228 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 
THE SAGE OF SITTYTON 
89. The saga of the silent sage of Sittyton has been so stir- 
ringly sung, the secrets of his rent-paying Shorthorns so stren- 
uously studied, and the shrewdness of his Scotch soul so cele- 
brated in its sturdy simplicity, that modern tribute can add 
little to his laurels. Amos CRUICKSHANK vivified the problems 
of the Northern Scot, sought incessantly to energize his native 
granites, and through his single minded idealism resuscitated 
the red, white and roan when its standard was wavering under 
the combined assaults of doddie and whiteface. A half cen- 
tury since, the disciples of BATEs and Boots were shirking the 
obvious in the quest of that which was not obvious. The royal 
pedigree and the showyard glamor that bequeathed the latent 
values of each, blinded the masters’ followers to the lesson of 
feedpail and paddock, and the whim of landed fanciers too often 
obscured the need of the humble beef artisan. To the north 
of the hills of Lammermoor, where straw supplement replaced 
the luxuriance of the shire pastures, the descendants of Kirk- 
levington, Killerby and Warlaby fared often ill, though prime 
beef was the need. So with the tenant’s necessity ever in his 
eye, the loved “herdsman of Aberdeenshire” fashioned a breed’s 
destiny in the plastic heritage of the thick-cutting beeves he 
moulded in the Northland. 
Two brothers husbanded the Aberdonian treasure. AMOS 
CRUICKSHANK’Ss face alone reposes on the Club walls; but the 
Shorthorn debt is equal to both. Amos lived with the cattle, 
AntHoNy builded the business, christened the calves and man- 
aged the sales. The heritage of Amos, a bachelor, died with 
him, ANTHONY passed on the family virtues to the sequent gen- 
eration. Popular verdict accords Amos the greatest honor, 
though, because his hand selected root and cake and his feet 
tread quest for bloods and beasts to build on, in the herd. 
Amos CRUICKSHANK was born in 1809 and laid the Shorthorn 
