A rescheduled Bluefaced Leicester sale following Wallets Marts' Blackface female sale, ensured a buoyant trade throughout at Castle Douglas, with shearling averages jumping a massive £213 on the year and ram lambs up a more modest £66 per head.

Topping the trade at £3600 was an April-born tup lamb from father and son team Alec and Anders Brown of thee Macqueston flock from Tynron, Thornhill, Dumfries. Their best, a son of the £10,000 Farden M1 which is a full brother to Farden Popeye that bred the 23,000gns lamb at Ballymena, is bred from the reserve champion at Peebles last year, a home-bred ewe by the Hewgill K26. The lamb sold in a two-way split to Andy Paton, Craig, Straiton, and R and M Dunlop, Pinvalley, Barr, Girvan.

Macqueston also topped the shearling rams at £2800 with the sire of several of their top priced Mule ewe lambs which this year averaged £128 for 400. Their M3 Macqueston ram, a son of the 9000gns L12 Shafthill tup bought at Carlisle that goes back to the G6 Midlock, is out of a ewe by the G19 Highberries. He sold to Jim Walker, Drumbuie, Sanquhar.

Another shearling from the Browns selling to the Loughridge brothers of the Northern Ireland-based Orravale flock. He is a direct son of the Highberries ram and out of a ewe by the C18 Highberries.

Jamie Nisbet, enjoyed a personal best too when a tup lamb from his 15-ewe flock from Cumnock made £2400 selling in a two-way split to Stewart Park, SP Dalpeddar, Sanquhar and John Graham, Burnbank, Stirling. He is by the L8 Skeughdale and bred from the best ewe in the flock by Midlock G42.

Two sold for £1800 to include a shearling from Robert McTurk, Barlaes, by the K8 Culdoach, out of a ewe the D2 Firth. Later, Andrew McQuistin, Barnshangan sold a ram lamb by the J14 Blarnavaid, a son of the £13,000 Highberries Hotshot, for the same money.

Averages: 109 shearling rams, £817.89 (+£213.66); 35 ram lambs, £724.29 (+£66.05).

Auctioneers: Wallets Marts.