Tup sale mayhem.......

Shep has been attending many tup sales in the past few weeks, trailing the countryside, sometimes singly, other times in company. Lockerbie in the south of Scotland was the first port of call, twice in actual fact, both times to view cheviots but two different types of cheviot, the northie type and the southie type, 'tis the latter which I have a personal penchant for. From Lockerbie the next port of call was slightly higher up in Scotland to Lanark, blackfaces this time, then a couple of days later higher up into Scotland again to Dalmally, blackfaces once again before heading south to my home ground of Hexham and guess what? Yes! More blackface tups.

 There is a reason for titling this posting as I have, a marathon may have been a more apt description but as is Shep's want I did indeed as usual manage to cause some sort of mayhem - there's just nowt simple in life sometimes! It is fair to say that the two trips to Lockerbie passed by without too much of an adoo, but then I was travelling singularly and only had myself to please. It was the trip to Lanark which caused much commotion..........

 Arrangements had been made for me to pick up a friend at 5.30am at a lay by some twenty minutes from where I live, we were to travel for an hour before leaving my motor at 6.30am and jumping in with someone else. This arrangement necessitated Shep being up by 4.30am - nae bother!

 Umm...... Did I say nae bother?

 The day previous Shep found herself working into the dark of night, on leaving the job I had been at I then found myself having to make an unexpected detour to get home, with the result I arrived home, cold, tired dirty and the night was clocking on. But not to worry, a quick shower and off to bed was the order of the day. Umm......... I now have a new abode, one with a shower! A new abode which experienced many plumbing issues. Plumbing issues which at the time were being rectified as my landlord had the plumbers in rectifying.......... They hadn't however warned me I would have a night without hot water (this is generous as to this date luke warm water was more apt). You may recall I'd stated I arrived home rather late and was COLD, tired and dirty. The thought of a cold shower really didn't instill much enthusiasm into my soul! I would trot down to the farm and 'beg' a shower - they were out for the night (how dare they!) I trotted back home again. Boiled the kettle, filled the sink and commenced trying to remove sheep shit, only to find the water was disappearing at a rate of knots - yet another plumbing issue, plug too small for plug hole!

 I went to bed, hot water bottle freshly filled, peg on nose so I couldn't smell myself and all would be well. Alarm set for 4.30am, 'phone calls had been made for the final arrangements in the morning all I had to do was wake up.

 I did wake up! It's usually a good feeling, to know you're still alive, wasn't such a good feeling this particular morning tho' as I was awoken by my 'phone ringing down stairs, not by my alarm going off. The voice on the other end enquired whether I was alright, I had noticed the clock as I scurried down the stairs 10 to 6 it registered in my brain 10 to 6 ! Shit! I was meant to be picking someone up at 5.30........

 'Twas that someone who was on the 'phone, they told me the stars were bright and it was a lovely morning to be standing in a lay by for the last half hour.

 Mayhem ensued, Shep flinging clothes on, attempting to ring the next port of call where we were expected to arrive at by 6.30am........... OH!

There is no doubt about it I had a red face for the remainder of the day. All concerned were extremely kind and patient it has to be said, we did get to Lanark, we even got there before the sale started, we even managed a hurried breakfast on arrival in the canteen - an absolute godsend as Shep was desperate for that first coffee of the morning!

There was much leg pulling for the duration of our trip. Upon arrival two of us headed for the ladies the other to the gents and then met up in the canteen, the gent was then given a blow by blow account of how Shep had tried to have a bath in the hand basin in the ladies loos.......... y'know, there are friends and then there are friends! This was followed by the promise of a pair of braces for Christmas........... I may blush too much if I tell the full story but it has to do with knicker elastic! It doesn't pay to throw clothes on in a hurry, that's for sure!

There were many local faces which I bumped into whilst at Lanark and they all seemed to be aware that I had indeed slept in, probably because most of them had been asking my friend what she was doing loitering in a lay by in the dark hours of the morning.............

Not to worry, there was a great deal of laughter during the day, tups were succesfully purchased and transported home and a good day was had by all. Fortunately when travelling to Dalmally we went up the night previous, probably to ensure Shep didn't sleep in......!

Now Hexham tup sale sailed by without too much trouble, except......... I always have a dentist appointment on tup sale day, coz I know I'll be in town that day, it won't interfere with work, sensible idea I'd thought. Shep hadn't made a note of the time of the appointment and as it had been made on the back of the lambing that was a long time ago. Mid morning saw me ring the dentist and enquire as to what time I was expected later that afternoon. "last Monday at 4pm" was the reply I received "are you sure, it's always tup sale day" I said, the second Monday of the month - that's today!"  "It's the third Monday of the month today" "Oh! Is it? I'm very sorry......."

Now I know I'm heading to that age for suffering from 'senior moments' but can anyone explain why the tup sale which is always held on the second Monday in October decided to be on the third Monday or am I really losing my marbles?

Hexham Blackfaced Tup Sale 2011

Second Monday in October is the annual tup sale for the North of England branch of Blackfaced sheep - the Hexham type.

10th October 2011 was the date and Shep mozzied along. There were a good show of tups on view, definitely more showing scotch bloodlines but the traditional Hexham type were also abundant. Trade seemed good throughout although you wouldn't have to break the bank to get a half useful hill tup.

2011 saw all records broken. A new breed record for Hexham Auction Mart was realised with the first prize shearling from Toft House. Robert Robson, shepherd, from Toft House managed not only to win the shearling class which was judged earlier in the morning, he also won the best group of three shearlings, followed by taking the overall championship. Three lots of silverware awarded to him in the ring prior to the sheep being sold, followed by the fourth cup awarded to the shepherd of the champion sheep. At the end of the sale he would also be awarded a fifth cup for the sheep which made the most money on the day. £20,000 was the magical figure.

I don't know for sure but I can't recall one farm managing to take as much silverware away in one go, a credit to the man himself and his sheep, let alone the new centre record of £20,000 paid by Robbie and Paul Coulson of High Staward.

Now I bet you're all looking forward to seeing a picture of this magical beast - so am I, there has been much blaspeming and cursing this evening but all to no avail. I cannot retrieve the photos - aargh! That nifty little pocket camera I invested in after lambing time has been getting well and truly cursed, there would now appear to be a fault on the card. A last ditch attempt will be to send the card to a friend who knows more about computers and digital things than I do - my fingers are crossed!

Needless to say, the sheep in question was a fine example.

 

Finally - a photo, taken off the mart website. At least any one viewing this post can see what the £20,000 sheep looked like.

Shep had an enjoyable day, catching up with friends, catching up with crack and thoroughly enjoying the company of a sound sheep man, a retired shepherd in his 80's from the scotch side who transformed every sheep which entered the ring with his knowleadgeable eye.

Sale report can be found here: http://www.hexhammart.co.uk/Site/index.php/sales-reports-2/store-cattle-sheep-2/

The proceedings were unfortunately cut short with a pending dentist appointment, must remember to get an earlier appointment next year! On the way home I called to visit an amazing gentleman who is closer to 100 years old than he is to 90. I will write a post about this some time soon, for now I will just say it was a cracking way to round off the day, especially as when I finally trundled up at home the other half had managed to make our supper!

My ganderings are coming to a halt, I did have an invitation to attend St Johns Chapel to view the Swaledale tup sale tomorrow but unfortunately work has to come first, I may get to Lanark on Thursday but then I may not........ I am absolutely gutted I didn't get away to Dalmally tup sale on Saturday past, however, life is too short and the date is booked for next year, come hail or high water nothing will stop me from heading away up into Scotland to view the tups at Dalmally, it is one of those MUST DO's in life and next year I WILL DO !

What is a tup sale?

I noticed recently that someone had used the search keywords "what is a tup sale?" and realised that this blog does probably sometimes remove itself from the basics and as we are heading into the tup sale season then maybe it may help to try and explain this oddity.

A tup or ram is an entire male sheep. Most of the male lambs born find themselves castrated and are known as wethers. Some are left entire and these are known as tups in this neck of the woods.

Those kept as tups are generally intended for breeding later in their lives. Usually pure bred sheep, but not always the case. For an example a blackfaced ewe may have been crossed with a Swaledale tup and the resulting offspring may have been kept to breed from, a good sheep in it's own right but not a pure breed.

There are breed societies which record the breeding lines of sheep which are registered with them, dare say these could be classed as being 'pedigree' sheep, but even those not registered with breed societies in such a way still have their pedigrees, those who bred them will be able to recall how their mothers were bred and the breeding of their fathers also. The breeding lines are important to enable shepherds to prevent in breeding of their stock.

So, back to the original question. What is a tup sale? It is a sale of entire male sheep of whatever breed. Sheep which are destined to be the fathers of the next generation.

Tup sales are generally held at auction marts, or there are collective sales such as Kelso and Builth Wells held outside an auction mart but still run by auctioneers, the sheep still go under the hammer and are bid for by the individuals interested in them.

Tup sales are advertised in advance by the auction marts on behalf of their vendors and breeds available to buy on the day will also be advertised. There are specialist sales which concentrate on one breed only and there are collective sales which will have a variety of breeds available.

The tups are sold individually, unlike sales of breeding/fat/store sheep where there may be many sheep in the ring at one go being sold as a package.

A tup will be in the ring on his own and will be sold singly.

They are penned up at the mart collectively from the farm which they are being sold from. Therefore, Farmer Smith may have 10 tups to sell, these will be penned up as 10tups in a pen all individually numbered so they can be recognised when they enter the ring by their own personal number. Farmer Smith will take his 10 tups towards the ring as a bunch but they will then be pulled out one at a time and released into the ring as a single entity.

Tup sales commence in the autumn, there have already been quite a few tup sales within the region, these being the more in-bye breeds of sheep. The hill tup sales commence later in the season. The reason being that in-bye sheep go to the tup quicker than the hill sheep do, therefore it is necessary to buy the tups you require earlier in the season.

Tup sales are busy days and there are many venues and breeds to choose from which can find farmers and shepherds alike travelling many miles from home in an attempt to purchase the sheep of their fancy. They are busy and very interesting days.

Blooming Sheep!

I often think that - "Blooming Sheep" (obviously a polite version), there are many occasions when they can cause utterances but this posting isn't going to cover any of that. The blooming of sheep may have been a better title.

How often have I and many others been asked "why are the sheep different colours?" or "why are some sheep black, others orange, or brown or yellow?"

 

 

The above photos show what I mean - different coloured sheep? Why? How does that happen?

Well, to begin with, often when sheep are thriving, they will have a natural bloom, their wool isn't white (or off white)it will have a natural mild yellowness to it, a creamy colour possibly. Unfortunately this is not a hard and fast rule as I do know of one farm where the sheep do quite literally get whiter and whiter of the skin (wool)the more they thrive, I can only presume this is dependant on different types of land. In general though sheep will show a bloom to the skin when thriving.

This thriving colour is often pushed a bit further when it comes to presenting sheep for the sale or show ring.

Sheep out on the hills will often get into rubbings (areas where they can have a bit scratch), depending on whether they found a spot on a sandy bank side of the burn, peat hagg, or clay spot will determine what colour their wool picks up. Clay being stronger in colour than sand, peat more so and black rather than yellowy. All of this natural behaviour didn't go unnoticed by shepherds in the past, many quite liked the transformation and so the blooming (colouring) of sheep would commence.

 

The above is a poor descriptive photo of iron water sediment, or ochre. It was always Shep's preferred choice, usually administered onto the wool with a brush or watering can with a small prayer for a shower of rain afterwards. If the colour came out right the sheep would almost have a foxy redness about them, with the natural oil found in the ochre giving the fleece a sheen to it. Many hard hill sheep such as Swaledales were coloured with peat. Blackfaces were often coloured with clay. Some would use red soil if available. I've even heard of someone many years ago using dysentery powder (left over on farm shelves once the dysentery vaccination came on the market) The colour often reflected what was available to use naturally off the farm or near by.

There are still traditionalists out there but in the modern era it is all too easy to buy bloom. Walk into an agricultural merchants and request a tub/bottle of bloom colouring and you would be amazed at the variety available. Coming in powder or liquid form and ranging from a shortbread colour right through to almost black. The dilution rates determining the strength of the colour.

When colouring a small number of sheep, such as for a show, a sprayer will often be used, a knapsack type sprayer with possibly a small hand held sprayer for touching up.

If wishing to colour a greater number of sheep such as for sale then the dipper will be filled.

 

There are a variety of types of dipper out on the farms and some day I'll get around to that. For the time being just be content with the thought that sheep have a bath, not only do they have a bath but they'll find themselves fully immersed in the water (don't worry, they hold their noses!).

 

The above shows the colour of the bloom against the natural whiteness of the fleece, once the sheep has been immersed in the water she will be the same colour all over, her wool picking up the colour out of the water.

 

The sheep leave the dipper quite literally soaked to the skin. As the sheep's fleece dries the colour will often lighten. Hopefully to the colour you required.

Not only does 'blooming' give the sheep a bloomy look but in actual fact it also sets off the colours. As in colours I mean the leg and face colour. Many hill sheep (swales/blackies) have black and white legs, they also have black faces, some like the swale with white noses and eyes, others with white cheeks and crowns to their heads. The colour of their skin can actually accentuate the colour of the legs and head, making it stand out more and catch the eye. Mind you it does pay to wash faces and legs prior to showing as they too can hold some of the bloom colour used on the wool, you want them to look bright.

I once overheard a shepherd at Falstone Show when asked why the sheep were all coloured reply "It's just like the missus, they like to look their best"!

Hexham Blackfaced Tup Sale, 11th October 2010

An appointment was made in May.
"You need a filing" said the dental receptionist.
"when would be convenient?"
"11th October" was my reply. This was met with raised eyebrows, but hey! the tooth was no bother and I knew I'd be in Hexham on the 11th October coz it's the tup sale day, 'tis always on the second monday of the month. Daresay I could have made an appointment sooner but what was to say it wouldn't be a good day and I'd need to get on with something to earn money to pay for the darned filling??

So. The first appointment of the morning was mine, followed by the tup sale. I missed the judging and the beginning of the sale, I couldn't speak, eat or drink for hours then took toothache and had to find some kindly farmers wife with a hand bag to seek out pain killers - but I survived!!! (never have liked the dentist!)

I actually wasn't quite on parr on the day (very sad I know!!) but did manage a wander around the pens and a bit crack around the ringside. There were some good sheep on offer. Scotch blood was apparent in some of them there is no doubt but there were still plenty of the traditional Hexham type on show too. The trade was selective to say the least but I'm sure the sales report will read well.

 

The champion of the day went to Ian Davidson of Bennetsfield, seen above receiving his silver ware

 

The tup lamb which was sold towards the end of the sale realised £2,000. The top price of the day being £10,000 for a shearling off Robert Raine, Townfoot.

 

This shearling off Carrick realised £7,000, it was one of the first prize group of three which saw Caroline Hunter of Carrick being presented with the Willie Armstrong Memorial Shield, given in memory of her late father, it must have been a very proud moment for her.

 

Selby Robson of Yatesfield sold the above sheep for £5,000.

All in all the day came and went. I did have quite a long crack with a retired shepherd off the scotch side, a noted blackfaced man in his hey day with an amazing knowledge of sheep, a man who broke all records for blackfaced tup prices way back in the '50's (long before shep's time!)and a man who said he could see a huge improvement in the Hexham tups. There are those who would disagree - staunch loyalists to the traditional type. However, it is all a matter of horses for courses, there was plenty variety and choice so there should have been something to suit everyone.