Jackson, Adam
A canny shepherd laddie o’ the hills - from the Cheviots to the Warksburn
The life story of Adam Jackson 1914-1987 as told by his daughter Mavis Nixon
Adam was born on 13th November 1914 at Goldscleugh, a hill sheep farm which is situated on the Northern slopes of the Cheviot hills on the College Burn running down to Kirknewton. He was the second youngest of 9 children. His Father, Jim Jackson was a Scotsman from Newcastleton who was married twice. He had 8 children from his first marriage. His first wife died aged 33 during child birth. His Father then hired a young housekeeper, Jean Storey from Harbottle, and the inevitable happened, he married her 3 years later and they went on to have another 9 children making a total of 17.
Six of Adam’s Brothers became hill shepherds and were renowned for their singing. As a shepherd he would get plenty of practice for his lungs calling the yowes to the knowes across the valleys of the Border hills.
Adam lived at Goldscleugh until he was 6½ years old. There was a school at Southern Knowe further down the valley and he would go to school there until he moved to Hill house, a shepherd’s cottage on Ingram farm. He went to school at Ingram until he was 12 years old. Ingram is located in the Cheviot Hills on the river Breamish. The Cheviot Hills straddle the border between England and Scotland.
The next move in 1927 was to Titlington Mount farm which lies South East of Powburn with the nearest village being East Bolton, Alnwick. It was there that he left school aged 14 years.
His working life covered many jobs on many farms, which was the pattern in those days, moving each year at what was called 'Term Day’, mostly on May 13 but also in November.
His first full time job was at at Whiteburnshank from 1930 until 1932 as a shepherd with two of his older brothers Tommy and Bob. Whiteburnshank was a shepherd’s house on the Kidlandlee Estate which is situated in the Alwin valley, Alwinton. It is all planted with forestry now.
From 1932-34 he lived at Scrainwood, which is a farm West of Whittingham in the Alnham / Netherton village area. He was horsemen and his mother milked cows.
In 1934, he ‘worked loose’ which was the term for working for yourself doing general farm work while living at Kidlandlee. While he was working ‘loose’ he dug drains at Bygate Hall which is situated in the Upper Coquet for 9 pence a chain (22 yards or 20m). He then stayed on as part-time ‘hay man’ to help make the hay, and ‘lambing man’ to assist with the birth of lambs in the spring.
From 1935-1937 he shepherded at Ridleeshope which is also in the Upper Coquet, for £45 a year, usually paid at the end of the term.
From 1937-1940 he herded sheep for £50 a year on a farm called the ‘Trows’ which is also situated in the Upper Coquet. Adam loved the Coquet hills.
As part of their wages a shepherd had a free house and usually a few head of sheep called ‘pack ewes’ and perhaps allowed to keep a heifer to turn into a house cow or rear a few calves.
Shepherds and farm workers were generally exempt for call-up for national service when WWII started in 1939, although Adam’s youngest brother Harry signed up. Unfortunately, he died in 1948 from tuberculosis which was very common in those days.
In 1940 Adam left the Coquet and went to work as a shepherd at Coldcote Hill in the Warksburn and that is where he met his wife Daisy Nelson who lived at Longlea. His yearly wage was £94 pounds. By this time he had a motorbike, not sure what make but a BSA rings a bell. Coldcote Hill wasn't far from Longlea so he visited Daisy on the motor bike.
In 1941 he went to shepherd on the 1,800 acre farm called Threestone Burn which was an off farm run with Linhope Estate in the Breamish Valley. Part of the agreement was housing a single shepherd to assist him. Threestone Burn itself lies in the Roddam Valley, where apparently, people and supplies would be met with horse and cart at Wooperton station. It was to Threestone Burn that he took Daisy as a young bride. They were married on 3rd. April 1943. She hated Threestone Burn as it was in the middle of nowhere up in the hills and she used to talk about the terrible mists that wouldn't lift all day. She was used to living nearer to civilization.
When Daisy was pregnant, she moved to Humbleton on the outskirts of Wooler where their daughter Mavis (me) was born. Adam’s Brother was farming there so she stayed with him and his wife during the latter stages of her pregnancy. Apparently, she had several miscarriages and was on complete bed rest before I was born in 1945. After that in 1946 they took up the tenancy of Ravensheugh which was adjoining Longlea in the Warksburn where Daisy’s family lived.
It was a 65-acre holding on the Allgood Estate 2½ miles (4 kms) from the village of Wark and the only means of getting to the village was on foot. Adam bought his first car in 1961 which was an Austen A30. It was a mixed farm carrying 40-50 Blackfaced ewes which were mated to the Border Leicester Tup to produce Mule lambs. The cows were Shorthorn, which included two milking cows, a handful of stirks (calves up to yearlings) and a pig which was fed for a year then killed for later consumption. There were only 2 small byres, a stable, a hemmel (straw-bedded covered yard), two calf hutches, a pig stye and a hay shed.
The two cows were milked twice a day with some of the milk being fed to the calves by bucket, and the balance used in the house to be separated. The separator was a hand operated device which separated the cream from the milk. Butter was made from the cream once per week in a wooden churn which was also turned by hand. Any surplus butter was sold to customers in the village.
As time went by machinery took the place of a horse and a grey Ferguson (Fergie) tractor was bought. The stable was then fitted out with cages for hens and the hemmel converted to deep litter for hens which meant the out houses were being utilized instead of standing empty. The eggs from the hens were sold to the butcher who came by van every Thursday. Money for the feed came out of the farm account and the proceeds from the eggs were kept to run the household.
Adam also used to help some of his neighbours at clipping time and at haytime as he was skilled builder of stacks. He was also the local Mole (mowdie) catcher again helping his neighbours keep them under control.
There was no electricity on the farm until 1959 so lighting in the house was by means of a Tilley lamp in the middle of the table. A candle or a small oil lamp was used to go to bed.
Toilet facilities were also pretty primitive: an earth closet in a small enclosed building out the back. There was no hot water in the house. The cold water was from a spring and was gravity fed from a tank on the hill not far from the house. Bathtime was in a tin bath in front of the fire with me first, then mother and father last before emptying.
Entertainment in the winter was local dances and in particular Hunt Balls in the surrounding villages which were preceded by a whist drive with all prizes being donated. There was usually a china tea set among the prizes. A whist drive was also held in the local village hall every Saturday night. Other entertainment was visiting each other’s homes and playing cards. The popular game being “Nap”.
In late 1962 and into 1963 there was a very bad snow storm which blocked access for 10 weeks. The only way out was by either horseback or foot (shanks pony). We were always pretty self-sufficient. There was always plenty of milk, butter, cream, eggs, tetties (potatoes), bacon and ham from the pig that had been killed and cured. The bacon and hams used to hang from hooks in the kitchen. Then there was always the staples of flour, sugar and canned foods. Everything was homemade from scratch. A ton of coal was bought every year and the wood shed was always full. Anything else like fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish would be bought from Tommy Nichol in Wark or at Hexham on a Tuesday. Tuesday was a very important day to go to Hexham as it was Mart Day. They certainly didn’t starve and for Adam it wouldn’t be much different to living up the Coquet where they had some pretty bad winters.
Adam retired from the farm in 1967 as it was becoming harder to make a decent living and he was having to take on outside work. He moved to Hexham to a place called Craneshaugh which was on the outskirts of Hexham. From 1967-1983 he worked at Hexham livestock auction mart for Iveson and Walton as a yard stockman, helping to pen stock after arrival and ensuring their safe departure away from the mart. He retired from there in 1983.
He lived in Hexham until his death and liked nothing better than to go to the Mart every week for a bit craic with his old cronies. He also enjoyed attending the local agricultural shows and having a game of quoits at the same time meeting up with people who he probably hadn’t seen since the last show. Alwinton Show was one of his favourites.
Adam was noted for his singing ability and was in great demand at Shepherd’s Dinners, Burns Suppers and Hunt Balls where he delivered all the old traditional Border songs without any accompaniment. He was always whistling and singing as he went about his work. His friend and neighbour, a local farmer, John Buglass of Hetherington, Wark, would compose a new hunting song for him each year to sing at Crookbank Hunt Ball. He would have a few glasses of rum beforehand so he was in good fettle. Adam and his brother Bob used to sing every year at the Rothbury music festival and they were often compared to the Alexander Brothers who were popular singers at the time. They would take to the stage with their shepherd’s crooks in hand and bring the house down. In 1954 the BBC did a recording of him singing. There were 3 songs:
- The Bairnies Cuddle Doon
- The Lads that were reared among the heather
- The Dosing of the Hogs
