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| Gilbert Meikle |
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| Jean Meikle |
Gilbert Meikle, the son of a Scottish Hill Shepherd, left
school at fifteen years of age to look after a herd of cattle and some black
faced sheep. At twenty one years of age
he joined the Police Service and served for over thirty years. During
his Police service he always remained interested in animals especially sheep
and was for a considerable part of his service the Area Animal Health
Inspector. This duty was eventually taken
over by the Local Authority. Police
Officers no longer had to attend sheep dipping or local livestock markets to
issue animal movement licenses.
Gilbert’s ambition was always to breed and show his own flock
of sheep. In 1988 along with his wife
Jean he was able to purchase a small parcel of land and a house in Tyninghame
East Lothian. There they were able to breed some commercial sheep, along with
Soay Sheep, Black Welsh Mountain Sheep and Shetland Sheep. The breeding of Soay Sheep led to him going to
the Archipelago of St Kilda to study Soay Sheep. The St Baldred’s Flock of Shetland Sheep was
established. The Meikles competed in
shows all over Scotland and the North of England with their Shetland and Black
Welsh Mountain Sheep. There are very few trophies awarded by these
shows that do not have the name G E and J Meikle engraved on them.
Gilbert is a Committee Member of the Shetland Sheep Society
and Past Chairman. He has been a recognized Society judge since 2002 and is
present Chairman of the Judges and Inspectors Panel.
Jean Meikle, also born in the country, spent all her school
holidays at her grandmother’s home in the Peeblesshire Hills. Her grandfather was a Scottish Hill Shepherd
keeping and shepherding Black Faced Sheep. All her life Jean has been
interested in animals, especially sheep. She is
not a spinner but has been crafting woolen items since attending primary
school. She was always involved when the animals were
chosen for the shows, and took half the animals into the ring at judging. It was Jean who prepared and chose the
fleeces for the shows and over the years has won many awards from Colored
Champion at the Royal Highland Show to overall Champion at Peebles Show.
