SHE was dubbed Britain's loneliest shepherdess, the mistress of a flock on a farm in the middle of nowhere with no electricity or neighbours for miles around.
But now Emma Gray is alone no longer after tying the knot with her beloved sheepdogs as company, surrounded by family and friends.
The 32-year-old, from Hawick, hit the headlines after taking sole tenancy of the National Trust’s 150-acre Fallowlees Farm in Northumberland, becoming the UK's youngest solo shepherdess in the process.
At the time she said her decision had been spurred after a break-up with her fiance, and predicted she would remain a perpetual singleton out on the hills.
But true love can blossom in the most unlikeliest of places, and last week the 32-year-old married fireman Ewan Irvine, 40, last week at Kelso Town House before holding a reception at her parent’s farm in Hawick in Roxburghshire, Scotland, where they celebrated long into the night.
And unsurprisingly, the honeymoon is at an international sheepdog trial in Ireland, where the former Miss Gray will compete.
The newlywed said: "I'm very happy. I'd just about settled for being single forever. I always hoped I would find the right person and now I have."
"Ewan's a full-time firefighter but he still helps around the farm."
READ MORE: Shepherds to receive thousands in compensation
The Shepherdess was born into a farming family, and is the the third generation of her family to work the land.
She began working with dogs at the age of 13, and later became the first woman to win the prestigious Northumberland Sheepdog Trials League in the contest’s four-decade history.
But rural life wasn’t easy – she struggled to find a husband and penned a memoir of her lonely life on the farm in 2012, called One Girl and Her Dog - although there were actually 13 border collies for company.
Determined to realise the dream of owning her own farm, she defied expectations to tough out a Spartan existence on a blasted moorside, where farming had been abandoned.
In the summer, she had to contend with swarms of biting midges, while winter snow could see her holed up for five days at a time. There were ticks the size of a thumb nail which can suck the life out of a sheep, fatal Lyme disease caused by deer, and the dwindling financial return on sheep, which persuaded the previous tenants to give up.
But the resourceful Ms Gray took it in her stride, and was made of sterner stuff than the wilderness could throw at her. Once, it is reported, she took a deer she had accidentally run down back to her farm and cut it up to feed her dogs.
READ MORE: National Sheep Association warns of link between upland re-wilding and wildfires
However, she did not give up on her dream of finding a match, though her search for love suffered a major setback when she broke her back in a near fatal quad bike accident in June 2016.
The shepherdess even appeared in a tabloid photoshoot that same year, revealing that she was looking for a companion in an article which encouraged potential suitors to contact her.
At the time she described her perfect date as a 'tall, rugged dog-lover who doesn’t mind a bit of muck'.
But then Emma got lucky, Meeting Mr Irvine on a dating app three years ago. Last year, the firefighter, from Penicuik, Midlothian, proposed.
The new bride said that as well as getting used to married life, her husband has been learning how to command her sheepdogs, with a view to joining her at the top ranks of the trial circuit.
However, he will also have to cope with a few less mod cons in the family home, with the property relying on a generator for power and a windmill-powered hot water system.
READ MORE: £250,000 to help women have a greater impact in agriculture
Previously, its tenant said she had dreamed of owning her own farm from an early age and did not regret taking up residence in her lonely outpost.
She said: "Ever since I was little when I used to blow out the candles on my birthday cake I used to wish for my own farm. That is what I have got but it has been a double-edged sword," she recalls.
"I didn't choose this lifestyle. I just wanted a farm so badly I am prepared to put up with it. People think I came here for the solitude but that was just part of living my dream," she said.
She says that by the time she was 17 she knew it was her calling and so choose to study sheep management at college.
Despite her young age, she was selected out of 20 applicants for the tenancy at Fallowlees
Now the farmer has run the site successfully ever since she took it over as a solo venture.
She added: "A massive thank you to everyone who came to our party on Friday night, and those who sent us good wishes.
"Firstly to my Mum and Dad for letting us use their home for photos. Secondly to Ewan’s family who helped out loads and who travelled a long way to be with is on the day.
"And lastly thanks to Ewan - who has kindly taken on a hell of a role in being married to me!"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel