The great dealer family of Williamsons decidedly favoured the “Aberdeenshire breed” because “they were more easily maintained, were hardier, had flesh of the finest grain and paid better in proportion to the goodness of their keep”.

In the county of Angus the black “dodded” cattle had long been favourites and some of first qualities that attracted the attention of breeders were the peculiar quietness and docility of the Doddie, the easiness to which they were managed and the losses that were incurred from injuries. It was therefore fitting that their first great fancier, who made them known at Smithfield and who first received a three-figure price for a black polled bull–Hugh Watson of Keillor–should have been an Angus farmer.

The three great builders of the breed were Hugh Watson, of Keillor, Angus; William McCombie, of Tillyfour, Aberdeenshire; and George MacPherson-Grant of Ballindalloch, Banffshire. The work of these three men spans exactly a century. There were several other herds founded around the same time as Watson’s that contributed to his success, the most notable being William Maule (Lord Panmure) who bred the great breeding bull Panmure 51 who was out of Black Meg, but not to be confused with the great Black Meg 766.

William Fullerton, Ardovie Buchan who was only 8 months old when his father died was probably the most constructive and the most unlucky of all the Aberdeen-Angus breeders of the Keillor period. To his brilliant work Tillyfour was to owe so much. It is to Mr.Fullerton”, declared William McCombie, “that I owe my success as a breeder. I shall always look up to him as the founder of my stock”. Fullerton purchased at Brechin two heifers that were bred in Buchan. One was Black Meg 766, a queen of the breed in her own right but of unknown breeding.

William Fullerton’s bad luck started when pleuro-pneumonia slew 100 head of his herd.” I believe the best herd of Polled cattle in Scotland at the time”wrote their bereaved owner. His great bull Earl o’ Buchan was one of the few survivors.He tried to assemble a new herd, but on three further occasions the plague almost annihilated his cattle and at last this greatly inspired breeder threw in his hand. He died in 1880. In 1865 rinderpest broke out on the neighbouring herd of Mains of Kelly and only 21 out of 93 were saved. In Aberdeenshire vigorous action was led by William McCombie resulting in Aberdeenshire getting off lightly compared to Angus.

William McCombie declared that, “Hugh Watson of Keillor deserves to be put in the front rank. No breeder of Polled Aberdeen and Angus cattle will begrudge that well inherited honour to his memory. We will look up to him as the first great improver, and no one will question his title to that distinction. There is no herd in the country which is not indebted to the Keillor blood.”

While the Keillor furnished innumerable cattle, and many of them classic cattle, to other herds it was itself almost completely self contained. Apart from the initial foundation, Watson only used sires of his own breeding and most of his pure stock descended from the celebrated prima cow of the breed “Old Grannie” who was photographed at 36 years of age.

Very little is known about Hugh Watson’s breeding methods. According to his son Willam’s account, the promoters of the Herd Book never consulted Hugh Watson, although Ravensworth, the editor, twice visited Keillor for information, which was refused as he considered he had been disrespected.Although he carefully kept record books he,”vowed he would never make known the pedigrees of his cattle”. A short time before his dispersal sale he burnt all his record books. From his own notes his son William, many years later, was able to clear up the confusion in Keillor pedigrees in the first edition of Volume 1. Why Hugh Watson was thus overlooked when the preliminaries were put in hand for commencing the Herd Book has never been and cannot now be satisfactorily explained, for he was then beyond all question the most prominent man in the breed. The loss of knowledge due to the omission is incalculable.

Of the three great men to whom every Aberdeen Angus modern breeder pays continuous homage, William McCombie was the greatest, and the one without whose skill and courage and knowledge the breed could never have reached its present standard of quality and breeders their modern genetic technique.

As an early youth, McCombie vowed that he would endeavour to improve the native breed. His whole life was dedicated to the fulfilment of this pledge. He started the Tillyfour herd in 1830 and in Aberdeenshire there was a supply of good black polled cattle and a great deal of sound breeding experience to draw upon. He soon extended his source for foundation stock to the wider selection that Angus provided.

He concentrated on Panmure and Queen of Ardovie blood to begin with, followed by the use of the nearly unrelated Hanton, enabling McCombie to pursue with safety a long course of intermittent breeding. He never, however, was a slave to any policy. “In-and-in breeding,” he wrote, “has some advantages and many disadvantages: my experience has not been in favour of the system. By adhering to it, I found that quality was maintained and even improved; but the size was reduced and symptoms of delicacy of constitution were manifested. It may be pursued for a time until type is developed; but to continue for any length of time to breed in-and-in is not only against my experience but I believe against nature.”

McCombie believed that, “Pedigree is of the most vital importance. We ought always prefer a bull of high pedigree with fair symmetry and quality to another bull though much superior in appearance, but of questionable pedigree. Breeders have not given this subject the attention it deserves. I have paid dearly for my experience in the matter.”

McCombie was a generous buyer as well as a generous seller, always selling some of his best at his sales. At his third sale in 1860, the year of the Keillor Dispersal, Hugh Watson proposed a toast at his Sale Luncheon. He said, “I know no man who more deserves your approbation. If zeal, perseverance and great judgement can carry a man honourably through this world, he possesses the whole of these to a great extent.I know no man whose friendship I am more desirous of cultivating than that of Mr. McCombie.”

On the 1st of February 1880 McCombie passed away and the last sale was held in August closing the scene at Tillyfour. The cattle left over from the previous sale (1878) plus those added to the herd in the interval were put under the hammer.A crowd estimated at 1500 (the largest number ever seen around a sale ring) assembled to pay their tribute to the work that had been accomplished at Tillyfour. The highest price ever paid for a polled animal was for Tillyfour Pride of Aberdeen 9th.

McCombie was not only a great breeder of cattle, he was also a breeder of great cattle. It would be almost impossible to deal fully with the remarkable record which he set up in the show yards and probably the record he set has no equal in the case of any herd of any breed, for the Tillyfour herd was continually in the limelight. To mention the successes at fat stock shows would not be a brief or easy matter. The various French and International Exhibitions in which he took part brought great credit to the breed. McCombie found a purely local breed; he left a breed known and valued throughout the greatest of the worlds cattle countries.

Among all McCombies breeding achievements the most famous was the celebrated steer Black Prince.He was calved in 1863 and was sired by Black Prince of Tillyfour.

More Importantly is the great family Pride of Aberdeen which comprises about a quarter of the breed plus the important families of Ruth and Vine of Tillyfour.

Sir George MacPherson Grant was born in 1839 and was only 11 years old when he succeeded to the title and took over the Ballindalloch Estate. Educated at Harrow and Oxford.He had a marvellous relationship with his tenants and understood their difficulties.

Although the “Ballindalloch Era” may be said to have commenced with the purchase of Erica 843 at the Kinnard Sale in 1861, the roots of the Ballindalloch herd go back much further being associated with the very beginnings of systematic breeding. The great Pannure 51 was not to appear on the scene for another seven years.

Sir George was about 18 when the work of collecting material for the Herd Book was recommenced following the destruction by fire of the original records in 1851. From Ballindalloch, there were only 5 bulls and 8 cows appearing in Volume 1. In Vol 2 (1872) there were 20 bulls and 32 females from Ballindalloch including better known names such as Miss Burgess 1198.