sapper756

Sadly another Fife fancier from the past, has passed away. RIP Hamish Murray

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Is this not an option?

A warm welcome to the following new members: Pigeon 786 Dannyrab Angus orr Ethan Harwood Stubby30 Captjwteal Graham mckenzie Blue bar cock Bryan32 DonaldMac R Martin Pestman carberry Quicksilver loftmanager SAUZEE198 Breeza b Jordan cowie J Jack Jim mcguire Joeb1

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Welcome to Basics m8

For those fanciers already paired up, how are things going?

The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 1 Tom McEwen’s Marlene’s Boy The next two pigeons in my story are both related- Marlene’s Boy and Fortune Lady are both grandchildren of Tom McEwen’s 4th open SNFC Rennes winner. Let start at the beginning; Tom McEwen flew in partnership with his late father and his brother Archie as McEwen & Sons in Elphinstone Homing Society. They had a very good blue hen wheat was bred down from a Charles Van Der Esptbloodlines, which Tom’s father had purchased years before. This blue hen was sent to the Silver Jubilee Gold Cup race from Rennes with the SNFC and had an entry of 7,476 birds competing. The convoy was liberated at 06-30am into a light variable wind on Friday 24th June 1977. Tom timed in the blue hen at 20-36-11 to win 4th east section and 4th open with a velocity of 1128 for the 542 miles. The blue hen turned out to be the foundation stone of Tom’s present day family. One of Tom’s close friends and club mates is Jimmy Smith of the famous Mr & Mrs Smith partnership. One Saturday, Jimmy walked the short distance to visit Tom who was waiting on some late arrivals coming home from a training flight. As they stood chatting, a blue pied cock SN11 1809 dropped on the grass in front of the loft. Its wing was drooping down and Tom remarked to Jimmy, ‘Well his days of racing are now over’. The bird had previously been injured and Tom thought he had recovered as he had not suffered any ill effects while flying with the other kit of birds round the loft. However, the strain of having to work hard from this race was too much for him and it was obvious that he had not recovered fully from his original injury. Jimmy asked Tom what he would do with the pied cock 11809 and his reply was he would go into the stock loft as he was direct son from ‘Blue Paul’, the partnership 1970 -1 st open SNFC Young Bird winner from Cheltenham when paired to his good blue hen that won 4th open SNFC Rennes. Tom had bred six from this pair and they were all doing well in the race team, so keeping one back for stock would be a worthwhile exercise. Jimmy liked the look of 11809 and asked Tom if he could borrow him to pair to his Gold Award winner ‘Flower of Scotland’. Tom said to Jimmy ‘I’ll give you a gift of 11809’, and the rest is history. As 11809 became the sire of Mr & Mrs Smith’s second Gold Award winner ‘SN578’. Jimmy Smith then paired 11809 back to his SN578 his own daughter, and they in turn bred ‘Fortune Lady’. So, fanciers will see that ‘Fortune Lady’ was very inbred, but more about he a little later on in this story. As I said earlier, the blue hen that won 4th open Rennes would become the foundation hen in Tom McEwen’s loft as she turned out to be an extraordinary breeder. Tom presented Jackie Mathieson of Dalkeith with a bird bred down from the 4th open Rennes hen. When these pair of McEwen pigeon were paired together, they bred a son who won 2nd open SNFC young bird national. Jackie The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 2 visited Tom to obtain more of this winning bloodline and Tom then gave Jackie a direct daughter from the 4th open Rennes blue hen to pair to his 2nd open SNFC winner, Jackie told Tom that he would receive the first youngster from this pairing and the next year and Jackie was as good as his word, as he gave Tom back a blue cock 05733. This turned out to be ‘Marlene’s Boy’ who won 1st open SNFC Sartilly as a yearling. After a one-day holdover the national birds were liberated on the Saturday morning at 06-00 hours. Tom had been working all day and didn’t arrive home until 5-45pm when his wife Marlene started to make his evening meal. Tom, like the rest of us on National nights, could not settle and he took the clock down to the loft and gave it a quick clean out. As walked back up the garden he heard someone shouting ‘There’s a bird Tom’. As he looked up his blue cock 05733 landed on the board and his tail was ‘shaking’. Tom timed him in a 05- 48pm after being 11 hours 48 minutes on the wing to win the National with a velocity of 1241 ypm. If we study the breeding of ‘Marlene’s Boy’ you will see his sire was 2nd open and his dam was a daughter of a 4th open Rennes blue hen. His grandsire was 1st open SNFC young bird national winner ‘Blue Paul’ when paired to another daughter of the blue hen that won 4th open Rennes. You would think that it could not get any better than this, however the story continues. ‘Marlene’s Boy’ when paired to a direct daughter of ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ bred a 4th open SNFC Nantes 602 miles winner for Tom. When ‘Marlene’s Boy’ was paired to a Charles Van Der Espt hen he bred a 4th open SNFC Niort 673 miles winner. Talk about winners breeding winners, this is the prime example of good quality pigeon passing down their winning genes. However, the story continues; The same day that Tom won 4th open Nantes he was also 14th open with an uncle of his Dewar Trophy winner. These two pigeons won for Tom the E.R. Williamson Trophy for the best 2 bird average in the SNFC from the Nantes race; which is the longest race in the club’s calendar. As a matter of fact, the 14th open Nantes cock’s niece won 2nd open SNFC Rennes in 1996 for Tom’s brother Matthew. The 4th open Nantes winner ‘0582’ was mated to the 14th open Nantes winner ‘03764’ and they bred a chequer cock, which in turn was mated back to his own mother, the ‘0582’. This pairing bred a chequer cock ‘213’ which I purchased at a charity sale and he is now in Kevin’s stock loft. I have enclosed a photograph of him for this article, which show fanciers, if they look at the other photographs, to see that he has the same characteristics as his fantastic ancestors. In fact, if you look at Kardale Starmist you cannot help but see the resemblance to ‘213’. Another interesting point is that ‘213’ is only four generations away from ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ and five generations away from the 4th open Rennes blue foundation hen. The 4th open Nantes winner was mated to Tom’s SHU Dewar Trophy winner in 1994 and they bred an 8th open Sartilly winner. The Dewar Trophy winner ‘0102’ won 5th open Beauvais, The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 3 22nd open Sartilly, 54th open Sartilly and 125th open Rennes all with the SNFC. His full sister won 16th open Sartilly and 81st open Beauvais the same race as her brother won 5th open. The ‘Dewar Trophy’ winner was bred from a daughter of ‘Marlene’s Boy’ when paired to a son of Norman C Nelmes of Gloucestershire’s ‘Severn Prince’ who won 1st & 3rd open Lerwick. ‘The Dewar Trophy winner’ was paired to his own sister and they bed what Tom calls the ‘Inbred Cock’ which has been a ‘Goldmine’ at stock. He is the sire of ‘Shari’ the blue hen who won 5th open SNFC Portland and was entered into the Joe Murphy Sporting Challenge in 2002. Her full sister won 21st open SNFC Rennes in 2003. To go back to ‘Marlene’s Boy’, I said earlier he was paired to a seven-year-old hen full of ‘Van Der Espt’ bloodlines and they bred the ‘Niort Cock’ who won 4th open SNFC Niort 673 miles. His sister ‘0137’ was called ‘Penny’ and she won 32nd open Sartilly;’ 47th open Sartilly, 193rd open Rennes and 86th open Sartilly all SNFC. Unfortunately, ‘Penny’ was lost while going for her ‘Gold Award’. However, when she was paired to ‘03764’, winner of 14th open Nantes, they bred ‘2778’ who won 173rd open Frome and 1st east section 3rd open SNFC Sartilly. ‘Penny’s brother’ the ‘Niort Cock’ was also turned out to be a goldmine at stock. He was paired to the sister of the sire of the ‘Dewar Trophy’ winner and they bred ‘The Bib’ who also won 4 times in the SNFC. His positions were 20th open Newbury, 46th open Hastings, 40th open Rennes and 146th open Messac. A son from the ‘Niort Cock’ when he was paired to a granddaughter of the 4th open Nantes winner bred a 65th open Reims winner in 2002. After my plea to fanciers for information regarding my top seven pigeons, George Archibald of Bilston in Midlothian wrote to say he has winning pigeons related to ‘Marlene’s Boy’ and ‘Fortune Lady’. A daughter of ‘Marlene’s Boy’ ‘3347’ when paired to a son of ‘Fortune Lady’ (his sire was also a grandson of ‘Flower of Scotland’ on the other side of his pedigree). Bred a chequer hen that flew from Reims in 2002, then won 19th federation 57th region, 130th east section 232nd open Reims in 2003. She was also timed at 08-20pm on the day from the Clermont race of 2003. Another daughter from a daughter of ‘Marlene’s Boy’ 3347 when she was paired to a son of ‘Fortune Lady’ (when she was paired to her own sire 11809) bred 88th section SNFC Messac in 2000 for George Archibald. The daughter of ‘Marlene’s Boy’ 3347 was also paired to a Tommy Gilbertson of Carlisle bloodlines cock. They bred a dark chequer hen who won 3rd club 91st federation Leicester open 2002, then 6th federation 43rd region 87th east section 96th open Clermont in 2003. Another fancier who contacted me with details of winning pigeons was Derek Hay of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. Derek purchased a bird donated by Tom McEwen at Allanton quiz night and received a lovely red cock in July 2000 direct from Tom’s 4th open Niort cock. In 2001 Derek took a couple of youngsters from him and a blue pied hen that was related to George Rankin & son Gareth stock. The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 4 One of these youngsters was presented to Slamanon young bird sale and was purchased by John McLuckie of Limeriggs. He informed Derek that the youngster had topped the Midland Federation and had gone on to be a very good racer for him. In 2002 Derek paired the red cock to his Liege west section winner. She had bred some very good birds previously so Derek was very optimistic about this pairing – and he has not been disappointed. Every young bird from this pairing has either won a 1st prize or other positions in the club including; 1st Kelso; 1 st Tow Law; 1st Ripon; 1st Ripon; 1st 2xbird Wakefield; 1st 2 x bird Maidstone; 2 nd Maidstone; 2nd Wakefield etc. Last year 2—3 the grandchildren from this pair started to win with a granddaughter scoring in the Young Bird National. My thanks to both Derek and George for their contribution to this story. Tom McEwen has always believed that you must have good stock pigeons and no expense has been spared in obtaining the best long-distance winning lines in Britain. These have been blended into the above continue to keep winning in today’s competition. Fanciers will have noticed from the above shore story about Tom McEwen’s pigeons that he continues to mass-produce exceptional stock pigeon from this family of birds. To say this is a fantastic accomplishment is an understatement and the Tom McEwen linage of pigeons continues in my next choice of pigeon.!!! Mr & Mrs Smith’s -----‘Fortune Lady’ My next choice of hen is the famous ‘Fortune Lady’, without doubt one of the best hens in Scotland if not Europe in her day. She has left a line of pigeons that continue to win in the SNFC right up to the present. I will be bold enough to say that some of her offspring will win this year, too (2004). The partnership of Mr & Mrs Smith of Elphinstone was formed in 1978. At that time Jimmy worked as a miner in the local pit. One of his work mates had an uncle, Alec Pennycook, who kept pigeon in Loanhead. These were the old Barker strain from a fancier in Blackpool area. Mr Pennycook told his nephew to ask Jimmy for 10 rings and he would breed him a round of youngsters to start with. Of the 10 youngsters, Jimmy was left with 2, one of them being a nice light chequer which he timed from Nantes. The other a lovely dark chequer which would have won in the show pen. She flew the channel nine times in total and appeared on seven SNFC results with her best next condition being either sent on chipping eggs or on a small youngster. She was named ‘Flower of Scotland’ and won the following positions in the SNFC. 1975-64th east section 141st open Avranches; 1976-29th east section 52nd open Rennes and 134th east section 216th open Avranches; 1977 -69th east section 131st open Rennes and 74th east section 108th open Avranches; 1978 - 85th east section 163rd open Rennes and 31st east section 87th open Avranches winning a SNFC Gold Award. As I mentioned in my Tom McEwen story Jimmy Smith was gifted with the injured pied cock ‘11809’ which he then paired to ‘Flower of The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 5 Scotland’ and they produced ‘SN578’. This hen continued to win just like her mother and she won the following positions; 1979 - 27th east section 136th open Falaise & 27th east section 29th open Avranches; 1980- 101st east section 106th open Avranches; 1982 – 139th east section 231st open Rennes. In 1983 the SNFC had no channel racing and she won 127th east section 159th open Dorchester (1). Then in 1985 she won 86th east section 104th open Exeter winning 6 times in the SNFC and a coveted SNFC Gold Award. ‘SN578’ best nest condition was sitting 15 days on eggs. So here we have Mr & Mrs Smith with two Gold Awards when some fanciers never get their hands on one. The Tom McEwen injured pied cock ‘11809’ was then paired to his own daughter ‘578’and this pairing produced ‘SU84E05776’ ‘Champion Fortune Lady’. There have been very few truly great pigeons, which warrant the prefix ‘Champion’ however ‘Fortune Lady’ is certainly worthy of this title. She performed best when sitting six days on eggs at the time of basketing but on both her Rennes wins she was sent sitting on a fourday-old-youngster. Some fanciers may not know or remember about this fantastic racing pigeon so I would like you the reader of this story, to look closely at the following performance in SNFC racing and marvel at this hen’s achievements. 1987; 47th east section 89th open Sartilly 499 miles, 1056 velocity 2358 birds. 1988; 14th east section 15th open Sartilly 499 miles, 926 velocity 1929 birds. 1988; 10th east section 19th open Rennes 542 miles, 855 velocity 3490 birds. 1989; 4th east section 6th open Sartilly 499 miles,1158 velocity 2989 birds. 1989; 6th east section 15th open Sartilly 499 miles,1342 velocity 2659 birds. 1990; 10th east section 20th open Sartilly 499 miles,1370 velocity 3310 birds. 1990; 83rd east section 186th open Sartilly 499 miles, 954 velocity 2912 birds. 1991; 50th east section 160th open Sartilly 499 miles, 921velocity 3180 birds. 1992; 18th east section 28th open Rennes 542 miles, 1118 velocity 4501 birds. 1994; 43rd east section 79th open Sartilly 499 miles, 895 velocity 2274 birds. ‘Fortune Lady’ flew the channel 13 times winning in 10 races and was 5 times in the first 20 open positions in these races with total cash winnings of £5.964.03p. She was a winner of the Scottish Homing Union Pigeon of the Year, winning the prestigious Dewar Trophy in 1988, and was runner up for the same trophy in 1989. I have no doubt that she was the best 500-mile pigeon in Scotland and Europe during her racing career. She won two Gold Awards in the SNFC; winning 10 times in the SNFC in races from France, which is extraordinary. In fact, she is the only pigeon in the history of the SNFC to achieve this wonderful The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 6 accomplishment. (As I write this article in 2022, we have had another outstanding pigeon achieve this accolade Kingdom Spirit, whom I will write about at the end of this article Joe M) When you think that Fortune Lady was raced from France 13 times it makes her even more unique. There are not many people who have been fortunate enough to possess outstanding pigeons of this calibre but Mr & Mrs Smith have been lucky enough to have experienced such pleasure. In fact, they were blessed with having three superb hens from the one family of pigeons who have left generations of winners after they have gone. These three magnificent hens won 4 Gold Awards for the Smith Family, winning 23 SNFC diplomas between them from various distances between 360 miles to 542 miles. I often think what these 3 hens would be worth today if they became available on the market? Certain fanciers have continued to keep these winning genes alive. Dale Newcombe is one who comes to mind, one of his highlights being his success in achieving a Gold Award in 2002 with ‘Kardale Style’ whose positions in the SNFC were as follows; 113th open Rennes; 26th open Sartilly; 84th open Sartilly; 15th open Liege and 55th open Reims. His total winnings were £8.881 in national and in the £100 side bet in the Lothian area. Now let’s have a look at the breeding of ‘Kardale Style’. His sire ‘11901’ was a direct son of ‘Fortune Lady’ and was bed by Mr & Mrs Smith of Elphinstone. The sire of ‘11901’ was bed from a grandson of ‘Fortune Lady’ when paired to ‘Fortune Lady’ herself, so you will see that ‘11901’ was again inbred to ‘Fortune Lady’. It is even more remarkable when you think that ‘Kardale Style’ is the 4th generation of Gold Award winners in the SNFC from this bounteous line of pigeons. The dam of ‘Kardale Style’ is a sister to ‘Lothian Lass’, so in fact was a direct daughter of ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’. ‘Kardale Style’ has also continued the winning genes by being the sire of 66th open Clermont when he was paired to ‘Regatta’, he is also the grandsire of a 12th open Clermont in 2003. Now for some more pigeons containing the ‘Fortune Lady’ bloodlines that are winning in Kardale Lofts in Macmerry. In the last inland SNFC race of 2001from Portland. Dale timed in a yearling dark chequer hen now named ‘Kardale Focus’. To breed her Dale took his number one stock cock the ‘Jamieson Cock’ up to Jimmy Smith’s loft to pair him to ‘Fortune Lady’. Dale received two youngsters back from this pairing. The cock of the pair is the sire of ‘Kardale Focus’. The dam of ‘Kardale Focus’ is a full sister to ‘Kardale Style’. Another full sister to ‘Focus’ won 75th open Clermont in 2003 and a brother of ‘Style’ bred a 132nd open Clermont also in 2003. ‘Kardale Max’ won 15th open Sartilly in 1995, 16th open Nantes 603 miles in 1997 and then three weeks later won 93rd open Sartilly. His sire was a son of ‘Fortune Lady’ when paired to a mealy hen that was bred from a son of ‘De Lorna’ winner of 1st open SNFC Rennes, when paired to a daughter of ‘Fortune Lady’. George Archibald, whom I mentioned earlier with winners The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 7 from ‘Marlene’s Boy’ and ‘Fortune Lady’, had a daughter 7318, a direct daughter of ‘Fortune Lady’ and she was paired to an un-rung Tommy Gilbertson of Carlisle cock. This cock was a full brother to Tommy’s 1st federation 1st Combine Sartilly. This pair bred a blue cock for George that won 1st federation 21st region 37th east section 42 nd open Clermont 2003 and also flew Rennes in 2002. I (Joe Murphy) purchased 2 eggs from Mr & Mrs Smith in 1989, direct from ‘Fortune Lady’ when she was paired to her own sire ‘11809’. These eggs hatched and were rung ‘19447’ & ‘19454’. A son of ‘19447’was paired to a daughter of ‘19454’ and bred F9717 a blue cock who won 133rd east section Rennes flying 557 miles. He was therefore a double grandson of ‘Fortune Lady’ and was sold at my clearance sale. I have heard that he bred some good pigeons for his new owners. However, as I do not have the exact positions, I cannot report on them. Now for the naming of ‘Fortune Lady’; many people think it was because she won a fortune for her owners but nothing could be further from the truth. As I said earlier, Tom McEwen and Jimmy Smith are great friends. While in conversation about the chequer pied hen who at this time had only won three or four times in the National. Jimmy remarked to Tom that he would have to start thinking about a name for her. They went over a few permutations without any success. Then one Saturday night Tom went to Powderhall greyhound track for a night’s entertainment. On the race card in one of the races was ‘Fortune Lad’ and in the later race was ‘Fortune Lady’. Tom spoke to the owner of the dogs and he told him they were both bred from the same litter. Tom then decided to have a bet on ‘Fortune Lad’ and he won, so when it came to ‘Fortune Lady’s’ race he put all his winnings from her brother onto her!!! Low and behold she won the race and a very happy Tom McEwen had a smile as he collected his money. The next day Tom visited Jimmy’s home and said to him. ‘I have a name for your good hen- ‘Fortune Lady’. He then told Jimmy and his wife Agnes the story about his night at the dog track and how he had won a small fortune on Fortune Lady. Jimmy laughed and was happy to accept this name for his pigeon and they both joked that she would win for Jimmy and his wife Agnes a fortune in her racing career. So, this is how she obtained her name and little did they know at that time he name would go down in the history books of the Scottish National Flying Club as being the only double Gold Award winner ever in the club. (As I have stated this was then in 2004). I hope fanciers reading this story will have noticed that all the above bred birds were mated to other prominent top winning lines, so in fact these pigeons were bred in the purple. I have read many articles over the years on all the so called ‘top fanciers’ be it from the Continent or in the UK and believe me, they don’t have a winning line of birds like these Smith pigeons. If they had we would have The Joe Murphy’s Column Seven of the Best Part 2 (First Published in 2004) Re-Typed February 2022 8 heard about it long before now. Maybe the ‘Supercrack’ family would be the only one to compare with this family. I often think we Scottish fanciers are too quiet for our own good and we should be singing the praises of our great long-distance pigeons. I have tried to do this over the year and at times feel that I am the only one interested as I don’t receive feedback from certain fanciers about their birds. This is a pity as they are missing out on obtaining publicity for their pigeons’ achievements. My next selection is a prime example of this, as no matter how hard I have tried to obtain information on the winning ancestry of this pigeon it has never been forthcoming. However, he was a great pigeon belonged to a legend in the West of Scotland. You will have to wait till next time to read the third and final part of my story. Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com or HTTPS://SITES.GOOGLE.COM/SITE/INTERNATIONALRACINGPIGEON/ WHO WISH MY WEEKLY CONTRIBUTION PORTFOLIO ON PIGEON TOPICS FROM SCOTLAND?

Cracking looking pigeons

I've shared this on the pigeonbasics.com Facebook page , I hope that's okay 👍

Thank you Ryan, hopefully for everyone involved, this situation will be resolved. Good luck to all members of the North of Scotland Federation

Not so good

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When the Editor Cameron Stansfield asked me to pick my top six pigeons, (that I wish I could have in my own loft) I thought about it for a while. I kept going over some of the outstanding pigeons that I have been privileged to handle during my time within the sport. It was therefore going to be a very difficult task to narrow this down to just six birds. I was also aware that, no matter my choice of pigeons, someone would dispute my selection. However, the Editor had asked me to compile the story so the choice of pigeons was solely mine. I asked myself a question; ‘If you were going to start up with pigeons again, Joe, how would you go about it? Now there was a thought. I would not make the same mistake as when I first started up by obtaining birds from every Tom, Dick or Harry. With the years of experience, I have gained I started to permit my imagination to run wild. If I had the money to purchase any pigeon I wanted and of course if the owner wanted to part with the bird. Then I would go for pigeons with a proven record, birds that had either bred countless winners or that had proved they could win in the highest competition. I have been lucky enough to handle ‘De Smaragd 1’ and ‘De Smaragd 11’; I also saw ‘Solway King’ while visiting Louella Pigeon World. I handled ‘Natrix’ and other top-class winners while at Jim Biss’s loft in Norfolk. ‘Game Lady 2’ and ‘Flight Master’ at Les Davenport’s loft; Henry Beattie’s ‘Irish National’ winning mealy hen, Bertie Fletcher’s top ‘Wildemeersch Family’ of birds. Then there was the team of Robert O Jones of Resolven in Wales with children from his great winners like ‘The Thurso Cock’ ‘Shetland Leader’ ‘Trottie’ plus Davis Son & Cockcroft who had 5 x 2nd Welsh Grand national winners in their loft, I could go on and one. (To tell you the truth I had forgotten about this until I re-read the article Joe M). Being Scottish I decided I would have to go for Scottish pigeons that have competed in the SNFC which is the benchmark for all Scottish pigeons and fanciers to test their skills. Still, I could not make up my mind as to which pigeons to select. I thought of birds I had been privileged to handle over the years. By now my mind was bulging with the thoughts of all these pigeons. Which three pairs of pigeons would I choose to start my new family? My three hens picked themselves, as their offspring had all bred winners for me, namely the ‘Old Grizzle Hen’ raced by George Rankin and son Gareth of Blantyre in Lanarkshire. ‘Fortune Lady’ who was bred and race by Elphinstone couple Mr & Mrs Jimmy Smith, and my own Scottish National Flying Club winner ‘Mystical Rose’. Regarding the 3 cock’s I could have ‘Lothian King’ raced by John Ellis of Elphinstone as my first cock but what about the other cocks to mate to these hens? Well thinking on the same lines as mentioned above, I required special birds that had proved themselves in the race basket and in the breeding side in the stock loft. They had also left a lasting impression on me since I had handled them all those years ago. My second choice of cock came into this category as being something special. He was Jock Allen of Symington’s great cock ‘No Surrender’. Then, after giving it a lot more consideration, I decided to go for another Elphinstone pigeon in Tom McEwen of Elphinstone’s ‘Marlene’s Boy’. The reason for this selection was he was a Scottish National winner but more importantly he has left a fantastic winning line of pigeons, as you will soon read about. Another reason for this choice was his sire’s brother was the sire of ‘Fortune Lady’ who is one of my selected hens. So, I now had my six pigeons but a slight predicament with my selection of birds, for how could I possibly select Lothian King without his mate Lothian Queen as this pair was responsible for leaving a dynasty of winners in the SNFC for John Ellis of Elphinstone. So, my top six now became my top seven which was always a lucky number for my late father. I then thought, could I have three cocks and mate them to the four hens and this way start off my own family of pigeons? Would this work? Of course, it would; because by mating the two cocks ‘No Surrender’ and ‘Marlene’s Boy’ to the three hens, within a few years I would have half-brothers and sisters to continue with my line of breeding. I would leave ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ together to start with as they had proven without any doubt, they could breed winners. Then I could split them up and cross them into the other bird in my make-believe family. The more I thought of this, the more excited the prospect of building up this imaginary team of pigeons became. Then I had to stop and have a reality check as I didn’t actually have these pigeons and it was on an article for the pigeon paper. Still for a few minutes the thought of having these seven marvellous pigeons in my possession filled me with great pleasure and my heart was pounding with the excitement. I have to say that had I been able to possess these birds. I honestly believe it would have been only a matter of time before their offspring would start to win for me in the highest competition. I have no doubt the progeny of these seven birds would have succeeded in making today’s National results. I am more than certain that this achievement would have happened sooner than later. Before we concentrate on the seven pigeons referred to above. I would like to thank the fanciers who supplied me with the information on their birds. This has been a great help in updating this story. Elphinstone Racing Pigeon Club In the mid 80’s the club which dominated the SNFC results was Elphinstone RPC, which is in a little village situated just outside Tranent in East Lothian. This former little mining village was the hotbed of some of the most outstanding pigeons in Scotland. I visited Elphinstone many times over the years and I will always remember my first visit. This took place along with two other fanciers from Kirkcaldy. I was greatly impressed with the quality of birds and the fanciers of this little village. I’m not frightened to say that it opened my eyes and my mind and gave me a totally different outlook on pigeon racing. These fanciers were dedicated and the work rate they put into their pigeons was second to none. I was therefore aware that I was only playing at keeping pigeons and if I wanted to reach the top then I would have to change my whole outlook and management. For Example; one item at this particular time was that stuck in my mind; some of these Elphinstone members had joined the Solway Federation and the reason for this was that, prior to the 80’s the Solway fanciers had finished with the majority of the top open positions in the National results. These forward-thinking members of Elphinstone club had decided that, if the National winners were coming up through the Annan aera and their own birds were with them, they would have to come the other 60 plus miles on their own. If this were happening to their birds on a weekly basis, when the nationals came along, they would not be deterred by the distance or flying on their own or in small batches. Their birds would take this last part of the race in their stride and head for home, which they did and the outcome was that the Elphinstone members performances improved and they started winning better open positions with their birds in the national races. This then had a snowball effect; as it started to make other fanciers from the Lothian area realise that they too COULD also win up here in the central belt of Scotland. This has therefore been proven since then with some outstanding performances accomplished by fanciers from this area. I have drifted away from the story of the top seven a little; but I wanted to let fanciers know the calibre of the advanced-thinking pigeon fancier from this small club which, unfortunately, is no longer in existence. The fanciers who live in the village now race in different clubs and federations although their village name is still referred to on the present-day SNFC results(2021-JM). I came away from Elphinstone after my first visit with many happy thoughts; for I had seen and handled the very best of long-distance winning pigeons that were setting the heather on fire in Scotland. Every loft impressed me; however, the consistent loft of John Ellis, who lives in the Main Street, affected me above the others, as his birds were ‘My Type’ small-to-medium hens with the cocks not much bigger. In fact, some of the cocks were quite ‘henny headed’, they all had lovely feathering quality and balance. They had good length about them and good wings and a short forearm. The other thing that impressed me was John Ellis’s SNFC results which were outstanding and when he timed in one bird he would not have to wait very long before he had the remainder of his team arrive. He sometimes had 8 or 12 birds on the SNFC results and he did not keep a big team of birds. John was a very quiet spoken lad who gave the impression that he was very shy. However, when he was in his loft with his beloved pigeons, he was a different man. He had this ‘aura’ about him and his team responded very well to his management. So, I will start off my story with this great fancier and his number one stock pair of pigeons. John Ellis’s Lothian King & Lothian Queen John Ellis was fortunate enough to have a pair of breeding pigeons that left a dynasty of winners and, more importantly, breeders of winners. ‘Lothian King’ was a blue cock SU82E6630 and his mate a red hen SU81CA3619. Her bloodlines go back to McCabe Brothers of East Calder and J.T. Ellis who was the father of John Ellis of Elphinstone. ‘Lothian King’ who was bred from ‘3871’ who 41st & 141st open Sartilly and 193rd open Dorchester in 1983, the year there was no Channel racing from France into Britain. (How quite ironic that it has been the same these past 2 season - 2020 & 2021). ‘Lothian King’s’ dam won 160th open Avranches, also 140th and 319th open Rennes, and was bred by John Ellis’s father who lived in Haddington. This hen’s sire won 25th open Avranches and 47th open Rennes, and her dam won 263rd open Rennes and 89th open Sartilly. ‘Lothian Queen’ was bred by McCabe Brothers of East Calder and the breeding of this pigeon is extraordinary. Willie McCabe bought a light chequer red hen from Tom Birkley of Breich which was out of the late John McGillivray’s ‘Blue Pied Twin Hen’ which in turn was out of the famous ‘1276’ who was out of ‘Galabank Duke’ of John Kirkpatrick breeding. This bird was paired to a Guy Paton ‘Sion’ who had bred ‘Dream Girl’ winner of 1st open SNFC Nantes flying 598 miles. Tom Birkley’s ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ winner of 3rd open Rennes, was a great grandson and scored 5 times across the channel before Gold Awards were introduced into the SNFC. ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ dam was via Colin MacKinnon of Midcalder from the best of John Anderson of Anstruther from his ‘Kirkpatrick’ bloodlines and Johnny Begg of Lugar. The year after ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ was 3rd open Rennes he won 11th open Scottish Central Combine Avranches. Tom Birkley paired ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ to his own dam and gave one of the eggs to the late Harry Whitelaw and another to Jimmy Little of Davidson & Little from Port Seton. Jimmy Little hatched his egg and as he was a great friend Eddie Newcombe, he gave him the youngster to breed from. Eddie mated it to ‘Red Laddie’ and gave a youngster back to Jimmy Little, who in turn, gave it to Dickie Lees who bred youngster from it and gifted one to Jimmy Little. This pigeon turned out to be ‘Five Times a Lady’ who won 1st open SNFC Nantes in 1985 for Jimmy Little, being timed on the day flying 609 miles into a head wind, she was flying 16 hours 22 minutes. So, you will see that ‘Lothian Queen’ was bred for the job, as she is descended from a long line of proven winners and more importantly National winners at that. ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ won at National level and in turn bred winners. Every chequer daughter from them being a SNFC diploma winner. The highlight of this fantastic pair’s breeding was their famous daughter ‘Lothian Lass’ who won seven times in the SNFC and won a Gold Award (5 times prize winner in the SNFC). She was also the winner of the prestigious Scottish Homing Union ‘Pigeon of the Year’ award and the winner of the ‘Dewar Trophy’ for the Best Pigeon in Scotland in 1987. Her winning positions were as follows; From Sartilly, a distance of 500 miles to Elphinstone, she was 17th east section, 21st open; 6th east section 8th open; 14th east section 24th open; 10th east section 11th open; 55th east section 77th open. From Rennes, a distance of 540 miles she won; 65th east section 128th open and 181st east section 248th open. ‘Lothian Lass’ was something very special and I have enclosed a photograph of her and her parents to show fanciers the quality of pigeon I’m talking about. A son of ‘Lothian Lass’ bred Dale Newcombe’s 1st open SNFC Rennes winner. I would now like to tell you about some of the descendants from this fantastic stock pair that John Ellis owned. As you will soon find out they were, without doubt, one of the best breeding pairs in this country. It is such a pity that John Ellis gave up the pigeons because he was an outstanding fancier, and it is a testament to his skills as a breeder of quality pigeons that his family of pigeons continue to still win today. ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ were responsible for breeding many SNFC Diploma winners. I will state that this would be in the 100’s if everyone told us about them. To mention a few direct children; ‘02261’ won 7th east section 8th open, 21st east section 42nd open; 46th east section 66th open Sartilly and 36th east section 66th open Nantes 600 mils. ‘05887’ won 22nd open & 153rd open Sartilly also 129th & 243rd open Rennes; ‘02262’ won 41st open & 219th open Rennes and 63rd open Sartilly. ‘Stumpy’ (rung 5051) won 15th east section 31st open Rennes and 21st east section 29th open & 39th east section 132nd open Sartilly. ‘5024’ won 123rd open Sartilly; (as a matter of interest an offspring from Stumpy is in the breeding of Billy Smith 1st open SNFC 2012 Niort winner ‘Ella’; ‘4676’ won 192nd & 176th open Sartilly; ‘03502’ won 1st east section 9th open Sartilly; ‘05900’ won 35th open for John Bosworth. ‘Lothian Princess’ won 2nd open SNFC young bird national and 13th east section 17th open Rennes; 55th east section 110th open Sartilly; 130th east section and 162nd east section both Sartilly. ‘Lothian Princess’ was the dam of ‘Lothian Prince who won 3rd open young bird national. ‘03544’ a direct daughter of Lothian King and Lothian Queen. She is the granddam of Dale Newcombe’s ‘Kardale Region’ winner of 4th 58th & 104th open Sartilly; and ‘Kardale Hope’ 12th and 17th open SNFC Rennes being timed in on the day at 23-40pm in the dark to win the latter position. Dale’s 1st open SNFC Rennes winner ‘Kardale Clive’s Memory’ was bred from a son of ‘Lothian Lass’ when paired to a daughter of Gunn & Cherrie’s 1st open SNFC Rennes winner ‘Mountmarple Sir Ivor’. A grandson of ‘Lothian Lass’ won 20th open Rennes as a yearling for Dale. Another pigeon containing the Ellis blood in Dale’s loft was ‘Kardale Regatta’ who won a SNFC Gold Award for him. ‘Regatta’s’ performances were as follows; 1994-102nd east section 211th open Rennes; 1995- 70th east section 127th open Rennes; 1996- 5th east section 6th open Rennes; 1998- 85th section 154th open Rennes; 1998- 50th section 67th open Sartilly; 1999- 10th east section 34th open Nantes. Her total winnings were £4, 742. ‘Kardale Regatta’s’ sire was a full brother to ‘Lothian Lass’ so a direct son of ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’. ‘Regatta’s dam was a daughter of George McAloney & son of Coatbridge 1st open SNFC Sartilly winner of 1987. ‘Regatta’ bred ‘Jackpot’ who as a yearling won from Basingstoke on the Saturday sitting on a small youngster. Her mate was lost at this race and ‘Jackpot’ never left this youngster, so Dale sent her on the Tuesday to Rennes and she won. An up-to-date daughter of ‘Regatta’ and ‘Style’ won 66th open Clermont. So, fanciers will see that this fantastic family of birds is still winning in the SNFC at the current time. An interesting point about all these pigeons in the ‘Kardale’ lofts Dale sent them all to France as yearlings. (People who read my article on John Kirkpatrick will have noticed that he did exactly the same with his birds Joe M) They didn’t all win but they have proved without any doubt that he had made pigeons out of them and he was now reaping the benefits as they are turning out to be good stock pigeons. To continue with Dale’s birds another good pigeon containing the Ellis blood was ‘Kardale Starmist’, who won 6th open young bird national flying 280 miles; 8th open Nantes 603 miles; 17th open Niort 672 miles. His sire was a son of John Cosgrove & son of Lesmahagow’s 1st open SNFC Nantes winner of 1987, when paired to a direct daughter from ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’. Dale bred a ‘Pure Ellis’ and this bird ended up with Joe Mullen of Lumphinnans. He is the sire of ‘St Finnan’s Lass’ who won 48th open SNFC Liege and 7th open Reims in 2002. To continue with the Joe Mullen birds, he purchased a hen at my sale ‘Mystical Pied’ bred from a son of ‘Lothian Lass’ when paired to ‘Mystical Rose’ our 1st open SNFC Sartilly winner. This hen bred ‘Lad’ who won 113th open Rennes and 128th open Messac and he in turn is the grandsire of ‘Rose’ who won 8th open Reims in 2002. A brother to ‘Lad’ bred a 21st open Liege winner and he in turn bred a 154th open Reims winner. Joe Mullen had a grandson of ‘Stumpy’ which I had, and he bred a pigeon for Kenny Paris of Cowdenbeath which won 76th open Rennes. My own ‘Tusky Lady’ won 33rd open Beauvais, she was from the same son of ‘Lothian Lass’ when paired a mealy cock whose sire was a son of Charlie Dickson’s good mealy hen ‘Sunrise’. This great hen won 4th 10th and 10th open SNFC Nantes. The dam of ‘Sunrise’ was a daughter of Dougie Stewarts ‘Smithy’s Gaffer’ winner of 42nd 63rd 72nd 141st and 173rd open SNFC Sartilly he was also a winner of a SNFC Gold Award. Another daughter, whom I called ‘Ingrid’ after John Ellis’s wife, was again bred from ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’. ‘Ingrid’ was paired to ‘Old George’ who was bred from a daughter of Jock Allan’s ‘No Surender’ his SNFC Gold Award winner; - more about him later in this story. ‘Old George’ was the grandsire of George & Gareth Rankin champion ‘Red Rocket’, their SNFC Gold Award winner. ‘Old George’ and ‘Ingrid’ bred ‘Nick Faldo’ who won 18th east section 36th open SNFC Sartilly 2 for me and Kevin, he was a late bred carrying 2 nest flights on each wing when I timed him from 515 miles on the winning day. Another direct daughter of ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ was given to John Ellis clubmate, Richard Combe of Elphinstone. This hen was paired to a son of Richard’s old pied hen ‘Setonpark Certainty’ who won 4 times from the SNFC. She won 45th open Weymouth Yearling Derby with the Scottish 1000-Mile Club in 1979. Then in the SNFC she won 206th open Avranches, 64th open Nantes, 99th & 204th open Sartilly. She excelled at stock, being the dam of 2875 ‘Starlight’ who won 5th open & 18th open Sartilly and is granddam of Richard’s 3rd open Sartilly hen as well as ‘Paragon’. ‘Starlight’ was timed at 23.00 hours after nearly 17 hours on the wing from Rennes, a distance of 543 miles. It was dark and Richard had to switch on the loft lights before he could coax her in. She was the longest flying pigeon and the only East section bird on the day - and she won 5th open. Again, a great pigeon who gave their all to make it home on the day – believe me they are ‘real gems’. To get back to the mating of the Ellis hen, this pair bred ‘Setonpark Paragon’ who won 5th open Dorchester as a yearling. Then as a two-year-old he won 6th club Charnock Richard (158 miles), 14th open East of Scotland federation Worcester and two weeks later was sent to Sartilly and was 13 hours on the wing winning 1st east section 6th open in the National. Twelve days later he was sent to the SNFC Rennes race and was timed at 22-15 hours on the day after being 16 hours on the wing to win 42nd east section 68th open, he was runner up for the Dewar Trophy that year (1991). A funny story about ‘Paragon’ was that he escaped from the race basked at the Worcester Open race the next season as a 3-year-old. It was pouring with rain: hence it was a holdover for the federation and he must have sat out until the rain stopped. He homed the next day before the race birds were home. However, Richard says this ruined his preparation for Sartilly that year and he missed the result and he was never raced again. Richard and his son Jamie still have ‘Paragon’ at stock where he has turned out to be ‘Gold Dust’. Jamie went over the partner’s records and made a note of all the winners that go back to ‘Paragon’. I’ll just list them in generations and quote their open SNFC results. Direct Children; ‘147’ chequer cock won 95th Sartilly; ‘4001’ chequer cock won 73rd open Sartilly; ‘13506’ red pied cock won 51st & 91st open Frome and 23rd open Lille; ‘6778’ chequer cock was a late bred who was never raced- he bred a 5th open Sartilly and a 10th open Rennes. Grandchildren; ‘4201’ chequer hen won 10th open Rennes and 127th open Frome; ‘8566’ a chequer hen won 5th open & 99th open Sartilly (as a matter of interest ‘8566’ is the dam of ‘Midnight Son’ who won a SNFC Gold Award for Richard & Jamie). ‘3170’ chequer cock won 116th open Sartilly. Great Grand Children; ‘4237’ chequer cock now named ‘Midnight Son’ has won 7th open and 37th open Sartilly; 131st open & 153rd open Rennes; 61st open Reims; 16th open & 241st open Frome, SEVEN times a winner plus a SNFC Gold Award winner. He also won the Dewar Trophy and was Scotland’s Bird of the Year winner; ‘4232’ chequer hen won 82nd open and 219th open Frome and 32nd open Nantes; ‘4204’ a red cock won 58th open Sartilly; ‘4219’ a blue white flight cock won 126th open Sartilly and 56th open Nantes. Great-great-Grandchildren; ‘3990’ chequer hen won 107th open Frome and 66th open Sartilly; ‘4961’ a blue hen named ‘Jamie’s Choice’ that was entered into the Joe Murphy Sporting Challenge won 83rd open Hastings and 35th open Reims; ‘4509’ a blue hen won 38th open Chenoise. Great-great-great-Grandchildren; ‘5472’ a blue hen won 47th open Messac; Chequer hen ‘35’ won 2nd |& 10th open Chenoise; Chequer hen ‘843’ won 39th open Clermont and ‘861’ a chequer hen won 279th open Clermont. So, fanciers will have noticed that another Gold Award Winner has been bred down from birds descended from the original Ellis pigeons from ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’. It comes as no surprise to me that the majority of fanciers mentioned in this story appear regularly high up in the SNFC results year after year. As they have studied the pedigrees and have tested the offspring from these great pigeons. Another daughter from ‘Lothian King’ and ‘Lothian Queen’ was swapped with Tom McEwen for a son of his 1st open SNFC Sartilly winner ‘Marlene’s Boy’. This hen was paired to ‘Marlene’s Boy’ and bred a 4th open SNFC Nantes winner for Tom McEwen, which brings us efficiently to my next pigeon in my selection; Tom McEwen’s ‘Marlene’s Boy’, however you will have to wait until next time for Part 2 of my ‘Seven of the Best’. Compiled and written by Joe Murphy I would just like to add when I first wrote this article away back in 2004, I did not have a computer and everything was hand written. Plus, my wife Margaret and I had to go through all the SNFC results looking for the ring numbers of the pigeons mentioned above, to obtain their section and open performances. Believe me this was hard work and it is not until I have sat down to re-type this story, I realise the time and effort we put into the sport. Firstly, in compiling the article and also the publicity the SNFC received as well as the fanciers mentioned within this story. I just hope readers have enjoyed this first part of my ‘Seven of the Best’ and the photographs scanned of these wonderful pigeons. I hope readers of my column are looking forward to Part 2 (hopefully next week). Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com or https://sites.google.com/site/internationalracingpigeon/ Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland? © Compiled by Joe Murphy

I have brought a Loft Article of Dave Coulman to the top of the board, I believe he has the Delbar strain.