DONALD FISHER 23 



with the banking firm of Ransome, Bouverie, & Co., 

 London. On the death of his father he returned 

 to his native burgh to assist in conducting the family 

 business. About 1853 he took the Pitlochry Hotel, 

 which he named " Fisher's," and enlarged from time to 

 time. Even as a boy he had a love for farm life, and 

 an eye for a Shorthorn. His brother John took the 

 Bridge of Tilt Hotel, Blair - Atholl, in 1855, and 

 another brother followed up in the late fifties by 

 acquiring the Braemar Hotel. Those were coaching 

 days, and Donald was master of ceremonies at the 

 all-important corner of the triangle. 



Shortly after settling at Pitlochry, Mr Donald 

 Fisher rented the farm of Cluny from Mr Butter 

 of Faskally, and in a year or two he began to lay 

 the foundations of a Shorthorn herd. Sir Charles 

 Knightley's herd was sampled in 1856 for a Cold 

 Cream, and he drew otherwise on the Duke of Mon- 

 trose, Mr James Douglas, and Mr Lowndes. On the 

 Booth side his early choice was the Medora or Isa- 

 bella. In sires his ideal at the outset was the Booth, 

 and later a play between Warlaby or Killerby and 

 Knightley. Cluny was an unsuitable farm for Short- 

 horns, and so, during the later fifties and early sixties, 

 drafts of fine cattle were sent along to Bridge of 

 Tilt, where their summering was mostly on the 

 northern side of the road near the old Episcopal 

 Church. 



Still there was congestion, until Mr Fisher acquired 

 a lease of the fine farm of Keithock, near Coupar- 

 Angus. There he held a successful sale in October 



