The Elimar Personality Profile
DOUG McCLARY
(Questions by Jim Emerton)
Q1) Did you love and observe nature as a child, and were your parents keen on pigeons?
I was born in West Cornwall during the war so there were no luxuries, little food and no chance of travel. My father was away in the army so my mother brought my brother and me up. Nobody in my family has ever kept pigeons although within my village of Sheffield there was a pigeon showman who kept Nuns. The whole area was carried along by farming and many seemed interested in the showing of stock especially the Shire horses which would be walked through the village complete with the ribbons, brasses and bells. To exist we kept poultry and when my father was demobbed, a pig was kept. As a boy I kept bantams, rabbits, cavies and loved my livestock. I was happy to be with them and became possibly a little introverted as a result.
Q2) How did your competitive instincts in life develop, and what and who inspired you to dedicate yourself to winning, and are you motivated by greatness?
I doubt that I owned such a thing and even after sixty years in the pigeon fancy, do not consider myself as being very competitive. I love winning the shows and enjoyed my successes at racing when they came along. But, if I didn’t succeed at a certain event, it was a case of accepting it and getting on with life. I now live in a nation which is fiercely competitive especially in cricket and other sport and I do not like what I see in that sportsmanship disappears and they can only see one team on the field.
Q3) Did your early education and peer groups sow the seeds of your future success?
I am assuming that this question refers to my success as a pigeon fancier. As a young lad I was shown pigeons by a school friend and was utterly captivated when I saw him liberate them from their little loft, witnessed them flying about and then saw them return to their loft. From that moment on I was a pigeon fancier and obtained a few birds which were provided with a small area in a shed at home. I was then taken to Redruth Agricultural show by my parents where I saw the pigeon and poultry marquee and was thrilled to see the beautiful show racers. It was my decision there and then to obtain show racers and to show them.
Q4) Can you describe the individual personal qualities that you demonstrate in life and sport?
Coming from a most humble background and being shy by nature, I did not expect too much in life. I passed the eleven plus the first from my school for five years so found myself in the ‘outside and wider world’ of Penzance Grammar school. I left school at 16 with reasonable qualifications and went into the Devon Constabulary as a cadet. I was provided with good friendships by people who demonstrated a commitment to life, good service and conscientiousness. I soon found that I could learn facts and started to come out top on the various courses I attended. As a result of this I was provided with extra consideration and I found myself as someone able to perform well at my chosen profession.
This led to a successful initial training as a constable and at the first possible opportunity I passed my promotion examinations at a level in the top quartile of national students and gained early promotion and attendance on a twelve month leadership course. By this time I was married and had a few show racers so had to balance career demands with my new hobby. If there were personal qualities, these were developed firstly by my parents by their example of hard work, and then by the police officers I worked with, many of whom I admired greatly as people of great integrity.
Q5) Are you motivated by pigeon celebrity fame and culture or wish to remain relatively detached from it all. As some key fanciers do?
I have always been motivated to keep the very best, to show and race against the best. I enter to win but am happy whatever the result especially if I know that I have done okay and not been disgraced. It has been my habit in life to record facts an integral part of policing so have recorded all that has happened in my years in the sport. I take this very seriously. However I have always believed that it is necessary to play a part in helping others and have never shied away from administration duties or helping in a more physical way. ‘There are those who do the cooking and those who eat the cake’. That just about sums up my involvement in the sport as I work to make it better and hope that through my writing including my four pigeon books, I will leave something of a mark for future generations.
Q6) Have you made a study of books, of the art and science of pigeon racing?
Yes, I have studied all I could ever find on pigeons and pigeon racing. As a showman, there was a dearth of information written for the showing aspect, especially on the show racer. Hopefully I have now rectified this gap by my writing and have managed to produce a history of the breed, tracing it from the very early days of pigeon racing through to the present. I love pigeon books and have a large collection both modern and historical and I find handling a volume of a hundred years or so a most humbling experience.
Q7) What, if any are your tastes in art, books and music?
In art I have no interest in modern art, preferring pictures which relate a story. Having been brought up in West Cornwall I have always followed the Newlyn School of artists, the founder of which Stanhope Forbes lived near to me and I knew him by sight. I still marvel at the Newlyn paintings and love visiting the art gallery in Penzance. As for music, I like classical music but this extends to music from the shows and to Strauss and light classical material. For books I am a devotee of Charles Dickens and have read most of his works and enjoy the film adaptations of his stories. I was brought up on a diet of Neville Shute in my boyhood days he was serialised in ‘John Bull’ magazine and I have since read all his novels. As a boy I read ‘Black Beauty’ by Anna Sewell and this left an indelible impression on me in caring for my livestock and being aware that every creature has feelings and the need for care. Every keeper of livestock should read this book.
Q8) What is your take on the image of pigeons as perceived by the public is it a working class hobby or dominated by rich and powerful who may be different?
Unfortunately we are not regarded with much sympathy by the general public and the Woody Allen label of ‘flying rats’ will plague the hobby forever more. Good publicity is always welcome and I find that members of the public are genuinely surprised at the work performed by pigeons in wars. Nowadays the sport of pigeon racing is less of a working man’s sport and more one used by lovers of nature and by those of us who care for livestock in any form. Every exponent of pigeon keeping needs to be mindful to create a good impression.
Q9) Do you like football, athletics and other sports, and who are the top in their field?
I enjoy most forms of sport and admire those who excel. I loathe those successful few who consider themselves bigger than the sport they represent and forget that it is the paying spectator who pays their exorbitant wages. I also loathe those who gloat over successes and those who watch sport and see only one team on the field.
Q10) How do women differ in their personal approaches to livestock?
I have no fixed ideas on this subject but appreciate that a female is absolutely equal to the male not only in pigeon matters but in most forms of livestock keeping such as dogs, cats, horses and racing.
Q11) What is your perception on how a bird orientates and homes?
My own belief for what it is worth is that it is the love of home coupled with absolute fitness that are the main factors. Birds treated well and with respect are far more likely to want to home than those which are kept in overcrowded conditions and not treated well. When racing I kept small numbers and therefore knew each pigeon intimately and thought that I could identify when they were right for the job at hand. I could never race large numbers or for that matter keep lots of pigeons.
Q12) Do you see mankind as being superior to other forms on earth or not?
I suppose that man is at the top of it all but anyone who loves nature and lives in a respectful manner is well aware that everything is God-made and therefore has a place in the world. This also answers my view under Q14 as I have a faith and find it growing in intensity as the years progress.
Q13) What do you think about writers, committees and politics?
I assume that this relates entirely to pigeons otherwise I would be bound to comment on my contempt for the average politician. In the case of committees and those who serve in a role which can be construed as indulging in pigeon politics, then I have little but admiration for such men and women. I am back again to my ‘Those who do the cooking and those who eat the cake’ sentiment, on the basis that it is only through administrators giving up their time that the sport/hobby can be enjoyed by the ‘cake-eaters’. As a writer, I am bound to be supportive of people who sacrifice their time for the enjoyment and interest of others.
Q14) Is a belief system of value to you?
See Q12 above.
Q15) The Universe is vast is it possible that life exists beyond the Earth?
I have no thoughts on this.
Q16) What is the ultimate goal in your pigeon life?
At the age of 75 years I don’t have much to aim at any more. When In England, and as a showman, I had always wanted to win best in show at the Old Comrades, but never managed to do so. I came close on a number of occasions by winning best opposite sex three times but I would have loved to have won the Harry Hyde trophy. I had managed to be part of the development of the showing section of the sport by helping form the Devon and Cornwall Show Racer Society and then aided by Colin Osman, formed the British Show Racer Federation. It was always my intention to make my own family and to have them easily identified as such. I believe I did this. Now in Australia, I introduced the British Show Racer in 2004 and by making the best available to fanciers in this country have seen it develop into one of the most popular breeds in Australia. Unfortunately the only real showing is through the fancy pigeon shows and there is very little social showing as part of the racing pigeon scene. It has been an honour to see this happen to the Show Racer as a bird I have kept since the 1950s. I have helped form the British Show Racer Club of Australia and serve as its president.
In terms of racing, I have not and will not race here in the southern hemisphere. In England I enjoyed my racing but it was always very much as a secondary interest to my showing. I would love to have won a National and came close, as well as winning my section on five occasions. This was done with a small number of birds with my National entry generally being two to five only. Given my time over again, I would like to have persisted with my racing on an equal footing to showing.
Q17) Is strain creation still valid today?
I have partly answered this above. Yes, I believe in strain or family and can trace my present team of show racers to the original purchases in 1963 when I re-started. I guess that I have often sacrificed winning because of keeping to my family beliefs as I have never sought to follow trends when colour preferences change at the shows. My family of powder blues have been cherished and nurtured so that there is an unbroken line of them over half a century and my pleasure has been in showing teams of pigeons all bred by me and not bought in to win. I always felt pride when my powder blues were identified by fellow exhibitors as being of my line, the Kemyels.
So, after all these years, the family is here in Australia and still winning the shows. When I raced, I was interested in families but when asked what strain I raced, was always pleased to say ‘The first to the loft strain’ meaning I would keep birds which worked for me.
Q18) What must a pigeon racing great achieve to be given the distinction?
Two avenues come to mind. One is a lifetime of top successes and the other is a lifetime of service to the sport.
Q19) Which is the top pigeon racing nation on Earth?
We have always thought of Belgium, then Holland, Germany and France. However, since International racing has been undertaken by the British, it has been proved that the Brits are as good as anyone.
Q20) How do you wish to be remembered in history?
I will not be remembered for very long as happens even to the very best, but hopefully my writings, my books and work will be around for some time and provide an occasional reminder of someone who worked for his chosen pastime and who loved his pigeons.
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Elimar - December 2013
