Crossing-type Blues from the Midlock and Macqueston flocks led the last of the re-scheduled ‘Kelso’ ram sales – Bluefaced Leicesters sold through Lawrie and Symington’s Lanark centre, producing the top two prices amongst the shearling rams and tup lambs respectively.

The sale, staged two weeks after Kelso, did however fail to attract the usual commercial shearling buyers and as a result, prices were not as high as they could have been. The lamb trade was nevertheless well up to the mark with a lot more sold.

It was however a shearling ram that topped the trade at £9200 when the pen leader from Allan and Ben Wight, Midlock, Crawford, sold in a two-way split to North of England breeders, Andy Hunter, The Steel, Bellingham and Martyn Archer, Carry House, Hexham.

The sire of 15 of the top Mule ewe lambs sold at Stirling last month, this big fella is a son of the £20,000 L3 Steel lamb bought at Hawes in 2018, out of a ewe by the J30 Midlock.

The same sire was behind the £5200 Midlock shearling which was bred from a Midlock Mustang daughter. He was knocked down to Jack and Sheila Kay, Hartside, Oxton, Lammermuir.

A flying trade for all the Midlock shearlings which included another sale at £3000 for a son of the same Steel ram, and the flock produced the lead average of £2825 for 12.

Securing the top two sales amongst the lambs at £8000 and £5000 for Alec and Anders Brown’s 30-ewe Macqueston flock from Tynron, Dumfriesshire, were sons of the £10,000 M1 Farden, bought last year at Hawes. Dearest was the pen’s No 2, bred from a home-bred ewe by the £8000 Lundale, which is a full sister to £5500 and £4500 lambs sold at Hawes in 2017. The buyer was Ron Wilson, Carrholme, Armathwaite, Carlisle.

The pen leader, bred from a Macqueston ewe that is a full sister to the flock’s home-bred stock tup, Blue Tag, being sired by the K1 Carry House, made £5000 to Sam McClymont and sons William and Scott, of the Auld Tinnis flock from Tinnis, Yarrow. Macqueston produced the lead flock average amongst the lambs at £3775 for four.

The Browns also enjoyed a good day with their shearling rams which sold to £4200 and £3200.

The former, a son of the K26 Hewgill bought at Carlisle in 2017 in partnership with the Steel, is bred from a home-bred ewe that produced the £3600 top priced lamb at Castle Douglas, earlier in the week. She is got by semen from Hewgill’s Stork tup and is also a full sister to the reserve champion at Peebles Show, last year. Northern Ireland breeder, Robert Loughridg of the Orravale flock from Armoy, Ballymoney, was the final bidder on this tup which bred Mule ewe lambs up to £158 at Castle Douglas, with the flock’s 400 lambs cashing in at £128.

Back amongst the shearling rams and Obie Sharp’s much talked about pen leader from the Newbigging Walls flock from Lauder made £4800 selling to Professor Penny’s Harehead unit, managed by Neil Anderson, Cranshaws. This stylish big tup is backed by home-bred genetics on both sides being sired by The Ghost, the £15,000 L11 Newbigging Walls tup sold last year at Kelso, onto a ewe by the £9000 G1 Duhonw. A real crossing tup, he was the sire of three of the top pen of lambs that made £160 at St Boswells.

Brothers John and James Graham, enjoyed a personal best too, selling shearling rams from their 60-ewe Burnbank flock to a top of £4000 for a son of a £3200 L11 Riddings bought at Hawes in 2018. The sire of ewe lambs sold at £146 through Caledonian Marts’ Stirling, he is bred from a home-bred ewe by the J1 Kirkby Redgate that stood second in her class at the Highland and the Great Yorkshire as a ewe lamb. Two North of England breeders forked out the cash here to include W and P Walton, Penpeugh, Allensgreen and SH Morshead, Harsondale, Langley Upon Tyne.

There were more good crossing genetics behind the best from Robert McKie’s Finniness flock from Castle Douglas, which made £3600 selling to RM Dunlop and Son, Pinvalley, Barr, Girvan. A son of the L4 Farden, which is an ET brother to the £10,000 Farden Popeye, this shearling that has bred Mule ewe lambs to £155, is bred from an SP Dalpeddar ewe bought privately, by the J22 Old Hemley.

Sons of the J1 Hott Bank, a tup bought at Carlisle as a shearling for £3600 proved popular for James Herdman’s Edlingham flock too, with yearlings and tup lambs to £3500. The shearling from the Alnwick-based flock was knocked down to Percy Farming, Alnwick, with the ram lamb selling to DL Wood, Alwinton, Harbottle, Morpeth.

averages: 182 shearling rams £1092.14 (+£51); 46 ram lambs, £1394.57 (+£759.90).

OTHER LEADING prices

Shearling rams – £3200 – Blarnavaid, by a K20 Midlock to B Blaney and Sons, Cushendall, Co Antrim; Blarnavaid, by a K20 Midlock, to J More, Townhead, Arnprior, Kippen; Macqueston, by a K1 Carry House, to R Loughridge, Armoy, Ballymoney. £3000 – Dawyck, by a H1 Carry House, to A Paton and Co, Craig, Straiton; Midlock, by the L3 Steel, to J Hodgson, High Borrans, Windermyre.

Ram lambs – £3400 – Firth, by an L11 Newbigging Walls, to MC Roberts, Myfyrian Isaf, Anglesey, £3200 – Cottage, by an M25 Cottage, to RJ Fallows and Sons, Burnton, New Cumnock. £2600 – Firth, by an L11 Newbigging Walls, to C Campbell, Easter Happrew, Peebles and WH Sharp and Son, Newbigging Walls, Lauder. £2400 – Blarnavaid, to J Mills, Kilwaughter, Larne, Northern Ireland.

FLOCK averages

Flock (No) Top (£) Average

Shearling rams

Mid Auchengray (8) 2000 925.00

Firth (12) 1100 616.67

Parkgatestone (10) 900 630.00

Blarnavaid (4) 3200 2275.00

Hartside,

Lammermuir (5) 2000 1510.00

Kirkstead (5) 850 810.00

SP Dalpeddar (4) 1300 1075.00

Coultermill (4) 400 350.00

Kingledores (4) 550 437.50

Macqueston (5) 4200 2400.00

Burnton (5) 1400 960.00

Townhead Farm (3) 1000 866.66

Drimsynie (4) 1200 812.50

Mendick (8) 800 506.25

Forebrae (3) 1700 900.00

Burnbank (6) 4000 1500.00

Happrew (7) 1700 1142.85

Newbigging Walls (9) 4800 1294.44

Newfield Mains (3) 350 350.00

Dawyck (8) 3000 1243.75

Hamildean (7) 1100 524.28

Dreva (3) 750 716.66

Edlingham (4) 3500 1837.50

Allanfauld (6) 2200 1316.66

Tintoside (3) 2600 1283.33

Linkshead (4) 550 437.50

Auld Tinnis (6) 800 641.66

Midlock (12) 9200 2825.00

Shitlington (3) 650 416.66

Ram lambs

Steel (3) 800 700.00

Carry House (3) 1100 833.33

Firth (5) 3400 1710.00

Dawyck (3) 2000 1266.66

Macqueston (4) 8000 3775.00

Midlock (4) 1500 1050.00

Shitlington (3) 1500 1066.66

Auld Tinnis (3) 2000 1466.66