Scottish hill farming is all the poorer following the passing of Tom Paterson, Dunruchan, Muthill, Crieff. He was 88.

Tom was among the top Blackface Sheep breeders in Scotland and in high demand as a judge the length of the country and beyond. He won every ‘Blackie’ award worth winning in Scotland, including the Royal Highland Show in 1985 with an aged ram. He also put the Blackface sheep entries through their paces as an official judge, at the Royal Highland Show.

Notably, he won the Royal Highland’s Caldows Cup outright and replaced it with the Tom Paterson Cup, that he went on to win, too.

Just last year, at what he regarded his ‘home’ show – and what turned out to be his final year – he landed a personal best by winning both the individual and the pairs competitions in the north and south Blackface sections at Perth Show. Notably, he then topped it all by taking the inter-breed sheep honours with a north-type gimmer.

Tom had also won the North-type section of the National Show at Stirling, in 2017, with the two-shear ram, Hallelujah and at last year’s event, he took the male championship amongst the South-type with another aged ram.

One of farming’s characters and a legend to many, Tom always had a hand outstretched to help others. A sheep man through and through, he was also one of the most modest, generous, genuine, kind-hearted of men and worked his socks off all his days.

Showing and judging were major elements of Tom's life. Apart from the Royal Highland Show, he was also a judge at the Great Yorkshire, Royal Dublin, Balmoral, Isle of Man and Smithfield shows and countless local events.

He was the archetypal ‘Blackie’ man and in 2010 was presented with a crystal decanter and glasses to mark his service to the Blackface Sheep breed for 50 years in his own name.

Five years later, in 2015, he was nominated by his peers in the breed, and presented the coveted Blackface Sheep Breeders’ Association Connachan Salver.

Craigneich, Comrie, home to Tom’s north-type Blackfaces and the neighbouring farm at Dunruchan, where the south-type reside, have produced numerous high four and five-figure priced rams over the years, with the best achieved in 2020 – a north-type shearling made £22,000 and just minutes later, another at £11,000, at Stirling.

Tom was born in 1935 at Gateside, Douglas, Lanarkshire, where his father was a shepherd. In those distant days, farm workers were always on the move and the Patersons flitted to Renfrewshire, then Glencoe where Tom began his schooling in Ballachulish, before settling in Perthshire for a time.

His father was appointed farm manager at the Garrows, in Glenquaich, Amulree, then managed Ballinloan Farm, near Dunkeld. It was at Ballinloan where Tom did his first lambing on his own at the age of 12 with a lambing bag over his small shoulder.

Tom branched out as a shepherd in his own right at Drimsyne Beg Farm, Lochgoilhead, and moved again in 1951 to be shepherd at Cornilees, Greenock, and four years later at Glenmoy, in Angus, before returning to Perthshire to ‘herd for Colonel Dewhurst, at Dungarthill, Dunkeld.

During those 13 years at Dungarthill, Tom began to develop his reputation as a breeder along with his cup-winning habits and it became understood that Tom Paterson ‘kens sheep’.

He took up the tenancy of Craigneich, near Comrie, in 1972, from the Drummond Estate and began to show under his own name. Nine years later, he added the tenancy of the next-door Straid Farm, then Dunruchan, which became his home with Mairi and son, Robert, who, like his father, also ‘kens sheep’.

His reputation as a breeder and farming professional brought him the appointment of farm manager of the 24 farms on the Ancaster Estate. On his retiral, he was given the tenancy of Middleton Farm as a thank you. Those 15 years were among the most enjoyable and successful periods of his life.

Tom could turn his hand to everything. In his younger days, he developed a prowess at clipping, both at hand-clipping and with a Bowins machine clipper.

He once put this skill to the test at the Royal Highland and won first prize in both categories. He also liked a friendly argument about the industry. A man of strong opinions, Tom was never backwards in expressing them.

He once, by accident, even judged a rock band concert. As a young shepherd at Largs, he and his friend Charlie went dancing to the posh Moorings Ballroom. Shepherds were hardly welcomed, so they claimed to be doctors.

One night, as a stranger, Tom was asked to judge a rock band concert evening. No problem for him, but when asked why he had chosen the winner, Tom’s game was up. “It was the quietest,” he said.

Later, sheep genetics fascinated both Tom and his wife, Mairi. They firmly believed the right genetics would allow sheep to flourish irrespective of background. Tom’s record proved his point.

He served as vice-chair of the local NFU branch representing hill farmers and District 8 chairman and vice-chair of the Blackface Sheep Breeders Association. He dedicated his life to farming and his Blackies. It was hard for him to let go as declining health took over.

Perhaps a telling comment on Tom Paterson’s life was that the three best pals he made at the Royal School, of Dunkeld, in the 1940s continued their friendship for the following 80 years until now. Indeed, Tom was a man who kept his friends and his integrity to farming and its way of life to the finish.

Tom leaves behind his beloved wife, Mairi and son Robert, and Tommy, Jenny, Fiona and Hugh from a previous marriage.

Ian Nimmo