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Allan Glen’s High School was the winning school in 1905.

Founded in 1850 , it was a remarkable school with an emphasis on science and its management merged with that of Anderson’s College which eventually became the Royal College of Science and Technology and then Strathclyde University.   For many reasons, the school merged with the City Public School but had to close down as a school in 1989.    

The Inter-scholastics championships sixth meeting took place in Glasgow at the Scotstoun grounds but with fewer schools taking part.   Surprisingly, with the event being so close to their own premises, the Glasgow Academy did not take part although two other Glasgow schools – Allan Glen’s and the High School – filled the first and second places.   We start with the report from the ‘Glasgow Herald’.

Cartoon from the ‘Scottish Referee’ of 22nd May, 1905 beside the comments below

So far, so good.   The meeting was described and factual details outlined then there is a brief review of the actual sports.   However, the ‘Scottish Referee’ drew critical attention to one factor not yet mentioned.

The Referee had already listed some dignitaries present at the Scotstoun meeting in this comment.

Unfortunately, despite the fine comments, we could not find the results anywhere in that issue of the ‘Referee’.

The results above are from the ‘Daily Record’  The results, winners only, are in brief below..

Nine schools took part.  First five were Allan Glen’s HS with 50 1/2 pts, second Glasgow HS with 31, then came Irvine Royal Academy 13 1/2 pts, Greenock Academy 7 pts and Stewart’s College with 5 points.   Neither Glasgow Academy nor Dollar Institution were present at this running of the championships.

OPEN EVENTS

UNDER 16

UNDER 13

There had been much talk about an Inter-Scholastics Sports for at least a decade before the first such competition took place in 1900.   As we might expect the private schools were in the vanguard of such a movement and although there were several such schools in the west of Scotland most of the early was made by those in Edinburgh.    We will start with the scene in 1898 but note that links to the annual championships from 1900 to 1919 are at the foot of the page. 

The following article is from the Scottish Referee of June 8th, 1898.   The Bairns does not refer to the Falkirk Football  Club but to the younger generation involved in sport.   It follows an article about the School Inspectors Cup, a competition restricted to Edinburgh and district schools with the final to be played between St Leonard’s and Dalry at Tynecastle on 11th June and preceded by the final of the School Board Cup competition in which Merchiston would be playing either Regent Park, Leith Walk or Canonmills and Dean.    It reads –

The origins of the inter-scholastics as they were called go much further back than that with Tom Jack traced the origins of the championship much further back than 1898 when he wrote in the history of the  SAAA in 1933’s “Fifty Years of Athletics”.   It can be found at the link below.

The Inter-Scholastic Games – Anent Scottish Running

Noted athletics historian Hamish Telfer has looked at the event.   He says:

In the fifth year of the inter-scholastics championship, two of the outstanding schools from previous championships – Glasgow Academy and George Watson’s College – opted out of of this year’s competition.   There were however several new establishments among the nine to be seen in action – Glasgow High School, Morrison’s Academy, Crieff and Greenock Academy were the new boys.   The school championship was won by Dollar making them the only school to win for two years in succession.   The report from the ‘Scottish Referee’ for 23rd May, 1904, reads as follows.

Results in brief:  

The inter-School championship was won by Dollar Institution with 26 1/2 points with Allan Glen’s second on 25 1/2 and Glasgow High School third with 19 points.   Remaining places were filled by Stewart’s College (4th) 15 pts, Morrison’s Academy (5th) 7 pts, Ayr Academy (6th) 7 pts, Greenock Academy (7th) 5 pts, Larchfield (8th) 3 pts, Edinburgh Institution (9th) 2 pts.    Five of the schools were from the West, the first time there was a minority from the Edinburgh district.    

Open Events

Under 16

Under 13

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Crest of Dollar Academy: Dollar won the Inter-Scholastic Championship in 1903

Founded in 1818 Dollar Academy is situated in Dollar, Clackmannanshore and has over 1000 day and boarding pupils.

Keeping to the third Saturday in May, the 1903 championships were held on 17th May with one of the top schools missing the action and Ayr Academy adding to the contingent from the west.   From the ‘Scottish Referee’ of 18th May.

Summary of results – winners only.

Open Events

Under 16

Under 13

The absence of Watson’s was a surprise but the continuing growth in numbers was an indication that the championships met a need.   Although they had started as a limited event in the Edinburgh area, their popularity after the SAAA took an interest in 1900 surged and there were schools from Glasgow, Helensburgh then Ayr, and in the near future there would be entries from and medals won by Rothesay Academy.   Not just a bus trip, but a boat trip too for these pupils.   

A wee side note: the schools in the 1902 meeting recorded the teams scores in ‘marks’ – eg Glasgow Academy 30 marks, Dollar 29 marks, etc – which were maybe appropriate for an inter-scholastics, but in 1903 it had changed to ‘points’.  The new name in the top three was Stewart’s College who were third behind Dollar (35 1/2)  with Glasgow Academy (28)  in second.

George Watson’s College: Watson’s won the Inter-Scholastic Championship in 1902

The sports continued to grow and the ‘Scottish Referee’ tells us that although one of the schools from 1901 dropped out, they were replaced by two and so the numbers competing continued to grow.   The number of schools from the West of the country also continued to grow with Glasgow Academy, Allan Glen’s School, and Larchfield were all involved   The report from the Referee of 19th May is below.

The results above are not only comprehensive, they are also easily legible which is not always the case.   The top three schools (Watson’s College, Dollar Institution and Glasgow Academy) are the same as in past years but the order changes.   This time round, winners from 1901, Glasgow Academy were third giving them a 2nd, 1st and 3rd in three years.   Where would they finish in 1903 and would any other school break into the upper echelons? 

Glasgow Academy Crest: the Academy won the second Inter-Scholastic Championship

The Academy is the oldest continuous private school in Glasgow, having been founded in 1845.  The motto means ‘Keep Faith”.

The schools championships took place on Saturday 18th May in 1901 but despite their praise of the inaugural meeting the Glasgow Herald did not cover the event.   This is despite the fact that Glasgow Academy (badge above)  won the sports from the eight other schools taking part.  The report below is from the Scotsman of Monday 20th May, 1901.

Concise results:         

Nine Schools took part – Clifton Bank, Dollar Institution, Edinburgh Institution, George Heriot’s School, Glasgow Academy, Larchfield Academy, Royal High School, Stewart’s College and George Watson’s College.   

The result of the inter-school competition was first, Glasgow Academy   30 marks,  second Dollar Institution  29 marks,  and third George Watson’s College with 24 marks.    Larchfield had 11, Clifton 6, Edinburgh Institution 6, Edinburgh Royal High School 4 while neither Stewart’s College nor George Heriots scored a point.    

Individual winners:

    Open Events

Under 16

Under 13

George Watson’s College Crest : Watson’s Won the first Inter-Scholastic Championship

The first Scottish Inter Scholastics Sports, known now as the Scottish Schools Championships, under SAAA auspices were held on 19th April, 1900 in Edinburgh.   Advertised in the Scotsman at the start of the month the notice below tells us date, time, venue and prices for spectators.

In the passing it is interesting to note that Lumley’s were selling admission tickets – up until at least the 1970’s Lumley’s were selling tickets and suppliers of individual entry forms for athletics meetings across Scotland.   The Scotsman report on the meeting on 1st of the month read as follows.

The actual results, and selection of events come to that, of the first SAAA supported Inter-Scholastic Sports are well worth looking at.   There were three age groups – Open Events were for the pupils of 16 years and above, and there were fewer events for Under 16 and Under 13.   The first table is for the Open Events.

The winner of both jumps is recorded as C McIver as opposed to the winner of both sprints being CD McIver.   It is possible that they were two separate individuals (twins?) but more likely that they are one and the same.   If that is the case, he was a very good all-round athlete altogether.   

Under 16

Under 13

The Glasgow Herald in its ‘Notes and Comments’ column had a more detailed comment on the conduct of the meeting  and were optimistic for its future:

The most complete report on the event however can be found in the ‘Scottish Referee’ of the 21st which can be read by clicking on the link.

The results that follow are covered in the main page on the meeting.

Kenny in his Kilt

I was in correspondence with Kenny shortly before his death in August 2023 and he sent me the following poem that he had written.   

The Captive Rat  by Kenny Phillips

Here am I trapt in a cage

Still gettin’ o’er my ain outrage

Tae think that me wi’ much experience

Should pey the price tricked only yince.

But then again I must admit

At that time I felt a tad unfit

My adversary was Norman Vallance

He led me mony a merry dance.

He had been a skilled gemkeeper

And long time weys of Nature seeker

Noo he leads the Ayrshire Patrol

Sharin’ a’ he kens on Pest Control.

I was born near Dalgarven Mill

And feedin’ there took my fill

But grinding stanes unsettled me

So aff I set completely free.

I followed the Bombo and the Dusk Burns

Tae visit the various ferms by turns

Fae auld Blair Castle tae Wheaty Falls

And Cleeve Cove fossils near Ashyfaulds.

Alick, I watched ye getherin’  fruit

Tae make delicious bramble jelly

And unner the stanes ginnel for troot

And laugh each time ye tickled their belly.

Jimmy Wallace wi’ boys and much clatter

Transferred fifty troot tae the Blue Watters

Fae the Dusk doon below in a pail

Sclimbed up the hill withoot much scail.

Each troot wrigglin’ and still alive

Was gently slipt intae paradise.

The clear watter contained much feedin’

And that wis a’ the troot were needin’.

Big fat minins were the main fare

And hunners o’ tadpoles added mair

In a few short years they became five pounders

And everybody thocht they were real sounders.

Yae fine day by lucky accident

My smelling nose picked up your scent

Near some auld kilns that made quick lime

And followed you tae Bowertrapping mine.

Alick, frien, you left me a crust

Atween the pit props and coalface dust

And here we seemed a rare pair

Sharin’ a bite o’ humble fare.

Crawlin’ aboot on hauns and knees

Cramp would aften yer muscles seize

Watter dripping doon the walls

Soakt through yer stinkin’ overalls.

Lying lengthwise on yin hip

Yer carbide lamp could barely lit

The twa feet seam o’ precious coal

Extracted wi’ much costly toll.

On your hunkers ye stopped tae rest

Tae ease the cramp and heaving chest

Nae heicht tae staun ablow the ceilin’

Or bandage  knuckles skint and bleedin’.

I ask you, Alick, to forgive me, please

For helpin’ spread the Weil’s disease

Like you, I suffered the bitin’ flaes

Hidin’ among oor woollen claes.

Brocht up fae the mine a’ dishevelled

Norman set my cage on dross he levelled

Noo he’s gien me an hour’s grace

Tae clean me up and wash my face

In warm sunshine my een are bricht

My coat is shinin’ and I’ve lost a’ fricht

Nae mair being chased by cruel young brats

Wi’ sticks, ferets, bulldugs and tomcats

The time we spent was short and brief

And I hope oor pairtin’s no wi grief.

I can relax here jist noo at my leisure

And think richt back on you wi’ pleasure

I sit up stracht my whiskers tae brush

And listen tae a pheasy and thrush

Norman makes shair my end will be quick

With finger and thumb and only one flick.

But Alick, my frien, I don’t envy thee

Fae yer hard wark ye canna flee

Graftin’ awa’ tae feed wife and weans

Risking yer life and broken banes.

The flaes that spread the Weil’s disease

will still be bitin’ aroun’ yer knees

Doacters can cure you o’ many ills

But lingerin’ pneumoconiosis defy their pills

Ye’ll cough  up blood and blackened lung

Much worse than by a bee being stung

Strugglin’ for braith ye’ll fade away

Wi’ excruciating pain till the last day

The coal ye howk causes climate change

The economy will fail on a wider range

Being made redundant will be dreaded

And worse, trying for Universal Credit.

I was quite taken by the poem and tale it told and sent him an email saying that I had known him since the 1960’s but hadn’t known he was a miner.   His reply read as follows:

“The background to my poem is: I was born in a miners Raw in the Peesweep, Dalry. Most of the farms and mines in Dalry belonged to the Blair Estate. The heir to the Estate, Miss Blair, collected money for every ton of coal dug but was discomforted by the occupiers watching her travelling to the kirk on Sundays in her pony and trap and she got all the windows moved to the rear of the houses, when the houses were then called Peesweep or Turned or Blair.

During the 2nd world war I lived in a single end in a tenement with 8 families in Smith Street. Dalry, with my parents and 3 sisters. The miners were asked to dig for victory and when a new mine was opened at Bowertrapping, Dalry, one of my cousins in New Cumnock came with a pal to work the night shifts and return home at the weekend. When we went to school in the morning, they slept in the bed which never got cold. No miners baths at that time. Outside cold tap or zinc bath in front of the fire. Carbide lamps.

My grandfather and uncles were all miners. My grandfather was reputed to be one of the hardest workers but he died in his fifties with pneumoconiosis. I watched my mother’s uncle die, fading away to six stone and coughing his lungs up. Only his spirit kept him going. I vowed then never to become a miner.

I trained as a Sanitary Inspector and Meat Inspector. Norman Vallance. a former gamekeeper became the top Pest Control Officer and he taught us all the skills used to catch and dispose of pests. He could kill a rat instantly with a finger and thumb breaking its neck. When meat was de-rationed in 1954 I was appointed as Meat Inspector in the three slaughterhouses in Kilwinning, Saltcoats and Largs. Near the Kilwinning slaughterhouse was a large henhouse infested with rats, which was not responding to the new magic Warfarin treatment. We sat in the office eating our pieces one lunchtime discussing the problem. Warfarin takes 3 days to fill the lungs with water instead of blood and the unsuspecting rats drown . We decided that these rats were obtaining compensatory blood with spillages at the slaughterhouse. Norman reverted to the old poisons and the infestation soon cleared up. 50 years later, I read a PhD paper coming to the same conclusion. Doctors keep prescribing Warfarin as an anti-coagulant but I have always resisted using it.

Rats can carry fleas infected with Weil’s disease and Miners are prone to be infected with the disease transmitted by the fleas. Seeking out the rats can involve dangerous locations.

When I was Burgh Surveyor in Stewarton, I was introduced at a Public Health Conference to Willie Cunningham, Chief Sanitary Inspector of Clydebank, Red Clydeside. He said, “They are all communists in Stewarton”. My reply was, “I am the only one”.”

He was a quite amazing man – I kept finding out wee bits from time to time but when his life has been laid out as he did there for me in August this year I was surprised again and the breadth of his experiences and the depth of his thinking.   It came then with no surprise to hear that there would be no funeral, he wanted to donate his body to Glasgow University.   Some man.

Haddington East Lothian Pacemakers was a rather unusual club.   While many runners and indeed clubs have done their bit, and often more than their bit, to assist their own community or to help activities further afield, no other that I knew of started up with the express intention of helping the less fortunate as part of their remit as written up in their constitution.    Read Henry Muchamore’s story for more information about that.     The story however is documented in this little booklet produced in 2005.

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