Bumblebee, Fintry Honeysuckle and Alloway Miss Crummie

The Girls at the Armstrong Fair

Fintry’s Ayrshire dairy cows were a distinguished herd in the Okanagan. The estate had dairy cattle as early as 1923 and after the new Dairy Barn was completed in 1924. Capt. Dun‑Waters built the herd to 30 with a usual 15 milking cows. These first cows came from Scotland and from prominent dairy farms across Canada, and were specially chosen for their lineage and milk production. Woodlea White Pearl, Alloway Robinetta, Grandview Soncy 2nd, Wanida Jean and Lucky Lass were some of the first to arrive and Wanida Jean gave birth to Fintry’s first calf – Heathercrest Juliet on July 29th, 1923. Glengarry Lucky Girl, Fintry Lucky Girl’s dam, arrived from Lancaster, Ontario in 1927. She was followed shortly after by Alloway Miss Crummie, who became Fintry’s top milker.

Alloway Miss Crummie and Art Harrop

Miss Crummie came from the long-established Shannon Bros farm in Cloverdale, B.C. The Shannon family emigrated from Ireland in 1841, settling in Upper Canada. Their three sons, William, Thomas and Joseph moved west in 1874 after Joseph Shannon acquired 640 acres of land in British Columbia. In 1875 William and Thomas acquired an additional 960 acres. That same year William decided on a name for the area with an Irish connection, “Clover Valley.” He traveled to Victoria and was successful in registering a post office for the district in that name. However, when the New Westminster Southern Railway arrived in 1891, Clover Valley was renamed Cloverdale.

Registered dairy cattle names include the farm’s name or title often followed by several descriptive names, and Alloway Miss Crummie was no exception. The Shannon Brothers dairy operation was known as Alloway, to acknowledge their Ayrshire herd. Crummie is a Scottish term meaning cow with “crooked horns.” As part of the Fintry herd, Alloway Miss Crummie distinguished herself nationally as a top milker, winning both silver and gold seal certificates and in 1936, completing a thirteen-year record of 14,257 pounds of milk. Miss Crummie had seven calves – Fintry Earl, Fintry Bruce, Fintry Crummie, Fintry Murley, Fintry Crown, Fintry Moonbeam and Fintry Okanagan Sunshine.

Honeysuckle and Bumblebee

Fintry Honeysuckle was born at Fintry September 15, 1928 to Honey Holm Lady Jean and by the bull Noble Betsey Wylie. Honeysuckle became another Fintry top producer. She was milked by Art Harrop, four times a day for 270 days, producing 61,506 lbs of milk during her lifetime and awarded the Bronze Seal Certificate. Honeysuckle’s first two calves were female twins, Fintry Bee and Fintry Bumblebee born July 1932. It is thought that Bee was adopted out to a calf club winner. Bumblebee followed in her mother’s footsteps and remained with the Fintry herd.

Milk Records, Honeysuckle and Bumblebee