THE ubiquitous commentary voice of the West Coast show circuit and Highland cattle expert, Angus Mackay, turned 70 recently and celebrated in some style in the Royal Hotel, in Oban – the scene of many a Highland cattle-inspired debacle.

By all accounts, it was a grand night and a great showcase for a traditional teuchter ceilidh. Well known as a bit of singer himself, Angus was joined by his sons, Iain and Ewan and a grand daughter, plus his son-in-law Eion Brown, from Islay, for some impromptu entertainment. By that time, though, even the non-teuchters were beginning to understand the gaelic!

So good, in fact, was this, that it almost – but not quite – rendered the two-piece ceilidh band redundant. But, there had to be dancing, too, which carried on well into the night, some of it whether there was music or not!

Ode to the beaver

When the conservationists decide

To give beavers the run of our land

They hadn’t heard of Tierra del Fuego

And what beavers did to that island

Beavers destroy the trees

By ripping off the bark

Then the threes fall down

Isn’t that a lark?

Then the beavers go to rivers

And there they make their dams

And the fields next door get flooded

And terrify the lambs

The farmers lose their crops

The cattle don’t get their food

Do the conservationists think of this?

I really wish they would”

Wilma Robertson

Dairymaid and SAC employee (long retired) Forfar