When bovine TB led to the loss of his entire herd, dairy farmer Mervyn Kelso struggled with the sadness of the empty fields and the silence of the milking yard. It was a traumatic time for a man who had farmed his whole life, and it was hard watching his neighbours tend to their cows. His sister suggested he should join the Farmers' Choir and that turned out to be a "great lifter".
Fast forward four years, and Mervyn has sang for the King, met musical royalty and his choir is up for a national award. Mervyn's first batch of cows were lost in November 2021. At the same time, a friend who had been around the County Antrim farm for three generations died.
Then another 120 cows had to be removed, followed by 40 more two months later. "The department decided to buy the herd out," said Mervyn. "So by March 2022 we had no stock, no milking stock or adult stock." Mervyn and his wife Ruth, who live near Portglenone, relied on their faith for "the strength to carry on".
Mervyn would sing in church and so when the Farmers' Choir restarted in nearby Ballymena that autumn, he decided to give it a go. He said it had been rewarding and different - a relief to the tough challenges of day-to-day farming. "Farming is one very lonely job, even more lonely than it was a generation ago, because labour is so difficult to get," he said.
"And it's a very dangerous job, especially for a man who's working on his own. "It has the effect of depressing you, and that's why being involved in such a thing as a choir or any social event outside farming is good for anyone." Ruth says the choir came at the right time. "It was a hard time for both of us and the choir was definitely a great lifter," she said.
"Mervyn was so enthusiastic and enjoyed it so much. "It was just great to have something to lift us because you weren't busy on the farm - well, you did some extra odd jobs, but it wasn't like the usual level of busyness." She said she has made "some lovely friends" and they get to see each other at choir rehearsals, concerts and céilís. "Sometimes you see a different side of a choir member when you're not just sitting beside them singing, and that's really good, socially," she added.
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