lairg, in Sutherland.

The United Auctions event delivered a new average high of £1,776.53, up nearly £287 on the year, for 28 more rams sold and with a 98% clearance.

It was a memorable day for Martyn Cook and family of the Dorrery flock, Scotscalder, Halkirk.

They sold the top two highest priced lots at £22,000 and £20,000.

Top two rams at Lairg sale both sired by Attonburn Antidote

Sale leader was a two-shear, sired by the £10,000 Attonburn Antidote, purchased by the Adam family, of Auldallan, Glen Isla.

Another two-shear ram by the same sire from Dorrery made £20,000. Dorrery Dynamite was purchased by Robert and Becca Rennie, who were buying back some of their own genetics for the Attonburn flock at Yetholm, near Kelso.

Martyn Cook's Dorrery Dynamite sold for £20,000. — Martyn Cook’s Dorrery Dynamite sold for £20,000.

The remainder of the pen also proved to be high fliers, with another Antidote son realising £8,000 in his sale to Paul Spencer, of Rhifail, Newton of Ferintosh, on the Black Isle.

At £7,000 and also from the Dorrery flock was a son of Attonburn Bitter Sweet, a sire used on loan that sold for £10,000 at Lockerbie to Michael and Lillias Elliot, of Woodside, Yetholm, in 2022.

The two-shear was bought by John Blackhall, of East Brachmont, Durris, in Aberdeenshire.

Wilma’s ram fetches £18,000

Local breeder Wilma Robertson, of 3 Borgie, was another in the money.

She pocketed £18,000 from the sale of a two-shear ram to Andrew Elliot and his Balnakeil flock in Caithness. Brought out by shepherd Charlie Henderson, this two-shear is sired by Inverbroom Thor and was bought for £6,200, in Dingwall, in 2020.

This one was the top seller from Wilma Robertson's pen. It fetched £18,000. — This one was the top seller from Wilma Robertson’s pen. It fetched £18,000.

Badanloch Estate, near Kinbrace in Sutherland, also had a successful day, with a pen average of £5,739.

Managed by Hughie McKenzie, the flock took £11,000 for Badanloch Destroyer, a three-shear ram by a Stouphill tup used on loan.

He’s off to the Borders after being sold to George Irving, of Mount Benger, Yarrow, near Selkirk.

The second five-figure price of the pen came for Badanloch Champion, another three-shear ram and a son of the £16,000 Badanloch Xtra Special. Aptly named Champion, he took the tricolour honours at Sutherland Show in 2023 and was male champion at Lairg last November.

He was knocked down to Norman and David Douglas of the Whitehope flock, Catslackburn, Yarrow for £10,000.

Other leading prices at Lairg

Other top prices from Badanloch included a three-shear son of Badanloch Aristocrat which sold to AJ Beaton, of Gesto, Skye, for £7500. And another three-shear by Suisgill Santa Klaus made £6,500. It was sold to Welbeck Farms, of Ousdale, Berriedale, on the east coast of Caithness.

Hughie’s other half, Jan McKenzie, of Langdale Croft, Strathnaver, Kinbrace, also took advantage of the busy ringside.

Her pen leader and 2023 Black Isle champion, Langdale Cavalier, fetched £9,000.

Strong breeder

Having already proved himself as a strong breeder at home, this three-shear show tup sold to David Baillie, of Calla, Carnwath, near Lanark.

On the debit side, Jan went to £9,000 for a two-shear ram from Bob, Kay, Andrew and James Adam, of Auldallan, near Kirriemuir in Angus. His dam is by the £10,000 Stouphill Tam, while his homebred father goes back to a Migdale bloodline.

Cross-border raid for Danger Mouse

Also hitting the £11,000 bracket was Hethpool Danger Mouse, the pen leader from David and Alison Rock’s Northumberland-based Hethpool flock. He’s a grandson of Hartsidehill Alonzo, which was bought at Lockerbie in 2021 for a then record-breaking £18,000. Danger Mouse’s sire is Hartsidehill Baxter, which was used on loan that year.

The two-shear was chapped down to WW Dunlop, of Commonside, Hawick.

Another by the same sire from the Rocks’ flock fetched £6,000. The two-shear, Hethpool Double Trouble, was purchased by SJ Harrison, of Aimshaugh, Cumbria.

It was also a two-shear that topped Leslie Robertson’s Inkstack trade and achieved the first five-figure sale of the day when selling at £10,000.

Bred by Ted Fox, of Symington, Lanarkshire, St Johns Awesome, was bound for Dumfries and Galloway, after being bought by M and S Wilson, of Newbank, Beattock.

Lucrative trip north for Borders duo

Inkstack’s pen leader then realised £8,500, selling to Michael and Lilias Elliot, of Woodside, Yetholm, Kelso. He is sired by a North Loch Navar tup.

The long trip north from Kelso proved lucrative for Robert and Becca Rennie, of Attonburn Farm. Their pen leader, Attonburn Drop Out, was sold for £10,000. A two-shear by Badanloch Xtra Special, it was headed for Sutherland with Hughie McKenzie.

More tip-top tups

Rounding off the big money lots, Dallas and Ruth Allen of Stouphill, Alnwick, sold their pen leader for £7,500. This two-shear was completely homebred and is a grandson of Badanloch Tip Top Tup. In purchasing him, Hughie took back some of his own genetics.

George Irving’s Benger flock from Yarrow notched up a top price of £6,500 for a two-shear by Attonburn Apollo. A triplet brother to Benger Dambuster, which sold for £12,000 at Lockerbie last month, he was purchased by Philiphaugh Estate, Selkirk.

Meanwhile, John Blackhall of East Brachmont, near Banchory, got £5,200 for a two-shear that has been used successfully at home. He is by Stouphill Admiral and sold to Achentoul Farms, of Kinbrace.