For most of his life, my Father has worked and farmed the same area of loam rich land, in the undulating Howe of Strathmore, deep in rural Perthshire.
Agriculture has been core to our family for countless generations just as medicine, academia, high finance or public service has for others.
As a son of the soil his life has been shaped by the vagaries of the weather and politics of the day.
He has watched his children grow, celebrated births and weddings, mourned the passing of close friends and the tragic death of his first Grandson.
And like many of his generation, he has done so with a stoic good grace, and fortitude of spirit, that I and others of my time can only aspire to.
My overriding memory of my Father will always be of an unrelenting and hard working man whose kinship with the land, knowledge of livestock and the network of farmers across Scotland, is legend.
That was, and still is, the public face of my Father.
Privately he is someone who would pull his sleepy children out into the steel cold of a winters’ evening to awe in wonder at the splendour of the aurora borealis or suddenly pounce lion like into a summer meadow as he unfolded a delicate skylarks’ nest!
That I should even consider to write these words will be a source of deep embarrassment to him!
However today is his 80th birthday and this is my tribute to the person who created a fabric into which each of us has woven our own tapestry, and to which I now accord my thanks and gratitude.
Happy Birthday Father!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve often wondered how individuals in positions of influence make decisions and why?
They’re allegedly considered to be our opinion formers, and the backbone of society!
Yesterday – at the Balmoral Show in Belfast – I approached a former colleague, Martin Cassidy, who is lead Rural Affairs Correspondent with the BBC in Northern Ireland.
I explained that my client, David Laughlin, the first Organic Dairy farmer in Ireland, was going to present – in person – to HRH The Prince of Wales, a groundbreaking document on the future of organic food on the day of its public launch!
It’s a subject which is not only of massive global importance, it’s also very close to HRH Prince Charles own mantra, about local, and national food production.
Martin, who was at the Balmoral show with his film crew, said he’d inform his TV producer.
Inevitably, they did not appear for this significant, and topical story!
My client also contacted DARD (the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Development) co-supporters of the document, who said The Prince of Wales schedule was full and could not receive the report ……. which we chose to ignore!
Six years ago HRH The Prince of Wales was the guest of the Laughlin family at Culmore where he had lunch with David and national food and industry leaders!
It seems that many senior civil servants, and the BBC, have very short memories!
The old days of the fourth estate – the press and conventional media – is crumbling rapidly in advance of Web 2.0 and Social Networking yet why do they refuse to take notice?
Perhaps every picture tells a story, but not always, in its entirety!
FOOTNOTE:
Yesterday I was given direct information about a major £16 million contract in agriculture and the environment signed at the Balmoral Show …. was that broadcast on the BBC?
As they say in the States… go figure!
205 years ago a young widow by the name of Barbe Nicole Ponsardin inherited her husband’s champagne business after his premature death. She was only 27.
Her stoic determination to build a prestige Champagne House became assured in 1814.
Showing great foresight – just ahead of Napolean’s blockade – she shipped 10,000 bottles of her branded Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Champagne to Russia, ahead of the competition.
At some point in the process she had to decide whether to say no or yes!!
No one else could get their product into the country and overnight she became known as the ‘Grand Dame de la Champagne’! Veuve Clicquot
Now as my good friends will tell you, I, like many others. enjoy the occasional quaff of fizz and tonight I’m having a glass to celebrate my decision to say ‘No!’ to a prospective client.
It’s the first time I’ve decided that saying ‘No’ was far easier than saying ‘Yes’!
No one likes turning business away in these troubled economic times and because I always deliver beyond expectations I know new clients are a vital stimulus to help build a signature brand.
However in this instance my prospective client – an intelligent and ‘successful’ business – lacked genuine vision and the ability to discern between value and worth!
Quality – in an age of change – comes at a price, and so does self respect!
This might be the most expensive ‘No’ of my life but nevertheless it tastes very sweet indeed!
So to my non client this evening I say thank you, and “A la votre!”