A big, black, gentle giant of a Shire horse clip-clopping along the streets with cartloads of jute was once a familiar sight in Dundee. Gayle Ritchie looks back at the story of the city’s very last work horse, Paddy.
Paddy, the last working horse in Dundee, was a familiar and much-loved sight in the city in the 1960s and early 70s.
The big, black Shire and his carter, Chic Donaldson, collected bales of jute from the docks and delivered them to mills across Dundee.
They would also, on occasion, pick up brides-to-be and their friends from the Timex factory in Lochee and transport them to hen dos.
They made a great team. Paddy, urged on by gentle flicks of the reins and a few quiet words of command, helped manoeuvre the cart into narrow openings not designed for big lorries.
“A horse can go anywhere a motor can,” Chic told The Courier on November 6 1969.
“But lorries can’t always go where a horse can.
“I’ll be very sorry when work horses leave the scene altogether.”
In July 1968, three horses that belonged to contractor George Robbie retired, leaving Paddy as the very last working horse in Dundee.
At one point, George Robbie had 24 horses in his stables but the numbers reduced until only four were left.
Paddy was owned by Malcolm Street haulage contractors Robert Adam, where Chic was employed.
A real Irish horse
Paddy came to Dundee as a cute four-year-old. His coat was so shaggy that Mr Adam was said to have remarked: “Ay, he’s a real Irish horse, that fellow.” So his name just had to be Paddy.
Chic had been driving a horse and cart since he left school at 14.
“He has been a good worker, though he’d have his days when he just couldn’t be bothered,” said Chic in 1973.
It was possibly the dull routine of the round that got Paddy down on those infrequent off-days.
He would “pull right lustily” whenever there was a fresh vista in prospect – like a journey to Camperdown.
And even far away from his “native” Hilltown, Paddy was known to all the bairns.
They would call him by name, running alongside to give him a pat when he drew to a halt.
Along his regular route, people would wait for his arrival to feed him tit-bits, and he was especially fond of carrots.
Chic once saw a woman attempt to feed him a beef sandwich, but Paddy, knowing what was good for him, wisely rejected it!
He would ‘pull right lustily’ whenever there was a fresh vista in prospect – like a journey to Camperdown.”
Paddy’s occasional sorties downtown sometimes caused something of a hiatus. His steady, stately gait could cause frustration with other road users.
Chic recalled the time he drove Paddy up Commercial Street towards Meadowside: “When I looked back and saw the queue o’ cars ahent me…they seemed to stretch for a mile.”
Forsaking his familiar beat
Paddy and Chic graced the front cover of the Dundee edition of the People’s Journal, priced 3p, in September 15 1973.
The headline was “Paddy nears the end of the road” – and the story told how Paddy was to stop working and be sold.
This was due to a combination of factors – jute mills were closing and lorries were taking on Paddy’s job.
The report stated: “Paddy, last of Dundee’s working horses, will be forsaking his familiar Hilltown beat at the end of the month.
“The big, black horse, beloved of a legion of Dundee bairns and photographed by countless visitors to the city, is to be sold by his owners, Robert Adam.”
Paddy’s regular route, for eight years, had been between the works at Jamaica Street and Ogilvie’s Road.
The report stated: “Chic isn’t yet sure what he’ll be doing when Paddy is sold. Despite overtures from his employers, he never learned to drive motor vehicles.
“Two would-be buyers made earlier enquiries, including one who wanted to buy Paddy complete with cart and trappings.
“But for the city that once knew a host of horses and carts, it looks like the end of an era.”
After Paddy retired at the age of 12 in 1973, Chic, who had been a carter for 35 years, did various labouring jobs while helping to train other horses.
One was a Trotting Horse called Dexter owned by his old employer, Robert Adam.
Having won the Scottish Derby at Bannockburn in 1969, he went down to Prestatyn in Wales and won the British Derby. He was then sold to an American Breeder.
Tragically, Chic passed away in 1979 at the young age of 57 – just six years after he stopped working with Paddy. He had been a father to three children, a grandfather-of-six, and a great-grandfather-of 14.
A strong bond
Chic’s son John Donaldson used to accompany his dad and Paddy on his rounds during school holidays and the occasional Friday night.
“I would ride Paddy bareback up to Tealing, where he had two weeks of running about in a field owned by the farmer,” recalls John, 71.
“The bareback riding was quite a challenge for a young boy of 10.”
John describes the relationship between his father and Paddy as “very strong”.
“He treated Paddy like a son,” he says. “On some occasions, if Paddy was ill, my father would sleep in the stable next to him overnight.”
While John remembers that Paddy had a wonderful temperament, especially with children who would often come up to him and given him a pat on the head, he wasn’t happy if people approached him from the rear.
Chic’s job of carter including not only looking after and grooming horses but cleaning and polishing their harnesses.
“He treated Paddy like a son. On some occasions, if Paddy was ill, my father would sleep in the stable next to him overnight.”
Born in Gellatly Street, Chic also lived for a while on Malcolm Street, which meant he didn’t have much of a commute!
Before he started working with Paddy, Chic worked for Robert Ower who had stables in Dock Street which ran up the back of Gellatly Street.
“I used to watch all the horses and carts being readied for the day’s work from my grandfather’s window, which was also in Gellatly Street,” recalls John.
Father’s footsteps
Chic learned his trade from his father, Alexander Petrie Donaldson. He was one of the best-known carters in Dundee and drove the horse-drawn fire engine.
“He was an excellent horseman and the last carter to drive three pairs of horses at the same time,” reveals John.
“The load he was delivering was exceptionally heavy and they had to go up the hilly Victoria Road to the Eagle Jute Mill.”
Boxing career
Before Chic became a carter, he served with the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) during the Second World War.
“My father was a very talented boxer whilst serving with the HLI,” says John.
“He fought in Italy, Germany, France and Africa. He won the combined services boxing championship in Rome after Italian forces were defeated.
“He also boxed when the carnival came to Dundee’s Gussie Park and, as far as I know, was never defeated.”
Sadly missed
Paddy and Chic were hugely missed by the Dundee community when they stopped doing their rounds in 1973.
When John put a post on Facebook site Dundonian History last year, it got more than 400 hits and dozens of positive comments from people who had fond memories of Paddy and his dad.
*Do you remember Paddy and Chic? Get in touch at gritchie@dctmedia.co.uk
