My introduction to Will Sloan came by way of his dogs and not by him personally. It was mid to late eighties whilst a gamekeeper at Gruinards Estate in Sutherland. I arrived home one afternoon to find that my Labrador and two terriers had put into one kennel and the other three kennels were packed with a variety of English and Irish Setters, their vocal chords stretched to the limit. No explanation was left by the owner(s) and when the evening had passed without anyone turning up for them I set about to feed them. An abundance of fresh water been given to them earlier.

The following morning the owner of the estate came knocking on the door. She was as gobsmacked as I was. I think she thought I had taken leave of my senses, but I assured her someone would be back for them. That evening yours truly Will Sloan and John Kerr arrived to stake a claim to the dogs. They had decided to go up north to do a bit of socialising and perhaps felt the dogs would be safer with a stranger in his kennels- "Sure it'll be alright" said Will to John. So it was.

That meeting was to be the first of many yarns over a cup of tea and drams, dogging and rough shooting days. Because I had been working in the south I was not aware that Will had been coming north for so many years and had dogged on so many Highland estates. I was also not aware how popular and well known he was. On a spare day he had, he invited me to travel up to Thurso where he had some business to do with Claira Campbell who ran boarding kennels and who in earlier years had hired out pointers and setters to estates for the grouse season. Every fifteen miles or so Will would ask if I knew so and so. More often or not the answer was no, but not for much longer. There was an open door for him wherever we went.

It was not long after that when Will was invited to dog at Gruinards. Previously it was "walked up" days. From then on my fascination and interest in the breeds grew greater and greater. Then after many attempts Will talked me into having my own and very first Irish Setter. He told me to go up to Claira's where a bitch of his had a litter of pups. Not only was I to have a pup but I was to have the pick of the litter. The training that followed was great fun and satisfaction. My only regret was not having done it sooner.

When I retired from Gruinards Will then got me into training dogs but I soon found that they were all not as easy as the first one. He also encouraged me into trials. With time on my hands I was able to join Will on his dogging days each running dogs in turn but Will having the responsibility even when my dogs did their own thing. The bags were never that high but it was a pleasure to be on the hill with so many nice people, some not bothering to raise a gun, preferring to just watch the dogs. Then there was the social side when the shooting parties came off the hill and retired to the lodges. One in particular, Invercarron House, where everyone sat down to drinks, some stronger than others, and a fantastic spread of home baking. It was there I was first introduced to Earl Grey tea. However, I was assured by Will that the only way to drink it was with a good drop of the hard stuff in it. Ben Loyal is another foremost in my mind. The kindness shown to Will and I there extended from the hospitality in the house to being invited to shoot woodcock with Count and his friends. I could go on.

With help from Will I now have my own dogging team. I took over all of his days and dog on other moors as well, but whereever I go Will is always asked about and is remembered with fondness. Even the children remember the names of the dogs he had.

Many, many times my wife and I were invited by Will to have a holiday in the Isle Of Man. Last summer a friend and I went over for a few days. Janet and Will live on a beautiful island with so much to see and do. Their hospitality was second to none. The whole holiday was a memorable one and needless to say it did not go without watching the remarkable man himself putting two of his young dogs through their paces.