Category: Uncategorized

The lack of easily obtained and produced photographs did not prevent the staff of the ‘Referee’ from pictorial representations of teams and groups of sportsmen when required.   Each is labelled here but there are two groups for the Celtic  v  Third LRV Cup Final – one with both teams from before the event and one, printed the following week, of likenesses of all the players after the match.   Just look at them closely and see how much work went into them.

SAAA Champions, June 1891

The touring Canadian Football Team: Mr Ellis was the Team Manager

The Football Close Season: all the other sports thrive while they spend two months ‘in the stocks’

Third LRV   v   Celtic Cup Final: 1890

Published a week later

The Scottish and English teams for the international in April, 1892, as part of a ‘Special Edition’ for the fixture

Although the number of drawings was seriously reduced, maybe especially once photographs became possible, they continued to appear right up to the 1914 War.

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Just about every sport played in Scotland was covered by a columnist using a pseudonym.  Nowadays the column would be headed by the photograph of the writer accompanied by his byeline.   There was a ‘sort of a byeline’ at the time in the form of a block which indicated the content of that particular article – it had the advantage that the writer was anonymous and could not be easily recognised in the street!       These are just a few of them, beginning with one of a kind of editorial column.

‘Among the Professionals’ dealt with pedestrianism and boxing among other professional sports.

The Special Commissioner wrote on whatever topic was in the news or causing discussion at that time.   He was always on the front page. 

.Like all publications, whether the ‘Scottish Referee’, the ‘Glasgow Herald’ or even Facebook, money from advertising is necessary to keep the provider going.   What is a popular product for one generation, is unnecessary, or even risible, to another.   The first one below is for a problem that still besets active, outdoor sports people.   We will add to the page as we pick up on interesting adverts.

Of course sports kit is always in demand and you would expect ads like that in the Referee.   This first is for McNeil’s – they were bth founrder members of the Rangers and of Clydesdale Harriers.

Talking of products that one would not expect to see in publications in the 21st century, this one might fall into that category.

There was another ad for sports gear above – it only took a few lines but the same firm took out a much longer ad in a later edition of the paper and it is here in three chunks, so big was it.

Bell’s was a long advert – this is part 1

Part 2

and part three!

House Shoes – slippers?   But have a look at the suppliers other offerings!

Interesting juxtaposition of goods for a sports paper 

The ‘Portrait Gallery’ feature was one of the most popular aspects of the paper with a line drawing and short (about 4 column inches) about the individual concerned.   Some of the drawings from the first few months of the paper are here. are posted on this page.

19th November, 1888

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Crerar was a top class sprinter who also ran some very good half mile races.   A good football player he was on the committee of Third Lanark FC and also President of the SFA.

17th December, 1888

31 December 1888

7th January 1889

14th January, 1889

21st January, 1889

The first three weeks of February 1889 had groups of drawings of international teams and a series of drawings of the SFA Committee members.

.25th February, 1889 – also a member of Clyde FC

4th March 1889

11th March 1889

Having given a series of the first twelve portraits which were mainly football (although some were very good athletes (Crerar) we will now concentrate on the athletes who were profiled starting with AG Colquhoun of Clydesdale Harriers, who was always called AG – even in club handbooks!   14 drawings here – two Rangers players, two from Celtic, several from Clydesdale Harriers and others but all were athletes, and all were runners.

April 89

12th August 1889

July, 1889

19th August, 1889

Although mainlky a football player, he was also a half-miler of note 

30th December, 1889

(Clydesdale Harriers and West of Scotland Harriers)

24th February, 1890

Although he is here as QPFC, Brown was also a prominent member of West of Scotland Harriers and of the SAAA

9th June 1890

16th June 1890

Another who was an excellent athlete – his speciality was the sprint hurdles

7th July 1890

14th July 90

A top class hurdler (SAAA Champion) and sprinter

28th July, 189

Mitchell was a top class 440/880 runner who was one of those battling to be first Scot under 2 minutes along with Walter Malcolm of Morton.

11th August 1890

25th August 1890

1st September 1890

Another very good athlete – and another sprinter from the Rangers FC

An important part of the sport of athletics (including cross-country running) is the coverage given by the Press.   We already have profiles of athletics journalists and reporters such as Doug Gillon, Sandy Sutherland, Bill Melville and George Sutherland on the website.   But long before that the coverage was of a totally different order.   Where editors were at one point in the 1980’s only concentrating on three or four sports, a century before that there were several weekly papers dealing only with sporting matters.   One of the best known of these was ‘The Scottish Referee’.   The title and associated information is above.   It covered all of the outdoor sports: football, rugby, cricket and, most important to us, track and field athletics, road running and cross-country running.  In contradiction of the headline, it also covered such as snooker, billiards, draughts,  chess and whist.  There were only four pages but it did an excellent job.    It ran from 1888 to the start of the War in 1914.

The story started on Thursday, 1st November, 1888, when the following notice appeared in the Glasgow Evening Post:

NEW ATHLETIC PAPER FOR SCOTLAND

THE SCOTTISH REFEREE

A WEEKLY RECORD AND REVIEW OF 

OUTDOOR RECREATION

PRICE ONE HALFPENNY

The proprietors of the Glasgow Evening News beg to announce that they have arranged to publish on

MONDAY AFTERNNOON, NOVEMBER 5,

the First Issue of a New Athletic Paper under 

the title of

THE SCOTTISH REFEREE

The object of the promotion is to supply the Public with a Thoroughly Reliable and Unbiased Record and Review of all the  Recreation and Sports for which Scotland is famed; and for this purpose they have retained, in the different departments the services of many of the ablest Athletic Writers, and have been promised the support of a large contingent of the best exponents of the various Recreations.

The Scottish Referee will comprise New, Novel and Alternative Features; and all the facilities of the Establishment which has been the centre of Athletics for the past fifteen years will be enabled to make the Paper varied, interesting and authoritative.  

The paper will be brightly and simply written; and while Persons and Events will be firmly criticised and commented upon, no malice or  animus  will be allowed to sully its pages.   Sensibility and personal abuse will be rigidly excluded; and fairness,  a free field, and no favour will be the dominant policy of the paper.

The utmost freedom will be given for the discussion, in a gentlemanly manner, of al questions of current, and permanent interest to the Athletic World.

Every effort, in fact, will be made to prevent the healthy recreation of the rising generation from becoming  associated with the  debasing recrimination and professional spleen which of late years been imported into many forms of athletics.

In form, style and tone the Scottish Referee will be different from any paper published in Scotland, and will contain more reading than the ordinary penny journals.

THE SCOTTISH REFEREE

A WEEKLY RECORD AND REVIEW OF 

OUTDOOR RECREATION

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5

PRICE ONE HALFPENNY

———————————-

 It did appear as promised and in the first ever edition, they stated their aims and objectives in a slightly longer form as follows:-

The Scottish Referee

Glasgow, Monday, November 5

The motive and object of The Scottish Referee may be stated in a few sentences.   Within recent years, athletics, football, and other outdoor recreations have assumed an importance in the general affairs of life which a decade ago was undreamt of.   Unfortunately, with this growth have also developed some features of a less desirable character – unbridled partisanship, unfriendliness, quasi-professionalism, roughness, in many instances ferocity and mere brute force – until now there is a very grave danger of the manly exercises on which the future physical superiority of the nation depends being banned because of the evils with which they are being associated.   Full and impartial publicity is the only remedy for these and other evils.   Hitherto – in Scotland, at least – journals devoted to athletics (as invariably is the case in the earlier years of all movements) have been too malignly influenced by the passions and interests of contending parties and interests – they have been identified too closely with the rivalries and controversies of reckless combatants, and have in consequence tended to incite rather than diminish the bad social and personal feelings, the existence of which all true lovers of healthy recreation deplore.   Recreation for recreation’s sake will be the policy of the Referee.   Our purpose is not only to provide a free and unbiassed channel for recording the chief events in the world of recreation; we shall also endeavour, by unprejudiced comment, honest criticism and direct discountenance of all unfair tactics and foul play, to purge the more popular pastimes of the passions which so easily beset them.   To attain our object we cordially invite the assistance of secretaries of clubs and associations, and of all others interested in the welfare and physical health of the rising generation.-

———-

That was the statement of editorial policy and some of it bears comment.   Look at this section:

“Journals devoted to athletics (as invariably is the case in the earlier years of all movements) have been too malignly influenced by the passions and interests of contending parties and interests – they have been identified too closely with the rivalries and controversies of reckless combatants,”      The year was 1888, the amateur athletic movement had burgeoned and pretty well taken the imagination by storm after the establishment of Clydesdale Harriers in May 1885.   At least one of the sporting periodicals – The Scottish Umpire – had welcomed the arrival of the new club and had reported and commented on just about every aspect of the club’s activities since then.   Could this have been the direction in which the section quoted was aimed?

There were lots of regular features in the Referee but it should be remembered that the use of photographs was severely limited simply because the technology did not exist at that time.   The result was that there were many illustrations which were hand drawn to start with.   eg the first feature mentioned below.   They certainly did score over their rivals, certainly in the beginning, by the quality and number of illustrations.

• Our Portrait Gallery (every edition had a drawing with a pen portrait of the sportsman) and the intention here is to reproduce some of the more interesting ones.   Many of the subjects were members of many clubs at the same time – eg Robert Mitchell was a St Mirren Player but one of the three men striving to be first Scot under 2 minutes, JR Gow of Rangers was SAAA hurdles champion and sprint medallist.   
• The front page was always made up of small gobbets of information about whatever sport was in season.   These might be about a game played at the weekend, some information about upcoming or recent player transfers, committee business at club or national level, or just plain gossip.   The paper assumed a knowledge of the sport in question and just gave the bare information.
• Sporting columns were written under an appropriate pseudonym.   eg   Far and Sure  by  Niblick; Tries and Touches  by  Rugby, By   Field and Fen   by   Pace;  Cycling  by  Spokes; Splashes & Spurts  by  Ben Bow  (rowing); and Volley and Smash  by  Back Hand.   Each had its own graphic header.

1892 was an important year in the development of the paper – it produced its first regular Friday edition in April.   The previous week there had been a Special Edition on the Thursday dealing with the Scotland v England international to be played at Ibrox Park (for the teams see the Groups page) and then on 8th April came the new edition of the paper.   Note the subtle change in its masthead.

The changes hadn’t stopped there – although the portraits kept coming the title of The Portrait Gallery disappeared, and the blocks identifying the various sports commentaries by Ben Bow and the rest ceased to appear too.   Then colour came upon the scene – from the start of January, 1893, the paper was printed on pink paper.   It maybe made it stand out from the others on the news stands but there was a new look.

Photographs had to come and they did, beginning at the end of 1908 and there were regular series of them: Ben Bow had a series of portraits and profiles, the Portrait Gallery returned  but with photographs, football and other sports were now illustrated with photos rather than with drawings and there were new pages covering the theatre with photographic studies of the leading men and women.  The occasional news featured too – eg a large picture and account of the death of the King was there.

The Referee continued to develop until the War started in 1914.  It had become a six page paper most of the time but for this final issue it was back to four.   It was a rather sad Cap and Bells commentary in Tout le Monde for issue number 2,590 and the big cartoon below was the centrepiece, maybe ‘drawing’ would be better because as Dudley Moore said in another context, he couldn’t see the joke.  

It was published on Monday 16th November, 1914.   

A sports paper it had lasted for over 25 years and it had taken a War to stop it.   Latterly it had included some content on entertainment (the theatres in Glasgow were numerous) and other news which was not part of the initial intention but it was still a popular and detailed publication.  

We will cover all the various aspects of the paper as the weeks go by meanwhile, we can have a look at the last issue by following the link below, the others are all pictorial extracts.

The Final Issue: November, 1914

The Runners     More Runners    Some more general portraits     The ‘byelines’    .The Advertisements     The Columnists   Some Groups   Photographs

You can read much more about the publication at this link:

 https://aspectaculartableau.wordpress.com/2017/02/13/scottish-referee-1888-1914/

The other two sports publications are discussed   here   (The Scottish Umpire)   and    here  ( The Scottish Athletics Journal )

A scene from the 1935 race (see attached report) and it shows John Suttie Smith passing over to W Johnston 

The Perth to Kirkcaldy was a popular 36 miles road relay race held in the 1930’s which attracted athletes from the west of Scotland as well as from the east.   The Edinburgh to Glasgow sponsored by the ‘News of the World’ had started in 1930 and was run over 8 stages; the district cross-country relays were run over 4 stages and other club organised events were also run over 4 stages.  This one, with the first running being on the first Saturday in April in 1934, was over 6 stages.   It’s not too much of a strectch of the imagination to think that some clubs used it as a run-in to the Edinburgh to Glasgow, given that the dates of the eight stager in the 30’s were 4th April 1936, 3rd April 1937, 9th April 1938 and 22nd April 1939.   It was first run on the first Saturday in April, 1934, in dreadful weather conditions.   The report from the ‘Scotsman’ on the following Monday read:

PERTH-KIRKCALDY RACE RUN IN SNOWSTORM

DUNDEE MAN’S ORDEAL

Eight clubs contested the first Perth to Kirkcaldy road relay race of 36 miles on Saturday, under most inclement weather conditions.   Lord Provost Hunter started the first relay of runners from Perth in gusts of whirling sleet and snow, with treacherous underfoot conditions.   Within the first two miles the falling snow had increased in intensity and when the sector from Freuchie to Coaltown of Balgonie was entered upon the road was fully four inches deep in snow and slush.   

A mishap occurred to the leader at this stage, D Gowans of Dundee Thistle.   With a lead of over a furlong, Gowans, unaccompanied by any stewards, had his own way to find to the next stage, and being strange to the district he took a wrong turning.   The second runner, W McGregor, Kirkcaldy YMCA, also took a wrong route but managed to correct his mistake and get on to the right road again.   

The non-arrival of Gowans at Coaltown of Balgonie occasioned much concern and a conveyance was dispatched in search of him.   He was ultimately found in an exhausted condition, having run almost nine instead of six miles.   After attention in a nearby cottage, the Dundee runner was taken to Kirkcaldy hospital where he was detained overnight  to recover from the results of exhaustion and exposure.   Over the last stage, McIntosh had an easy task to win for Edinburgh Northern.   The unfortunate mishap to Dundee Thistle detracted somewhat from the merit of Northern’s win, but their runners deserved commendation for the earnest and unrelenting manner in which they raced over each relay, to reduce a deficit of 2 mins 5 secs at six miles to a gain of 2 mins 23 secs at thirty six miles.   

Results:

It was a pity that the first running of the race should coincide with a freak snow storm in April but even a quick look at the results will note the names of such quality athletes as Alex Dow, Suttie Smith , W Slidders and Peter Addison.   If we look at the field here and the result of the Edinburgh to Glasgow 8 man relay that year, the Dundee Thistle team had won that from Edinburgh Northern and Maryhill Harriers  with Gowans on the second stage for the Dundee team.   Both Dow and Suttie Smith ran for Scotland in the international meeting that year while Slidders ran the year before too.    

In 1935,  the race had been brought back by a month and was run on 30th March.    The race had attracted a lot of attention locally and a silver trophy had been gifted by Sir Michael Nairn for the winning team.   He was of the Kirkcaldy linoleum manufacturing family and the cup would be known as the Nairn Cup.   The Courier had a fairly detailed preview of the race in their edition of March 30th.   Teams entered were 

Edinburgh Northern Harriers – Colours : White with maroon and blue bands.   JS Smith, WA Ferguson, C Lothian, W Hinde, JP Laidlaw, H McIntosh.   Their achievements are too numerous to mention here, suffice to say they have gained every honour possible both for team and individuals.   There are four internationalists in this team, and it is considerably stronger than when had a lucky win in this race last year.   As they won the Scottish National cross-country championship, Edinburgh to Glasgow road relay race and the unofficial Scottish 10 miles relay championship this season, they will be all out to win this race too.

Garscube Harriers (Glasgow):   Colours: White with blue band.   From T Urquhart, D Brooke, J Bennett,  T Dailly, J Thomson, W Gowans, T Armstrong, AD McDonald, C Thomson.   They have been prominent in cross-country circles for a good number of years back, and were runners-up in Scottish championships and Edinburgh to Glasgow race.   

Dundee Thistle Harriers: Colours: Red trimmed with white.   A club that has been amongst the honours greatly in the last twenty years and have been just short of championship form being runners-up on two or three occasions.   Have won the Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay and were most unfortunate last year in this race when after establishing a winning lead, a runner went off the road.   A Team: T Coburn, P Addison, WS Slidders, D Whitecross, D Gowans, A Donnett;   B Team: C McDonald, D Thomson, F Suttie, J McKechnie, EH Wright, WW Howie.

Dundee Hawkhill Harriers: Colours  Blue and white quarters.   Thistle’s greatest rivals in the Jute City and quite a go-ahead club in the East of Scotland.   Finished fourth last year.   Team: G Rudd, A Robertson, D Taylor, F Kane, A Jamieson, W Cook.

Edinburgh Southern Harriers:   Colours  Blue and white stripes.   The Northern’s greatest rivals in the East of Scotland and especially in the Edinburgh League races, have also been among the honours.   Team   W  Shaw, J Wilson, L Kapelle, G Jamieson, J Lindsay, T Ross.

Kirkcaldy YMCA: Colours  White with Gold Band.   The most prominent local club but still short of higher honours as regards team work.   Winners of Teviotdale trophy last year in this race and runners-up in the open race.   Team  J Adie, T Dewar, A Dow, W Duncan, W McGregor. D Pryde.   

Eastbank AC: Colours  Black with white band.   A club that has risen rapidly in East of Scotland cross-country circles and may be Kirkcaldy YMCA’s greatest threat in local events.  Team: J Rennie, D McArthur, D Dewar, W Riddell, G Ross, G Adamson.

Kirkcaldy (BB) Old Boys Club:  Colours White with black and yellow bands.   Composed of ex-members of the Boys Brigade but have never fulfilled expectations as yet.   Team:  JG Cameron, DM Bannerman, LAH Pake, DF Page, DE Williamson, LM Smart.

Kirkcaldy Boys Club: Colours  Royal blue with white trimmings.   On a par with the Old Boys Club and keen rivalry exists between them.   Team:  S McGregor, J Bell, W Dryburgh, S Robertson, H Lascelles, D Muir. 

Penicuik Harriers:  Colours  Black with white gate.   A moderate club who have been more prominent individually rather than collectively.   Team: A McMillan, J Johnston, W Palmer, W McKenna, A Little, W Galt.

Bellahouston Harriers (Glasgow):   Colours  Blue with pale blue St Andrew’s Cross.   This club is pretty well to the fore in the West of Scotland and should give a fairly good account of themselves.   This is a late entry but the team will definitely include Jacky Campbell, Scottish internationalist.   

In the list of names can be found nine Scottish internationalists, namely JS Smith, W Hinde, J Laidlaw and R McIntosh (ENH), D Urquhart (GH), WD Slidders (DTH), J Wilson (ESH), A Dow (Ky YMCA), and J Campbell (BH).   

It is an interesting list of teams from the North East, the East, the Borders and the West of the country and all of the teams were putting forth their finest runners.   Would the race live up to the expectations of the promoters?   The picture at the top of the page shows the intensity of the effort the runners were putting in.   The enthusiasm of the spectators is evident too and the host of bicycles at the back presumably are for club supporters to follow the race.   So how was the race?

The report in the  ‘Scotsman’ was brief and to the point:   

“Edinburgh Northern Harriers on Saturday won the second annual Perth to Kirkcaldy 36 miles road relay race for the Sir Michael Nairn Cup.  Twelve teams, each of six runners took part.    Northern’s victory completed a remarkable sequence of successes, the club having won every open event they have competed in this season.   The details:

1.   Edinburgh Northern Harriers (JS Smith 30:29, W Johnston 27:09, C Lothian 30:47, W Hinde 25:42, JP Laidlaw 31:32, H McIntosh 35:35)  3 hrs 01 min 14 secs
2. Dundee Thistle Harriers (D Coburn 31:14, P Quinn 26:36, WD Slidders 30:34, A Whitecross 25:57, D Gowans 32:43, A Donnet 36:01)  3 hrs 3 min  5 secs
3. Bellahouston Harriers (G Hunter 31:23, A Hamilton 27:36, R Lumsden 32:21, T Lamb 26:57, R Austin 32:36, J Campbell 34:18) 3 hrs 5 min  11 secs
4. Garscube Harriers  3 hrs 9 min 33 secs;  5  Dundee Thistle B 3 hrs 9 min 46 secs; 6. Dundee Hawkhill 3 hrs 10 min 50 sec,  7  Kirkcaldy YMCA  3 hrs 11 min 31 secs; 8.  Eastbank AC  3 hrs 13 mins 20 secs; 9.  Kirkcaldy Boys Club 3 hrs 17 min 48 sec; 10  Edinburgh Southern Harriers  3 hrs 18 min 28 sec; Kirkcaldy Old Boys Club 3 hrs 20 min  32 secs; Penicuik Harriers 3 hrs 26 min 50 sec.

Fastest relay times were accomplished by the following runners: last year’s best times are given in parentheses.

First Relay: J Suttie Smith, Edinburgh Northern (31 min 20 sec) 30 min 20 sec;   Second Relay: P Quinn, Dundee Thistle, (28 min 20 secs) 26 min 36 sec; Third Relay: A Dow, Kirkcaldy YMCA, (31 min 02 sec) 30 min 13 secs; Fourth Relay: W Hinde, Edinburgh Northern, (27 min 42 secs) 25 min 42 secs;  Fifth Relay: JP Laidlaw, Edinburgh Northern, (33 min 48 secs) 31 mins 32 secs;  Sixth Relay: J Campbell, Bellahouston Harriers (34 min 53 secs) 34 min 18 secs.

The third running of the race on 23rd March, 1936, was also well supported and the picture below is of the start. 

The race was a close one with two Glasgow clubs – Bellahouston and Plebeian Harriers – fighting out the finish.   The report in the ‘Courier’ read as follows:

In 1937  the race was held on 27th March and both Bellahouston and Plebeian were back for more of the same – Bellahouston wanting to win again, Plebeian hoping to gain revenge for the previous year’s defeat.   Both had good teams out to do battle with (principally) Edinburgh Northern, Edinburgh Southern, Dundee Thistle and Kirkcaldy YMCA.   The route was unchanged with change-over points at Aberargie (6 1/2 miles), Newburgh (5 5/12 miles), Auchtermuchty (5 1/4 miles), Freuchie (5 1/2 miles), Coaltown of Balgonie (6  5/12 miles), Esplanade, Kirkcaldy (6  3/4 miles).    The route can be seen on this representational map.

 Although the report the previous year had a 5 yard victory for the boys from Bellahouston, the pre-race review this time said that it had been won by a single yard.   It all adds to the excitement.

Any club or individual who wins a trophy twice, likes to go back to go for ‘three-in-a-row’ and Bellahouston Harriers had just that in Mind when they returned to Perth in March 1938.   The race was organised by the Kirkcaldy Hospital Pageant Commission and the race was part of the efforts to raise money for the hospital – a reminder that this was pre-NHS days and fund-raising was a necessary part of any such organisation.   The appearance of big name runners was a good selling point for the event locally.   Bellahouston had all the top men out for the event.   Like the Edinburgh to Glasgow relay, the winning club from the year before carried a special baton with a message from the Lord Provost of Perth to the Provost of Kirkcaldy.   The report read:

Bellahouston runners obviously liked Perth and they returned on 29th March 1939 for a fifth run in the race.   The photograph of two Edinburgh Northern runners below is another very good picture of all that the race entailed – determined runners, enthusiastic spectators and a road cleared by the local police – the race reports usually included a list of officials and the Chief of Police was usually mentioned and thanked for the traffic management for the event.  

The headline from the ‘Courier’ tells the story.   

The opposition in what was to be the last race included both Edinburgh clubs and both top Dundee clubs.   The results are below and Bellahouston are to be congratulated on winning the race in four consecutive years.   Over the 5 years of their participation, they only used nine runners:   Jacky Campbell ran in all five as did Tommy Lamb (a junior in 1935) and G Hunter, Hamilton, Lumsden and Gibson ran three each, Austin ran in two and Lawson and Lindsay ran one.   

That was to be the last of the Perth to Dundee road relays – the War put a stop to it and it was never resurrected.   It was a pity that the only six-man road relay disappeared.  The Scottish national 6-man road relay did not appear until 1979 and it is a very popular event with many of the country’s best running talent turning out for their clubs.   

Hawkhill Lady Harriers’ Scottish cross-country champion team.   Back Row – Miss Tina Stevenson (trainer), Miss Helen Christie, Miss Elsie Patterson, Miss Jessie McKenzie (vice-president), Miss Bunty Carr (secretary)   Front Row – Miss Bella Allan, Miss Peggy Laird (captain), Miss Catherine F Robertson (president), Miss Mildred Storrar (Scottish cross-country individual captain), Miss Vera Murray (Vice-captain).

The picture above was taken after Mildred had won her first Scottish |Cross Country title at the end of the 1933/34 season.   A quick survey of her career tells that

• she went on to win it in 1934/35 and 1935/36 running for Hawkhill and again in 1937/38 representing Merchiston Ladies.   
• On the track, having been second in 1933, she won the SWAAA 880 yards in 1934 and 35 as a member of the Dundee club and for the third time in 1936 as a member of Merchiston Ladies Club.     
• There were other minor medals after the war – third in the shot putt and discus in 1951 representing Edinburgh Harriers.     
• The high spot maybe had to be when Mildred ran for Scotland in the 1934 British Empire Games in London – the second British Empire Games and the first major Games to have an 880 yards race for women.

Her career is certainly worth a closer look.   The picture below was taken for the local paper after the first individual (and team) victory in the national cross-country in 1934.

 Born in   Alberta, Canada on 9th March 1915, she is reported by one newspaper to have lived in Edinburgh but ran for Hawkhill because there was no club for her in Edinburgh.   However that came about, she won her first SWCCU National Championships  in season 1933/34.   

In the summer of 1933, Mildred was first reported in the Dundee Courier newspaper edition of Saturday 17th June in a report on the SWAAA Championships at Ibrox the previous evening.   No big write up, simply the result that she had been second to Constance Johnson of Maryhill Harriers.   We find elsewhere that Alison Ritchie of Clydesdale Harriers was third – Constance won the title twice, Mildred was to win in the next three years and Alison would be the winner in 1937.   There was a better press coverage when she ran in mid-July at the Aberdeen Football Club and North-Eastern Harriers Association Sports at Pittodrie Park.   The SWAAA hurdles and quarter mile champion, Lilias SF MacKenzie and the report in the Press & Journal read, “although putting up a gallant fight in both events, Miss MacKenzie had to take second place in the finals of both 100 yards and half-mile.   In both events her conqueror was Mildred Storrar, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, to whom she had to concede handicap advantages.”   In the 100, MacKenzie was off 1 yard with Storrar off 6 1/2″, and in the 880 MacKenzie was running from 12 yards while Storrar was off the 30 yards mark.

The ‘Evening Telegraph’ for 21st December in 1933 previewed the club’s Christmas handicap saying that the ladie’s race would be framed on Mildred Storrar – in other words, as top runner in the race, she would be running from scratch and the estimated difference from her normal running would determine the ‘start’ that the others would receive.   The Women’s National Championship was held on 10th March at Bishopbriggs in Glasgow and the ‘Glasgow Herald’ report read:   “The annual cross-country championships of the SWAAA were decided at Auchinairn on Saturday afternoon.   There were changes in both team and individual honours, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers displacing Maryhill Harriers in the first and Mildred Storrar defeating Constance Johnston in the individual championship.   This was the Dundee club’s first success as a team although Nan Robson, one of their members, won the individual title two years ago.   The course of 1 1/2 miles was all cross-country with the exception of some 300 yards on road at the finish.   Constance Johnston led all the way until the road was reached, Miss Storrar being on her heels.   After the road was reached, the Dundee girl put in a spurt and breasted the tape five yards in front of the holder.   There was a big gap between the pair and the rest of the field..”

The actual result was as follows: Individual:

1.   M Storrar  9:46 ;  2.  C Johnston   9:47;   3.   J Tait (Clydesdale Harriers)  10:21; 4.  BG Anderson (Shettleston Harriers) 10:26 ; 5. J Logan (Shettleston) 10:32;   6.   V Murray (Dundee HH) 10:34

Team:  1.  Dundee Hawkhill Harriers: M Storrar  1; V Murray 6; E Paterson  7; B Allan  9.   23 points

2.   Maryhill Harriers:  2.  C Johnson; S MacRae  10; K Robertson  12;  C Wright  14.   45 points

3.   Shettleston Harriers   45 points;   4.  Clydesdale Harriers  56 points;    5.   Bellahouston Harriers  68 points.

Not a huge margin, but a convincing enough win from a girl who had won handicap sprints the previous summer.   

The ‘Courier’ was much more excited about the race pointing out that it was much more difficult than the usual, in the past they had been held over race courses but this time they included a ploughed field, ten fields and a steep hill.   Approximately 70 years after the race I spoke to two Clydesdale Harriers women who had run in the race – Jean Tait and Georgie Ballantine – and they remembered Mildred as ‘ a big, strong girl’.  Given that description of the trail used, she would have needed to be.   

Maybe bigger than Jean Tait but the Courier described her as a 19 year old dairymaid who had joined the Hawkhill Harriers the previous summer because there was no club for her in the capital.   ‘She assists her father in the running of the farm and is up every morning delivering the produce’   She was coached by her father but the others were looked after by Mr George Rudd who was quoted as follows: 

A pretty strict regime but it would seem not too much in the way of running.   There were not too many races on the calendar for women but the final race of the cross-country was the club’s own road race championships at the start of April with 15 runners.   Mildred won by 15 seconds from Vera Murray and Cissie Riley (both on the same time); with E Christie fourth.  

The big event for any athlete of talent was the British Empire Games to be held in London from 4th to 11th August   It was the second of the series but the first with events for women.  The first meeting had a range of sports available for men but women could only take part in swimming.   The main selection event for the Games would be the Scottish Championships and Mildred Storrar was up for the challenge.   The meeting was on Friday 15th June, and the result of the 880 yards was a victory for the Dundee runner.   First, M Storrar   second,  N Aitken (Shettleston Harriers),   third, I McGovern (Shettleston) winning time: 2:31 4/5th.   The Scotsman reported: “The victory of M Storrar, the cross-country champion in the half-mile was a very easy one and had she been pushed her time would have been much better.    

The Scotrtish team for the 1934 Empire Games: Mildred is in the centre of the front row.

She was chosen – one of only five Scottish athletes to go to the Games – and prepared for her event.   Still only 19 years old, it was a big experience for her.

Photograaph and badges courtesy Janet Hardy

 In the actual race, Mildred started but collapsed in the second lap and, although the official results place her seventh, she failed to finish   She was Scottish cross-country champion, track half-mile champion, so what went wrong?   The ‘Evening Telegraph’ reported.

It must have been a bitter disappointment for the Dundee woman but at 19 she must have thought that there would be another chance.  The winter of 1935-35 was almost on her and there was the national to think of – and there would also be a women’s cross-country to contest too. In the Scottish women’s championship the club retained the Championship and Mildred won the title for the second time.   

Came the international and the Scots were well beaten by the English squad.  The rules were simple – six to run and four to count.   the Scots team was simply chosen with the first six in the National selected.  Mildred, twice Scottish women’s cross country champion finished behind  two other Scots in 10th place. The Aberdeen ‘Press & Journal’ reported that the course was heavy and the runners had to clear several brooks, going on to report that the more experienced English runners filled the first four places.   The ‘Courier’ reported:

‘The Scotsman’ reported in a bit more detail.

We might have expected a big, strong running woman like Mildred Storrar who worked on a farm to revel in a heavy cross-country trail, half a mile longer than the domestic championship, with several brooks to be crossed but she was a full 50 seconds behind Jean Tait and 54 behind Constance Johnson.   It was a very good week end by all accounts with a very good meal in one of the best local hotels for both teams to mingle and enjoy a social evening together.    It was now on to the track for summer 1935 and Mildred had a title to defend.   

Towards the end of May, the annual contest between Dundee Hawkhill and St Andrews University, took place and Mildred Storrar won the Women’s 440 yards in a time reported as 7 1/5th seconds (!) from Margaret Kennedy of St Andrews and Vera Murray of Hawkhill.   Mildred was also third in the 100 yards and in the high jump and was a member of the second p[laced relay team.

The SWAAA track and field championships took place at Ibrox Park on Friday 28th June on a warm, sunny and pleasant day.   Mildred retained her 880 yards title in a time of  2 min 32 5/10th seconds from BG Anderson of Shettleston Harriers.   BG Anderson was herself an interesting character – a very good runner on track and country she also ran for Maryhill Harriers and Clydesdale Harriers in the course of her athletics career.   On this occasion however the reports merely said that Storrar had ‘won easily.’   Only two runners finished.   She also won the discus throw – a preview of her two post war successes in the throws events.

In February 1936 The Dundee women held their club championship and Mildred won it for the third successive year.

That was first title that was retained and the big one was still to come.   The National was held again on the Bishopbriggs course in Glasgow and the trophy was returned safely to Dundee.   The individual trophy that was – and that was after a struggle with Clydesdale Harrier Jean Tait whom she finally defeated by only 4 seconds – but the team title went to Clydesdale Harriers who had their first four runners placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th against the Hawks 1st, 6th, 9th and 10th with Greenock Wellpark Harriers’ team in third with placings at 5th, 17th, 18th and 19th.   

The first big meeting of the summer was the international against England France and Holland at Blackpool where she finished fourth in the 800 metres. but the BIG one was the SWAAA championshsips.   The issue of the ‘Courier’ for Saturday 20th June reported on Mildred’s third consecutive SWAAA champioship victory at Ibrox the previous day but with a twist.   It read:

The Edinburgh farmer’s daughter had switched from Dundee Hawkhill Harriers to Merchiston Ladies Club.    The ‘Scotsman’ gave us a bit more detail in the results column after saying that 

Note that the second placed athlete was Jean Tait of Clydesdale Harriers who had been second to her in the national cross-country championships.   The move to Merchiston was probably  a practical decision taken after four years of being driven to Dundee from Edinburgh and back for training and racing after an early rise to deliver the produce followed by a day’s work on the farm.   It would have been difficult to cut the ties to Hawkhill after almost four years of membership and friend ships forged with the other team members.   

Because of the adverse weather conditions – no teams from Aberdeen or Dundee travelled – the national championships at Bishopbriggs were not called a championship but a sealed handicap race was run instead with all the major places filled by the really unchallenged Clydesdale Harriers.   When it came to the SWAAA Championships in 1937, Mildred Storrar competed only in the discus where she won for the second year in succession.   It is not clear why she did not turn out in the half mile, she may have been injured but where the ‘Courier’ reported in some detail on her progress, the Scotsman, a bigger paper with a bigger circulation, was not as forthcoming.

She was however back in action over the longer distances by the time of the 1937/38 cross-country season.   This time, she was running as an individual since there was no Merchiston team forward – Clydesdale had a team forward and BG Anderson had by now migrated to Bellahouston Harriers.   The Scotsman report is below.

Clydesdale with four in the first six won the team race – had BG Anderson stayed with the club with whom she had already won team gold, she would have had another and the club would have had five in the first six.   If you are wondering what happened to Jean Tait – well she was third under the name of Mrs Jean McMillan having married fellow Clydesdale Harrier Andy McMillan.   

Mildred was 24 in March 1938 at a time when women’s sporting careers tended to be relatively short.   She was to be no exception.   The events on the continent at the end of the 1930’s maybe hastened her departure but 1938 was her last season at the top of the Scottish women’s endurance running tree.   There were not very many events for women at the time and the Scotsman did not report on women’s sport as much as the ‘Dundee Courier’ did either.   For instance the Hawkhill women’s club championships were reported every year while the same is not true of the Merchiston Ladies Club.   As an example of the attitude to women’s sport in the community at large, the following extract from an article on the school prize giving where Mildred won the athletics prize is informative.

No results were found in searches for Mildred Storrar in either the Scotsman or the Courier for 1939.   She did compete after the war but to nothing like the pre-war standard and although she did win some medals at the SWAAA  championships in 1951 and 1952 they do not appear to be of equal significance to those that she won so well and so profusely before 1939.   It would be interesting to find what her involvement after the war had been but unfortunately it is not an easy trail to pick up, and the current difficulties with government restrictions do not make it any easier.   

Alex Wilson sent the above photograph showing Mildred in hurdling action.   There are two things about the picture that strike one immediately.   The first is the remark that she ‘recently formed the Merchiston Ladies Club’ which adds to our store of information about her reasons for leaving Dundee Hawkhill Harriers.   The second, as Alex himself comments, is that she would have been a very good pentathlete.   We know from other results that she was a good sprinter at distances up to 440 yards, an international class half-miler, a medal winning shot and discus performer, a high jumper and here she is as a hurdler.   More information about her post-war athletics involvement would be invaluable.   

Mildred Storrar died in 1985 in Cardenden in Fife at the early age of 70 and is buried in Bowhill Cemetery. 

Hearts was formed as a football club in 1874 and it held its first sports in 1881 at Tynecastle.   They were held on 14th May but they were not amateur sports like those of most football clubs.  In Glasgow the principal club holding professional sports meetings was Clyde FC – and that was probably due to some extent to the tradition going back to the earlier century of pedestrian racing being held on a weekly basis at Shawfield.

14 May 1881 (above and below)

29th April 1882  (below)

…

1884 (above and below)

If it is true that the definition of a good club man is the fact that he does what his club needs him to do is correct, then Ian Ross is an exemplar.   In fact the definition could be stretched to a good man for athletics is one who does what his sport needs him to do, then you still come up with him as a role model.   

* As a runner, he started his career as a runner and, joining Edinburgh Southern Harriers club in 1927, he ran in the National cross-country championships seven times between 1928 and 1939.   Hie also ran in the Edinburgh to Glasgow in 1931 when he was sixth on the first stage for the team that finished 10th of 17 competing, and he ran the first leg in 1931, finishing seventh of 20 teams with Edinburgh Southern being seventh.   He ran track, road and cross country for the club, and in summer ran on the track.   His performances are detailed on the previous page along with a good photograph of just some of the ‘glittering prizes’ that he won in his career.

*As an administrator, he worked his way up through the cross-country committees f club and District to join the ranks of the NCCU to become President  in season 1959-60.   The Cross-Country Union has a system where club representatives are nominated to the District Committees and then those Committees elect their representatives to the National Union.   He served his time there and deserved the Presidency when it came.   The SAAA had a different system and the members of the District Committees were elected at the AGM and then were all part of the National Association after serving their time effectively on various sub-committees and in a variety of capacities.   He became President of the SAAA in 1966.   Both associations also employed him as a team manager for district and for Scottish representative teams.

*As an official, Ian was a Grade 1 official on the track, in the Throws events and in the Jumps events.   It was unusual for all three to be maintained at Grade 1.   These also qualified him to act as a referee at sports meetings and championships.

*As a coach, Ian was Senior Coach for Middle Distance running, Senior Coach being the highest level that a coach could attain.   

Part of a Generation of officials that included such able men as Willie Carmichael, Neil Campbell, Fred Graham, Joe Walker and others he was a man who did more than his share for the sport in Scotland.