Cheviot Ram Sale
2006

The annual sale of Hill Cheviots at Lockerbie took a while to spring to life, but there were few complaints with the final outcome which resulted in an overall average of £635.05 for 319 sold – a fall of £2.92 on last year when 320 changed hands.

Only 25 of the 334 rams forward were unsold. Tim Douglas, the president of the breed society, commented: “I think it is has been a thoroughly satisfactory sale, given the state of the farming industry.”

The top price of £11,000 came late in the day for a shearling from Billy Goodfellow, Glengeith, Elvanfoot. This strong tup is by the £2,100 Winterhope Quarry out of a ewe by a £4,500 Unthank sire. The buyer was Jim Robertson, Becks, Langholm.

The Becks consignment as usual attracted keen attention with a lead call of £8,000 for a shearling by the £11,000 Glengeith X factor out of a ewe by the home-bred Director. The joint buyers were Alan Common, Crossdykes, Lockerbie, and Jimmy and George Irving, Mount Benger, Yarrow.

The same breeding was behind another from Becks which sold for £7,500 to the consortium of Glengeith, Airthrie Estates, Glenochar, Elvanfoot, and Robert and John Paton, Castle Crawford, Biggar. Another from Becks by Elsdonburn Alert made £4,000 to Langholm Farms, Cooms, Langholm. The Glengeith sire was also behind a £3,200 sale from Becks to Brian Ryder, Newton, Moffat.

Early in the sale Becks paid £4,000 for the best of the useful pen from Cooms. The sire of this two-shear was the £2,600 Stirkfield Leader. Cooms also sold a son of Glenochar Jimmy for £2,800 to Castle Crawford.

At £3,000 George and Ian Bell, Bloch, Langholm, sold a two-shear by Hislop Hawk to Glengeith. Another from the same home by Becks Afterthought went for £2,200 to IG & ME Jones, Isaf Farm, Brecon, Powys.

Mount Benger enjoyed a useful trade as the sale drew to its conclusion with a best of £3,000 for a shearling by Cooms Halfshare selling to Morag and Blair Cockburn, Stirkfield, Biggar. The same sire responsible for another from this flock making £2,200 to Cooms.

The Stirkfield consignment attracted keen attention after winning the award for the best group of three and the overall reserve championship in the pre-sale show judged by Mark Little of Langholm.

Best of the Stirkfield pen at £2,400 was the reserve champion – a son of the £2,200 Tushielaw Schumacher, a tup still going strong at seven shear. The buyers were J Anderson & Son, Priesthaugh, Hawick. Another from the group by Mainside Jethart’s Here sold at £2,000 to Mount Benger, while the third member of the group, and again by the Mainside sire, made £1,400 to Crossdykes.

Mark Bell, Winterhope, Lockerbie, had a best of £2,000 for one by the home-bred Rascal. This sheep sold to Sandy Fleming, Hislop, Teviothead, Hawick.

Alan Common’s Crossdykes pen looked well and had a best of £2,200 for a shearling son of Catslack Vili selling to Becks. A son of the home-red Asterix from Crossdykes joins the Saughtree flock of Andrew Douglas at Newcastleton.

The Upper Hindhope flock of Tim Elliot has been selling rams for over 150 years and this time achieved a best of £1,800 for a massive two shear by Singlie Ferrari selling to J Laurie & Co, Carterton, Lockerbie.

William Hislop, Northhouse Cottage, Hawick, had only two rams forward, but his best, a shearling by Cooms Kestrel, made £2,000 to Scott Easton, Langhope, Selkirk.

The overall champion, a two shear by Glengeith Gene from Castle Crawford, made a relatively modest £600 to Bloch.

Robert Mezies, Chanlockfoot, Penpont, did well with his small consignment selling to a top of £2,000. This son of Hislop Investment sold to Roy Weir, Townfoot, Thornhill. Norman and David Douglas, Catslackburn, Yarrow, has a quieter sale than for some years. Their best by Hislop Jag made £1,400 to Hindhope.

Leading flock averages

Attonburn (6 sold) top £800 av £323 – (last year £521)
Mainside (Weir) (3) top £400 av £300 (na)
Upper Hindhope (10) top £700 av £217 (£372)
Cooms (7) top £4,000 av £1,243 (£1,041)
Crosscleugh (7) top £1,200 av £477 (£173)
Mainside (6) top £1,400 av £542 (£417)
Glendearg (4) top £1,000 av £413 (£600)
Winterhope (13) top £2,000 av £428 (£522)
Cowburn (13) top £1,200 av £436 (£388)
Skelfhill (10) £1,000 av £588 (£981)
Hindhope (12) top £1,800 av £567 (£664)
Stirkfield (14) top £2,400 av £755 (£605)
Tushielaw (9) top £500 av £252 (£528)
Singlie (7) top £600 av £327 (£544)
Hislop (13) top £1400 av £473 (£992)
Cossarhill(5) top £500 av £278 (£243)
Becks (17) top £8,000 av £1,836 (£2,196)
Castle Crawford (17) top £800 av £350 (£917)
Crossdykes (20) £2,200 av £635 (£951)
Chanlockfoot (6) top £2,000 av £575 (£208)
Elsdonburn (5) top £600 av £410 (£597)
Glengeith (7) top £11,000 av £2,116 (£1,016)
Catslackburn (15) top £1,400 av £589 (£800)
Carlenrig (5) top £700 av £296 (£160)
Bloch (15) top £3,000 av £842 (£550)
Unthank (3) £1,500 av £784 (£830)
Mount Benger (10) top £3,000 av £750 ((£496)
Easter Alemoor (6) top £600 av £303 (£284)