Sheep dog enthusiast – David Bruce Cook Armstrong

Their ashes are due to return to the couple’s early home at Lamford, Carsphairn.

Dave was born and grew up in the Hawick area and was from a line of Border shepherds going back to his great grandfather.

A stocksman through and through, he was first and foremost a great shepherd who loved showing, enjoyed bringing out sheep for shows and sales and helping other flock masters dress Cheviot and Suffolk tups. Working dogs were an integral part of his world but his work as a shepherd came first.

Assisted by his beloved wife Marion, whom he met while working at Dalmellington, Dave was known as a great starter of young dogs and reared many that went on to achieve success. One such was John Templeton’s Ben with whom, in partnership with Roy, John won the Scottish Brace three times.

Dave trialled locally, but liked to see other dogs running and working, and would rather travel further to watch an International than a National, as he would enjoy seeing a better standard of work. He retained a great memory for the dogs he had seen working over the years.

Dave was a very friendly, engaging and immensely sociable man who could speak to anyone, always observing what was going on around him. He enjoyed assessing the standard and development of dogs and would give an honest appraisal of them, which was valued by those who knew him. He was just as able to measure anyone or thing that concerned him.

It was always a pleasure to meet and speak to Dave and his enthusiasm for anything he admired from a tasty cake to a compressor for inflating car tyres, “the maist wonderfu wee thing – a wee box you plug into your cigarette lighter,” was refreshing.

Dave had a directness of vision, characterised in his earliest foray into trialling.

At the age of 17, he started to run dogs at his local, Roberton and Teviothead show trials. He set himself the goal of beating one successful local man; once he had achieved that, he stopped competing, although he took it up again later, when he was working in the South West of Scotland.

His single minded vision could sometimes be ill judged, as when he thought sheep would shift better for his blue bitch, Jill, if she was black. He roped his father in law in to help him dye her black with hair dye, but unfortunately she turned purple, giving great amusement to people picnicking nearby.

When Dave and Marion moved back to the Borders, he worked at Fairnilee near Selkirk, before moving on to Synton Mill, to work at Synton Mains, and finally to Muircleugh near Lauder Hill.

He retired from there to Innerleithen which proved to be a great blessing as it put him on the doorstep of his daughter Hazel and son in law Gordon Renwick at Traquair and he was able to keep his dogs there and maintain his lifelong interest in sheep, until his own ill health and Marion’s curtailed their activities.

The couple are survived by their daughters, Heather and Hazel, son David and seven grandchildren.