ONE OF Scotland's finest stockmen, Ewen MacPherson, of Mill Farm House, Benderloch, passed away recently and, in usual fashion, did so on his own terms even after a long illness.

Ewen died just after celebrating his 87th birthday and in time to be with his late wife Carrie for their wedding anniversary. He informed his family that his funeral must be the following Thursday so that it did not coincide with either the Thainstone Spectacular (Wednesday) or the Cally Marts premier calf sale (on the Friday).

Ironically, these were two of The Coot's (as he was known) favourite events for picking out the stars of the future for his show plans for the next year.

Ewen was one of Scotland's most celebrated exhibitors of prime stock, but he cut his teeth by showing Ayrshire cattle and Blackface sheep in his younger years.

Born at Mains of Kilmoronock, near Gartocharn, in 1926, the eldest son of Donnie and Sara MacPherson, they soon moved to Benderloch to the area which he always regarded as 'home'. A pupil at Lochnell School, Ewen did not excel in his schoolwork and was often sent 'to tend the garden.'

After marrying Carrie in 1948, a brief stint in the Cotswolds working for his uncle Johnny, saw them return to Dalrannoch in 1950 to a small farming operation, supplemented by Ewen operating a grocery van.

The money saved doing this was used to buy the farm's first two cows, Lucy and Daisy. Along with Donnie McCormick, from Lismore, Ewen also used to purchase Ayrshire bulling heifers at Lanark, then keep them for a year to sell as calving heifers.

It was with those heifers that Ewen first got the showing bug, but, as became evident with his prime stock showing, he was never happy with second! In the late 1960s, he moved into suckler cows, with Angus bulls put to Irish Blue-greys, with calves being sold at Oban.

He also had a flock of Blackface sheep and he sold shearlings to £1800 in 1977, but the cattle were always his passion. To supplement and complement the small farm, Ewen bought his first lorry in the 1960s and this developed into a thriving haulage business - but also provided the means to travel to shows.

In the early 1970s, he bought his first Charolais bull along with his great friend and mentor, John Warnock, of Killocraw, and this kick-started a passion for showing beef cattle, with success at Lorn, Dalmally, Mid Argyll and Lochaber shows.

In 1992, the family sold Dalrannoch, where they had established a successful farm food bar a decade or so before, moving across the road to the Mill Farm. By then, showing cattle was a big thing for the family and they had started to win tickets at the Scottish Winter Fair with home-bred cattle and they attended their first Smithfield Show, in London, in 1988.

The record of success achieved at these shows is second to none. The MacPherson team won the Scottish event five times and Smithfield three times, and notably both of them with the same animal, with a win at Thainstone Christmas Classic too.

The famous 'double' was achieved by The Bandit, which controversially Ewen had forfeited the prize-money from the Winter Fair to go to Smithfield, where it also won and was bid to £12,000 to come back to Scotland with the Jess family for their meat business in Paisley. Like many of the best MacPherson deals, this one was sealed by a large dram after the event.

Ewen also judged the Winter Fair and Smithfield (twice), and his list of champions reached legendary status, with the likes of Whisky Galore, Sheridan, John's Boy, Lord of the Isles, Donald Bhan and Fizz up there with the very best of them.

But it was as a person where Ewen really shone. He had an iron handshake and was a staunch friend to many, especially those who helped him on the show scene, where Robin Dunlop, John Currie and the late Willie Porteous were always in the vanguard.

He loved the craic at shows and sales, and dispensed wisdom and laughter in equal proportions to the drams. A firm favourite was the local ploughing match which seemed to go on for much longer than the allotted one day!

Away from farming, Ewen was an elder in his local church, was a proud mason and supported Rangers Football Club. He also loved and was loved by a thriving family, and via his and Carrie's five children, Carol, Sara, Edith, Donald and Ewen, had 15 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.