Farming farewell for Arbroath vet John Kneen, towed to his funeral by tractor

In another life Arbroath vet John Kneen could well have been a crime scene investigator.

For it was with forensic precision that he served the animals of Angus  – and their families – for almost half a century.

When cows became sick he put his scientific mind to the task of proving the source of lead poisoning.

And when the circus came to town he was the man charged with nursing a dehydrated tiger and a bear with a sore head.

However, it was the darker side of veterinary practice that caused John – originally from the Isle of Man –  to become a local hero.

In 1997 a small girl was mauled by a dog and he was asked to euthanise the animal.

In doing so he emptied its stomach, recovered the lip of the child, and rushed it to her surgeon in saline.

He gave three-year-old Megan Macfarlane her smile back.

From farming stock

John Edwin Kneen was born on January 25, 1929.

The youngest of three children for Tom and Maud Kneen, a 60-acre farm on the Isle of Man was his home.

Though a happy childhood John’s older brother, Tommy, was sent to Canada when he was 13 “for the better, drier climate”.

John marked the date of his brother’s leaving every year, though he would only meet him again a handful of times in person, throughout the rest of his life.

A better future for John

Farming was hard work for little return in those days so Maud was determined John would not follow in their footsteps.

By the paraffin lamp she made sure he applied himself to his studies. The result was a scholarship at King William’s College.

National Service saw John join the ordnance corps as an ammunitions examiner. When he wasn’t preparing shells to assist Greece he enjoyed fishing, and may have used  explosives on occasion to stun the fish in the Severn.

John was granted early release to go to Liverpool University. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon in1954.

And thanks to one of his lecturers who knew of a vet in Arbroath called Archie Robertson, John found his way to Scotland.

Settled by the sea

John’s immediate impression of Angus at the time was of an agricultural paradise.

It was a boom time for certain lines of Aberdeen Angus which were then worth more at birth than some large family homes were. It was an exciting time for the town’s new vet.

In 1956 John left for a job with partnership prospects at Alsager. The move yielded more than expected because it was there he met his future wife Maureen Roberts.

On a short break back to visit his Arbroath flatmates, however, the course of their future would be set. Archie Robertson offered him a veterinary partnership.

He maintained his relationship with Maureen by writing almost every day and by the following November they were married.

Within the next year they had bought Hill House, a dog and started their family.

Family business

Maureen and John worked together as they built and expanded the practice – which was a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year pursuit. Even their sons, Marcus and Quintin, were drafted in as veterinary nurses on occasion.

“Holding a dog’s leg while it was plastered, delivering invoices by bike and helping on farm visits were par for the course,” said Marcus.

And being a country vet provided plenty of entertaining dinnertime talk.

Whether it was the cow that tossed John into the air or the horse that kicked so hard he broke ribs, John was always full of stories but also compassion.

A belief that sometimes the humans needed his care as much as their pets underpinned his practice.

One elderly lady called him on three consecutive Hogmanays to see her pet dog. There was no issue with the animal – and John knew it. But a lonely owner warranted his care.

Detective work

At times John’s job involved more than just basic vet care.

When two of Geddes Furlaws’ 70 cattle died of lead poisoning John went to work finding the cause.

After recovering fragments of battery plates from the cow’s stomach he then checked the silage stack. Sure enough – a shattered battery had found its way inside.

Just as the rest of the herd were showing signs of poisoning he was able to treat the whole lot with an antidote saving every last one.

Circus vet

John was often called out when the circus came to town.

On one occasion he examined an unwell lion. While the keeper was supposed to be watching its mate, the fit lion sprang up, put its paw through the iron bars, and clawed its way through John’s tweed jacket.

Another time there was a bear with a sore head. It transpired later that the animal had a fractured skull.

Having learned his lesson with the lion when he was called to see a sickly tiger he secured it to a stake by its hind leg.  After a substantial fluid replacement the dehydrated cat was much better and John could no longer move it by its tail.

Lip service

John hit the headlines in 1997 when three-year-old Megan MacFarlane was attacked by a dog in Arbroath.

John became involved when he was asked to put the dog down.

However, after being told of her facial injuries the quick thinking vet asked if Megan’s lip had been recovered.

On being told she was heading to hospital, and after the dog was destroyed, John emptied the contents of its stomach into the surgery sink and found her missing lip.

A jam jar of saline was prepared and he ordered a policeman to drive as fast as he could to try and catch the ambulance.

John called ahead to the Dundee surgeon who then performed a UK first, reattaching tissue recovered from an animal’s stomach.

Marcus added: “It was always a highlight for my dad to meet Megan years later knowing he had given her a smile back.”

Recent times

John’s wife Maureen passed away in October 2021. John – who had lived and worked with his wife for more than six decades – turned to the love letters he had written her before their wedding.

“I think he heard Maureen again as a 27-year-old when he pored over the letters,” Marcus said.

Emboldened by the flush of young love he became disciplined in doing his daily puzzle and physio exercises.

In March he saw grandson Patrick play rugby at Murrayfield. And one Friday evening he went to Gayfield to see Arbroath FC in the closing stages of their extraordinary season.

The grandfather of three also ran a fishing syndicate on South Esk for 52 years and re-started tying flies again.

And on March 8, aged 93, he drove his car out to Brechin. There he stood in the river, in his waders, fishing.

Paradise

In April, accompanied by his family, John flew to the Isle of Man.

He visited the farm of his birth and met an 89-year-old ploughman getting down from his tractor who had been at the same primary school.

And while his grandsons cycled the TT course John and Marcus climbed Surby Hill.

“At our high point he turned, gazed down over Port Erin and Ballacorkish and declared ‘this is paradise.’ For my dad dying from exhaustion at 93 would be just fine. But to die from boredom was certainly not for him.”

Final journey

A celebration of John’s life took place at St Mary’s Church, Springfield, Arbroath, on Tuesday, June 28.

Farmer John Caldwell drove the hearse – a 50-year old tractor and bogie. Mr Kneen’s son Quintin and grandson Patrick were on board playing the Manx National Anthem.

“The tractor travelled through the f’it of the toon and up the High Street,” Marcus said. “It was exactly as he would have liked. And delighted the funeral congregation of farmers, friends and pet owners.”