SOMEBODY somewhere must think farmers are in the money, for it has been revealed that Daimler and Maserati will be taking stand space at the Royal Highland Show, on June 21-24, for the first time.

But for once these iconic motor brands – which are used to being at the top of the tree at cars shows – will have to play second fiddle to some of the giants of the agricultural world.

Whatever the fortunes of farming, the machines that power it are an absolute necessity and there could well be a machine at the show with a price tag approaching £0.5m – I hope it comes with leather seats!

Houston, we have a problem!

There was something of a design flaw in the bouncy castle at Houston Show, last Saturday, which caused a bit of a titter amongst the more observant.

A day of sunshine had the kids out in their droves, bouncing around on the pirate ship-shaped castle all day long. For the eagle-eyed among us, there was a jolly pirate sitting astride the ship’s prow (for the non-nautical, that’s the sticky out bit at the front), and our lucky pirate friend was very proud of what appeared to be a formidable appendage.

This occasioned a fair bit of pointing and giggling among the mucky-minded among us. Tut-tut!

Giving it big licks

JIMMY WARNOCK is a busy man and it’s beginning to show.

The tireless RHASS chairman took time out from his eight-day-a-week schedule of organising the committee running the show – he manages one more day than the rest of us – to maintain his position as commentator at the West Fife Show, last weekend.

However, it would appear that either the heat or the pressure was catching up with Jimmy. On one of his very informative deliveries to the ringside, he was seen to talk into his ice-cream, rather than his microphone ... a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was supposed to be doing?

A wedding with a difference

THEY SAY a good Highland funeral is better than 10 English weddings – well we wonder what the ratio would be for a great Island wedding?

Last week, Islay’s very own Bo-Peep, Mairi Porter, tied the knot with her beau, John McCallum, in a marquee ceremony at her Bluebell Cottage, near Port Askaig.

And what a grand and different affair it turned out to be. Mairi, known locally as the ‘sheep whisperer’ for her innate ability to keep even the most poorly of orphan lambs alive, insisted on this year’s lamb crop being the ‘bridesmaids’ with big ribbons and all.

Like all good bridesmaids, the little ones followed her about dutifully all day, but did trip up on her train sometimes!