Sunart and District Agricultural Society

Dear Auntie Agnes.

 

When I lived down south most of the sheep were white in colour. On moving back to Scotland I have discovered a deeply worrying practice. I am of course referring to the practise of dyeing sheep!!! What is behind this obsession ? Is it something that was carried out by the ancient Celts or possibly the Vikings? Or heaven forbid a result of the nations obsession with 'hair products'? 

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This is causing me great concern as I have tripped over two them on the common grazing because they just blend into the heather. Who chose this colour? Could they not be dyed a more appropriate colour like '10 Mile Orange' at least you could see them in low light conditions.

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Yours sincerely,

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Concerned. Acharacle

 

 

Dear Concerned.

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Rumour has it that this practice may have originated around the early part of the eighteenth century when sheep were introduced to the Highlands. It was carried out by Crofters to make the sheep blend into the environment and thus make it more difficult for the new 'Landlords' to find them. The hope was that they would get so fed up trying to find the sheep that they would give it up in favour of cattle instead.

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With regard to the modern obsession with hair dye for sheep one only has to cast an eye over the assembled Crofters and Farmers at the Sunart Show to see the influence of television shows like 'Made in Chelsea' and 'Katie Price my Crazy Life' have had on these individuals. However, dyeing sheep is a step too far! What next, wee Booties for their feet or teeth whitening? Will normality ever return to the Highlands, one can only guess!

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Dear Auntie Agnes.

 

I was recently invited to attend a ‘Stock Judging Competition’. It was a fun event to raise money in order to send some of the pupils from the local school to Africa to help with some ongoing projects there. A noble cause indeed. However, I am a little concerned at the lack of consideration given to some of those who attended this event. I refer of course to those suffering from ‘Colour Blindness’! This is no funny matter as I remember with embarrassment the day I went to the till in a department store with some light green underwear and the lady commenting on my choice of lovely ‘Pink’ pants. I think my face cheeks changed to the same colour (light green). You see I’m Red Green colour blind and although I was initially pleased to see that the sheep were actually natural in colour, I was dismayed to see that they used just a colour spot to identify the sheep. And what were two of the colours they used, yep! You guessed it RED and GREEN. How short sighted was that (pardon the pun). Could they not have added an additional symbol or even just a number to identify the sheep. As a result my scores were quite low which I'm sure was primarily down my colour blindness. 

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Yours sincerely.

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Mr. Redginald Green (Most people just call me 'Red').

Kingairloch.

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Dear Red.

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Thank you for your shocking insight into the muddy (brown) world of 'Stock Judging Competitions'.
It made me see 'Red' (or was it Green?). It is commonly known that there are approximately 3 million people in the UK who are colour blind, so I suspect the organisers may have fixed your event in their favour. Did the organisers dress in clothing that had subtle Red and Green tones, as this is a common tactic to fool the brain into recognising the wrong colour. I do sympathise, as my friend Pinky (also colour blind) had an unfortunate incident when she chose the the wrong tinted shampoo for her dog Violet. It is now called 'Old Yeller'. Luckily I've never had this problem with my dog 'Blackie'. All I can suggest is that you insist the judges dress in more neutral colours as suggested by 'concerned, Acharacle' (see above) like '10 mile Orange'. You could also get a set of number stencils from 'Ebay' and a can of Silver spray paint and apply your own numbers. Mind you the judges might see Red... or in some cases Blue if too many people start spray painting the sheep.

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