ROBERT BECK, BVMS, MRCVS
The day that Robert Beck passed away, Tiree was experiencing
one of its winter gales. The ‘Clansman’
had set out from Oban in the hope of reaching Tiree, but she had to turn back
when she passed the Cailleach.
That set me thinking about the man. Robert Beck chose his day, and his day chose
him. There was a consistency there. Robert had his stormy side, but it was in the
midst of the storms that we all saw his qualities. He wasn’t one to be defeated by
challenges. He was strong to the end.
On that same day, I bought a copy of ‘An Tirisdeach’, and I
read of Tiree Music Festvial’s latest award – ‘The Event of the Year Award’
sponsored by VisitScotland. Tiree, like
the weather, had been making waves – musical waves – and in that too Robert
Beck came into view. In fact, his
contribution was so important that the TMF team dedicated the award to ‘Tiree
piping tutor Robert Beck who has recently been diagnosed with a terminal
illness. They said: “His massive
contribution to music on Tiree has played a significant part in the success of
TMF.’
It was a beautiful and timely tribute. As soon as I opened ‘An Tirisdeach’, I saw a
letter which read as follows:
‘Dear Sir,
It was with great pleasure that I heard that TMF had won the
award of “The Event of the Year” at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards in
Aberdeen. I am extremely proud of the
young musicians that I have taught on Tiree over the years and was very touched
that TMF dedicated this award to me.
Yours faithfully
Robert Beck’
That was so typical of the man. Even on his deathbed, he saw to it that the
dedication of the award to him was duly acknowledged. I found that very, very moving.
Robert Beck will be remembered by the younger generation as
the piping tutor who taught and inspired many budding musicians in Tiree. He
worked with Joyce Gillespie, as she then was, and Gordon Connell, who has made
such a sterling contribution to accordion music. He was a strong teacher, certificated through
the College of Piping, and, as I have heard, he did not tolerate slackness of
any kind. That too was typical of the
man.
However, for me ‘Robert Beck, BVMS, MRCVS’, or ‘Mr Beck’ as
he was generally known, was the Tiree Vet during the 1960s, when I was in early
manhood. He was a towering presence
here. He was broad-shouldered,
red-haired, red-moustached, and his forelock used to bounce in the wind, but it
leapt around in an equally lively fashion on calm days. Energy flowed out of him – purposeful,
knowledgeable, brilliant at diagnosis, an outstanding example of the local Vet,
capable of performing complex operations on sick animals, at any time of the
day or night, or in any context.
When Robert Beck arrived in Tiree in 1959, little did the
island realise that it had found not only a first-class vet, but also one who
was to put the island on the map at various levels.
I remember Robert Beck best on the occasions when he
attended to our animals on our croft at Caolas.
He would come in minutes when asked.
He would waste no time speculating.
He would work out in minutes what was wrong with the animal, and what
had to be done.
Let me share just a couple of memories. On one occasion we had a blue-grey heifer
that was about to produce its first calf.
Something had gone badly wrong in the delivery process, and a Caeserian
section was required. The Vet asked my
father to prepare the floor of the barn.
It was cleaned and dusted with sand.
Then the Vet phoned the local general practitioner, Dr Calvert at the
time, and the doctor duly arrived. Next,
fine ropes were placed on the animal to cause muscle reflex, and she was
brought down on the floor. She was
anaesthetised, and soon the operation was under way, and completed
successfully. That was Robert Beck –
and that too was Dr Calvert, who was ready to assist, and keen to learn about
the medical care of animals, and would sometimes work alongside the Vet.
I remember another occasion, also involving a heifer – this
time a young heifer in heat. The heifer
had gone rampaging to Ruaig, crossing ditches, leaping dykes, running over
rocks, caring not a whit as it searched for a bull. However, when we eventually caught up with
it, it had a broken leg. It was about
11 pm when we found the runaway, and near midnight by the time we got it
home. We phoned the Vet, and he arrived,
and I can still see him, there in the fading light, with a big bucket of
plaster of Paris, making a cast for the leg of that animal. I also remember his kindness and soothing
words to the distressed animal, his calm professionalism, the masterly way in
which he put a plaster on its leg. Soon
the heifer was walking normally – and no doubt running normally too.
Robert Beck came regularly to test our cattle. He was meticulous, proud of his work, keen
for the island to have the very best stock in Scotland, and indeed in the
United Kingdom. That was his operating
standard – no more, no less. In the
late 1960s, Tiree became the first Brucellosis-free area in Scotland, if not
the world, and that meant that its beefstock was even more desirable and
valuable. The Vet had some strong allies in Tiree, including Angus MacLean,
Willie Groat, John Lachie MacInnes and the Rev. William John MacLeod, who knew
what Mr Beck wanted to do for the island.
My own father too took full advantage of the excellent stock development
which Mr Beck encouraged, and was regularly complemented by the Vet and by
mainland inspectors for the fine quality of his cattle.
The 1960s were a remarkable decade in the history of
Tiree. With Alex MacArthur, ‘Ailig
Beag’, as the councillor for Tiree, the island was making waves in other ways –
defying electricity surcharges, and leading Scotland and the United Kingdom in
that respect too. I often look back at
that period as the ‘glory days’ of my early manhood in Tiree, when local
agricultural strategy and local politics worked splendidly together.
Politics was very much part of Robert Beck’s make-up. You didn’t wait long before you realised that
he was a born Scottish Nationalist. He
told you straight what was what, he would argue with your position, he would
ask you ‘why on earth’ you believed this or that. A visit from Robert Beck, the Vet, was a
lively affair, I can tell you. He didn’t
suffer fools gladly, and he seems to have found one or two in Tiree.
I learned a lot from Robert Beck. He was something of a role-model for me. In particular, I learned that being in a job
demanded commitment, it demanded the highest standards, and that these
standards were to be maintained in different aspects of life.
That was the case with Robert Beck’s approach to music. With the assistance of Alasdair Sinclair,
Greenhill, he established a piping society, which later became Tiree Pipe Band,
and in no time at all it was competing for major awards. I was in Oban High School when he took Tiree
Pipe Band to the World Pipe Band Championships, and won Second Prize for the
particular category of band (Grade 4) in which Tiree’s band was placed. I can still remember him there, in full
regalia with the band, and I remember too how delighted I was that ‘my island’
had won such a significant award.
Robert Beck was a born teacher. I remember well how he used to speak to me
about no end of subjects in the scientific realm, and how he treated me as an
equal. That amazed me. It did not amaze me, however, when, at a
Cattle Show Day in Crossapol in 1974, he confided in me that he had been
appointed to a Lectureship in Animal Husbandry at the Royal Dick School of
Veterinary Medicine in Edinburgh. He
had such a profoundly practical bent, and set such high standards, and was also
such a fine instructor, whether in veterinary medicine or in piping, that such
an appointment was inevitable, sooner or later. It was also a measure of the excellence of
the man.
I used to meet him in Edinburgh University, in the former
University Staff Club, when we were both lecturing there, and that was another
happy aspect of our association.
Usually, Robert’s subject was Eriskay ponies, and he was busy writing a
book about their origins – a book that, quite typically, made waves when it was
published. However, the book is
scheduled to be republished by Birlinn – which makes the point that Robert Beck
was quite probably ahead of the game in working out animal pedigrees. He encouraged the preservation of Eriskay
ponies, and with Father Calum MacNeill, established a society ‘for the
preservation and development of the Eriskay pony’. He had a couple of Eriskay ponies grazing at ‘Taigh
a’ Bhet’, the Old Manse at Gott, where the family had their home.
I remember his great affection for these ponies. They were an integral part of the family,
comprising Shena, his wife, and Robin, Drew and Gavin. From
time to time, on summer evenings, I used to see Shena or one of the boys riding
a pony, and I confess that I envied them, as I too loved horses. Shena was Robert’s life partner in all
respects, encouraging him constantly in his professional work and in his
‘sidelines’, such as the ponies. And
Robert was a man of ‘sidelines’, some well hidden from view. Only yesterday, when visiting the family at
‘Cnoc’, Ruaig, where Robert and Shena had their retirement home from 1994, I
saw for the first time the model-rail layout that Robert had constructed. The
meticulous mind was evident there too.
Robert Beck loved Tiree, loved its people and its history,
and it is in that context that I have one last memory of him – the day that I
put my arms round him, and gave him the biggest hug that I could possibly
manage. It happened at the Conference
on the history of Tiree at the end of May this year, 2013. I had been reminiscing with my wife Rachel
about how Robert Beck had helped my family to avoid a potential disaster in
February 1973, when my father was run over by his own tractor. When my father was airlifted to Glasgow for a
long spell of reconstructive surgery at the Western Infirmary, the incomparable
Robert Beck put together a band of local helpers, including Neil MacLean,
‘Carnan’, and Mary Ann MacLennan, ‘Dun Beag’, and together they kept the croft
going while my father was away, and until I could return from Cambridge to take
over. I have never forgotten that, and
I wanted to thank Robert Beck for his outstanding generosity, his immense
kindness, and that shown by his team.
I confess that tears flowed down my cheeks as I did so – and
down his too. I had a strange feeling
that I might not see him again, and I wanted to say how much I appreciated him,
in the multiplicity of his skills and characteristics, but especially his
kindness when we at ‘Coll View’ were in distress. He looked at me and said, ‘Aye, we weren’t
the best kind, myself and Neil, “Am Builgean”.
We swore and we told blue jokes, but we were there when you needed
us.’ I got the point. The best help often comes from some very
unexpected quarters, and it is in such circumstances that the rough diamonds
really shine. Robert’s diamonds sparkled
in the storms.
I didn’t see Robert again, but I did see him in May as I
want to remember him – still a big, strong man, stooped a little with age, but
unyieldingly himself and wearing his kilt.
Now, after a comparatively short illness, he has left us.
Robert, outstanding Veterinary Surgeon, University Lecturer,
piper and musician, we salute you for all you did for us here in Tiree. We will assuredly never forget you.
You gave us all of your very, very best. There will never be another like you.
Thank you – very, very much.
