SHE’s been dubbed Amber of Armadale, which has a regal sounding ring to it.
And the title certainly fits its bearer, a fearsome four-year-old, rusty-brown sow.
For the massive porker appears to think she’s the Queen Bee of the tiny North Coast village.
Unfettered, she roams freely, stopping to graze where she pleases — mostly on the unmowed grass
verges.
Any onlookers unwise enough to get too close are subjected to a disdainful glare.
It’s thought Amber was brought to Armadale as a piglet, but her unknown owner seems to have abandoned her.
However, she deigns to accept food and shelter at night from deerstalker Ronald Cook of East End.
Amber has her detractors with one local saying: "I’m terrified of her!"
But she also has her admirers, one of whom is Willie Mackay — known to all locally as "AI Willie" because of his line of work.
Mr Mackay, a councillor for Landward Caithness, came across her when he visited the area recently.
So taken was he, that he sent an e-mail to the NT in which he wrote: "She’s beautiful!"
The idea of the sow wandering as she pleases has obviously caught his
fancy.
He said: "I’m delighted with Amber who is in great health going about minding her own business.
"In years gone by, it tended to be cattle which were seen daily and had the freedom of the village, grazing along the verges daily."
Mr Mackay claimed: "Amber has won the hearts of the locals."
