Pigeon Thos

Good result. Could well top the Fed. Good race today with good returns. Well done Midlothian Fed committee.

Well done Seona. I take it was down to you. The Moderator is too busy now.

£30 bid for all birds left and £50 for any bird from Paul that is ready to pick up at Arniston. Thanks

DON'T forget the Rosewell and Bonnyrigg joint sale on Tuesday 23 April 6.30 for 7.15. See the advert in this weeks BHW 9 Members sent 191 birds Pos..Name.............Velocity 1.....Waters Bros...1353.538926 2.....W Gray...........1352.047363 3.....W Gray...........1347.117117 4.....J S Smith........1338.512821 5.....J S Smith........1337.941051 6.....J S Smith........1335.658849 7.....T Murphy......1333.381663 8.....A Benson.......1332.370213 9.....Waters Bros...1331.147402 10...T Murphy......1330.544681

If you are at the meeting you can make this clear to the delegates and I am not suggesting you have an agenda.

Peter - you have mentioned the jump from Otterburn to Thirsk several times. As race controller you have the right to cancel a race on a Friday in the interest of the pigeons. But the race programme was set at the AGM and no person has the right to change it. Can you adjust the fees or the committee without a special general meeting?? This race must be scheduled for Friday marking and only then can it be cancelled for a justifiable reason. The delegates do not have the authority to change the race programme in this situation. The liberation site is available, the forecast is fine, finances to not come into it at 60 miles. There is no debate here other than members choosing to send or not.

Spot on Brian

Here is the pedigree for my contribution to the sale. Pedigree for sale.pdf

I believe there are 52 birds in the auction and most of them will be in the pen for viewing

Slavers. It sold for £50 Brian. Just shows you. Do not believe everything you see in writing.

Pm sent. Uncle Jim is coming to pick up tomorrow.

Visiting Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. Any takers

Hey Andy - being a new moderator, did you help yourself to some goodies at Edinburgh airport today??

Just read the John Bosworth article. A great read. It's a pity the author is not acknowledged. Anyone know who it was?

What I see is birds accepted between 1 March and 14 April and the birds have to be 30 to 40 days old. If you don't have the eggs by 24 February the games a bogie. By the way I'm sure it said originally birds accepted between 1 and 30 March and as such I passed.

I'm sure Seona will love it

It's an old Scots word for dove sometimes dow. A doo's-cleckin is a family of two usually a boy and a girl. A doo-talit joint is a dovetail joint used in drawer making and of course a doocot is a dove cot. A wee bit of Burns culture to finish off with. Whitefoord Arms An inn in Mauchline, whose proprietor was John Dove or Dow, nicknamed by his patrons 'Johnnie Doo'. It was situated on the Cowgate, which is now Castle Street, opposite the parish church. It was the meeting place of 'The Court of Equity', a secret bachelors' club which met: 'to search out, report, and discuss the merits and demerits of the many scandals that crop up from time to time in the village', and of which Burns was the 'Perpetual President'. See Court of Equity. The old inn has been replaced by a later building bearing the legend: "This is the house, though build anew Where Burns cam' weary frae the pleugh To hae a crack wi' Johnnie Doo On nights at e'en And whiles to taste the mountain dew Wi' bonnie Jean."

Empty your post box Andy

You don't need luck Andy - just ask Seona to have a word in their ear - I'm sure it works with you. It will be a cold one but best of luck to you and all others brave enough to have a go.

I have 18 hens and 10 cocks - similar to last year. I'll select the 8 hens and put them into a section with 6 boxes and they WILL pair. I keep an eye on them and put the hen I want to breed from from each pair through to a stock cock for half an hour every second day until they lay. You end up With 4 eggs per pair but can guarantee the fertile ones are to the stock cock selected and the chosen hen. I did this last year and had 12 from the one cock - but he only reared two with his own hen. All these hens raced week about on natural and some were re-paired to cocks for longer races.

Scan attached of first 26 positions in YB Amal from Wakefield 1 September 2001. Summary shows Angus, Aberdeen, Dundee, EOS, Fife, Midlothian, Traprain. Midlothian's other open race was from Leicester that year. 1720 Birds but I don't know if it was an Amal

Found a YB Amal from Wakefield on 1st September 2001. Pentland didn't take part although Traprain did? and there were 5530 yb's. EOS cleaned up with only 2 Midlothian birds making the result. I was 116 Amal 2nd Fed. Not such a good day for Midlothian. I'll keep looking for the 200 mile race.

I've seen a Newark one recently when tidying up. I'll have a rake and see what I've got.

Found a nice piece of history from 2001 Tam, 9144 Birds - I can't think why I kept it - Midlothian sent 1497 and Pentland 836 - Dundee got their shot and I see a young Gus Simpson there as well. The summary shows Angus, Central, Dundee, EOS, Fife, Midlothian, Pentland, North West, Scottish Borders and Aberdeen - the spirit of co-operation.

In the interest of the Federation's economics and continuing good health, here is an old chestnut of an idea. How about joint convoying? from let's say 150 miles to begin with as a test. Of course that would be the sensible and most economical thing to do and would be of greatest benefit to the pigeons. Who would we joint convoy with? Pentland Fed, East of Scotland and Scottish Borders - if they would have us. Wouldn't it be great to have thousands of pigeons beating up the road from 200+ miles and breaking at the borders to the whole of South East Scotland. I thought that the old "chip on the shoulder" would probably get in the way of this starter paper so I did a little research and produced a few FACTS, things that you rarely see in these emotional debates.. Pentland Fed were issued with approximately 8000 YB rings in 2012 and had approx 60 P pigeons on the YB National result. Midlothian Fed were issued with approx 4000 YB rings in 2012 and had 3 ML pigeons on the YB National result. What's so sacred about our Midlothian race programme, controlling and convoying?? Comments are welcome from all people who are willing to share THEIR open and honest opinion.