This year the Princess Royal, as patron of the Shorthorn Cattle Society, will help celebrate the 150th anniversary of United Auctions’ bull sales.
Formerly Perth Bull Sales, they were rebranded Stirling Bull Sales in 2012 and are held at UA’s new auction facility in the shadow of Stirling Castle.
Ever since John Fraser sold 14 Shorthorn bulls for a total of 260 guineas in 1865 at Mill Street in Perth, the Fair City became a Mecca for the world’s stockmen.
John McLaren Fraser, born at the Peel in 1846, is widely regarded as the true founder of the bull sales.
He became an apprentice in MacDonald & McCallum agricultural surveyors.
On the death of McCallum in 1870, John Fraser became a partner and MacDonald Fraser & Co was born.
The death of Mr A MacDonald in 1875 saw John Fraser become managing director.
The arrival of the railways in the mid-19th Century opened up new opportunities for livestock marketing, which traditionally had been held on individual farms, and Fraser was quick to see this.
He used his own money to stage the first sales, rightly believing in their potential.
In 1875 he opened new purpose-built premises in Caledonian Road. This larger site was close to the railway yards, and its own sidings were opened up.
Meanwhile, the Aberdeen-Angus and the Shorthorn were becoming distinctive breeds.
The Aberdeen-Angus breed can trace its origins back to the two counties which make up its name.
In Angus, Hugh Watson of Keillor started a herd of black polled cattle in 1808. Using six black cows and a bull called Taranty Jock, he proceeded to improve his herd until its dispersal in 1861 following his death.
In Aberdeenshire, William McCombie of Tillyfour, son of a highly successful cattle dealer, leased Tillyfour from his father in 1824. He is famous for winning the trophy for best beef group at the 1878 Paris Show.
The Shorthorn breed originated in County Durham around 250 years ago. Both beef and dairy strains grew from the early type.
The cattle found their way to Scotland early in the 19th Century, brought in by breeders such as Robertson of Ladykirk, Berwickshire, General Simson of Pitcorthie, and Rennie of Phantassie, East Lothian.
The Scottish breeders were in the main tenant farmers and could not go into the finer fancy points but concentrated on hardiness of constitution and capacity for beef production.
MacDonald Fraser & Co continued to grow and opened livestock markets in Dunfermline in 1880, Glasgow in 1883 and Inverness in 1885.
In the early years of the 20th Century buyers started to arrive from the Argentine, keen to purchase pedigree Scottish bulls to improve the stock of South America.
The popularity of the bull sales increased in the 1920s when the Shorthorns went through a period of huge popularity.
However, it was the 20 years after the Second World War that saw the Perth Bull Sales at their height, with film stars and stetsoned Americans all heading to the Fair City for the February sales.
Many were no doubt intrigued by the town council allowing Caledonian Road to be used as the parade ring for bull sales week. The locals were excited by the arrival of foreign buyers and the possibility of an escapee disappearing up a close.
No doubt the local economy benefited hugely.
The terrible winter of 1947 made outside judging and spectating very unpleasant.
A new indoor show ring was therefore built in 1948, and outside judging came to an end in 1949.
Heavy snow would see men up on the roofs brushing the skylights clear to allow natural light into the sale ring.
Famous herds appearing at this time were, for the Aberdeen-Angus, Harviestoun at Dollar, Gloagburn, Fordhouse and Newhouse; whilst the Shorthorn lines contained animals from the herds of Millhills, Calrossie, Uppermill and Ballathie.
The Aberdeen-Angus herd from Lindertis, Kirriemuir, wrote its way into the history books in 1963 when Lindertis Evulse smashed the previous year’s record of 34,000gns and sold for 60,000gns after two Americans fought a ding-dong battle. But buyers Black Watch Farms had just bought a very expensive piece of meat, as Evulse proved to be infertile.
In these days the Aberdeen-Angus breed took up the first week, and the Shorthorns had the following week to themselves.
After the Perth sales were conducted, MacDonald Fraser held further sales at their Aberdeen and Inverness sites, and then it was back to Perth for smaller sales in March.
A small number of breeding females were offered at the February sales, but it was the October sales that saw the females sold in large numbers.
Later trends in beef farming saw a shift to farmers buying their bulls in the October week, but the trend is turning to February once more.
The 1960s brought many changes as road transport took over from the railways and MacDonald Fraser & Co became part of United Auctions in 1962.
Ever since the war the Shorthorns played second fiddle to the Angus, but in the 1970s the Angus also began to play second fiddle as changes in beef production saw the introduction of the continental breeds.
Breeds such as Charolais, Simmental and Limousin have now gained many followers, often at the expense of native breeds.
A major change for the sales came in 1990 when the mart was relocated to a new out-of-town site at Huntingtower. This modern building, opened by European Commissioner Ray MacSharry, not only held the bull sales and UA regular sales but the annual Winter Fair, and many other events.
In 2010 the bull sales controversially left Perth for UA’s new complex at Stirling but kept the Perth Bull Sales title until 2012, when they were changed to the Stirling Bull Sales
After many years a two-week February format returned, with Charolais and Simmentals being sold in week two.
Over the years record prices continued to be achieved at the sales for both native and continental breeds, with a breed world record 100,000gns paid for Jan Boomaar’s Charolais bull Vexour Garth in 2012.
Ten years ago saw the highest entry of AA bulls since 1977, and not only is the breed gaining in popularity but so too are the Shorthorns as farmers look for easy care cattle for lower-cost systems.
Is the tide turning back to native breeds, and will they surpass the record prices set for the continental breeds in recent years?