A former hill farming convenor of NFU Scotland, Patrick Gordon Duff Pennington farmed near Tynron, in Dumfries-shire Influential agricultural lobbyist, Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington, died recently, aged 90. A former Hill Farming Convenor of NFU Scotland and a champion of hill farming as a productive part of agriculture, and as an aid to biodiversity, he was knowns as Patrick of the Hills because of that passion. He served on the former Dumfries and Stewartry area executive of NFUS ands was area president for two years in the mid-1970s and was made an honorary president of the area in recognition of his work on behalf of his fellow farmers. At that time, he also had a hill farm at Tynron.
Tributes have been paid to Patrick Thomas Gordon-Duff-Pennington of Muncaster Castle. He sadly passed away on January 9, also known as Patrick of the Hills he died aged 90. He was the booming voice of Muncaster Castle and the hard-working hill farmers of Scotland and Cumbria for many years. Patrick was a brilliant communicator who could talk to anyone and bring a smile to their faces. He loved to be controversial and would say the most outrageous statements with such a charming twinkle in his eye and his tongue firmly in his cheek that most recipients thought he was joking. Usually, he was deadly serious. An amazing memory and fierce determination were gifts from his mother and his education mainly taught him that “diplomacy is the art of telling plain truths without giving offence.
Patrick was a brilliant communicator who could talk to anyone and bring a smile to their faces.
He loved to be controversial and would say the most outrageous statements with such a charming twinkle in his eye and his tongue firmly in his cheek that most recipients thought he was joking.
Usually, he was deadly serious. An amazing memory and fierce determination were gifts from his mother and his education mainly taught him that âdiplomacy is the art of telling plain truths without giving offence.â
Patrick delighted in standing up against any government or those in authority, firing off letters or calling politicians of all persuasions on the telephone to bend their ear to the plight of whichever dispossessed group he was fighting for at the time, usually those with an agricultural or rural agenda.