The Turra Coo

Under the Liberal government of the 1910s, the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George introduced a scheme whereby National Insurance contributions (by employer) became compulsory for all workers between the ages of 16 and 70. This was enacted via the National Insurance Act 1911, and caused outrage among the farmers local to Turriff, who claimed that their contributions were too high; and that, as they were rarely able to be off work due to illness like industrial workers, it was unfair for them to have to pay for a service they were unlikely to use. In Turriff, popular protests were held in the Johnston and Paterson Mart, and Lendrum farmer Robert Paterson refused to stamp the…

Sheriff Officer George Keith poinded the only piece of property which was easily mobile: Paterson's white milk cow, which was set to be sold in Turriff on 9 December, the delay being due to the fact that both of Turriff's agricultural marts supported Paterson and refused to handle the sale, requiring a special licence to be granted for a public sale and an auctioneer to be brought in from elsewhere. On the appointed day, the cow was taken from Paterson's farm and led to Turriff on foot. The denizens of Turriff found the cow tied in the village square, decorated in ribbons and painted with the words 'Lendrum to Leeks' in reference to Lloyd George's Welsh origin, and representing the Sheriff…