A PROLIFIC poacher has been laid to rest – with a wreath shaped like a salmon and bullets in his grave.
Archie “Nooky” Clark’s son Colin dropped the Magnum .22 ammo into his plot so his dad – known as the Highland Robin Hood – could “go hunting in Heaven”.
The 52-year-old had made a last request that he be transported from the Church of Scotland in his home village of Fort Augustus to the local cemetery on the banks of Loch Ness without a hearse.
Instead, he wanted his coffin, carved with a stag’s head, ratchet-strapped into the back of Colin’s black pick-up truck.
A real pair of antlers from the last stag Nooky shot and a floral tribute in the shape of a salmon also decorated the coffin.
Colin said: “He was norun-of-the-mill dad. We gave him a grand send-off and he must have been looking down withhappy satisfaction.
“I threw a handful of Magnum .22 bullets into the grave on top of the coffin so my dad can keep up his hunting in the hereafter.
“After the burial, we all went back to the local legion club in Fort Augustus for a drink or 10. For some, the wake lasted three or four days.”
Nooky, who worked as a plant driver in his main job, passed away on May 1 after a long battle with liver cancer. He had planned many elements of his funeral.
He had been a poacher all his life but was so well-loved that the congregation at the funeral included police officers and landowners.
One pal said: “For Nooky, it was the thrill of poaching and the skill required to hook or net a salmon or shoot a stag in the hours of darkness on a laird’s estate which gave him a buzz. Money was not the motivation.
“He may have sold the odd salmon or piece of venison at the back door of a hotel but he gave away most of it, particularly to old folk in winter.”
The music at the church was played by Nooky’s brother-in-law, acclaimed band leader and musician Fergie MacDonald.
Fergie said: “We played The Dark Island and Loch Maree Islands, which is a deerstalker’s and gamekeeper’s favourite, all about going to the high hills with a rifle.
“I stalked with Archie for almost 40 years and he was an expert – powerful and fit. He could carry an 18st stag on his back for a mile.”
Nooky’s unconventional life was also illustrated by the fact he and his second wife Morna, 40, lived next door to his first wife Dawn.
Colin added: “He was carried out of the church to his favourite tune, Kenny Rogers’s The Gambler.
“Although he had many narrow escapes with police and game-keepers over the years, my dad was never convicted of poaching. He was that good at it and his dad as well.”
The service was the first Scottish funeral for the church’s new German minister, 29-year-old Rev Tabea Baader, who arrived in March.
She said: “I asked what was the background to his nickname but nobody was prepared to tell me.
“But I gather he was a bit of a lady’s man in his younger days.”
Morna added: “It used to be nerve-wracking for me at night waiting for Archie to come home safely from one of his escapades.
“He will be very sadly missed.”
The 52-year-old had made a last request that he be transported from the Church of Scotland in his home village of Fort Augustus to the local cemetery on the banks of Loch Ness without a hearse.
Instead, he wanted his coffin, carved with a stag’s head, ratchet-strapped into the back of Colin’s black pick-up truck.
A real pair of antlers from the last stag Nooky shot and a floral tribute in the shape of a salmon also decorated the coffin.
Colin said: “He was norun-of-the-mill dad. We gave him a grand send-off and he must have been looking down withhappy satisfaction.
“I threw a handful of Magnum .22 bullets into the grave on top of the coffin so my dad can keep up his hunting in the hereafter.
“After the burial, we all went back to the local legion club in Fort Augustus for a drink or 10. For some, the wake lasted three or four days.”
Nooky, who worked as a plant driver in his main job, passed away on May 1 after a long battle with liver cancer. He had planned many elements of his funeral.
He had been a poacher all his life but was so well-loved that the congregation at the funeral included police officers and landowners.
One pal said: “For Nooky, it was the thrill of poaching and the skill required to hook or net a salmon or shoot a stag in the hours of darkness on a laird’s estate which gave him a buzz. Money was not the motivation.
“He may have sold the odd salmon or piece of venison at the back door of a hotel but he gave away most of it, particularly to old folk in winter.”
The music at the church was played by Nooky’s brother-in-law, acclaimed band leader and musician Fergie MacDonald.
Fergie said: “We played The Dark Island and Loch Maree Islands, which is a deerstalker’s and gamekeeper’s favourite, all about going to the high hills with a rifle.
“I stalked with Archie for almost 40 years and he was an expert – powerful and fit. He could carry an 18st stag on his back for a mile.”
Nooky’s unconventional life was also illustrated by the fact he and his second wife Morna, 40, lived next door to his first wife Dawn.
Colin added: “He was carried out of the church to his favourite tune, Kenny Rogers’s The Gambler.
“Although he had many narrow escapes with police and game-keepers over the years, my dad was never convicted of poaching. He was that good at it and his dad as well.”
The service was the first Scottish funeral for the church’s new German minister, 29-year-old Rev Tabea Baader, who arrived in March.
She said: “I asked what was the background to his nickname but nobody was prepared to tell me.
“But I gather he was a bit of a lady’s man in his younger days.”
Morna added: “It used to be nerve-wracking for me at night waiting for Archie to come home safely from one of his escapades.
“He will be very sadly missed.”
From Sunday Mail 20th May 2012
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