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In The News - February 2008 |
There seems to be a particularly thick wad of newspaper cuttings this month, but on further scrutiny, most of the content appears to be related to the world of rugby. More of that later.
On 13th February, The Scotsman carried an obituary for Walter ("Billy") Elliot (33-37) who died in January. During the war, Billy was seconded to the Lovat Scouts and was captured while on a patrol in Italy in 1944. After the armistice, he returned to his hill sheep farm in Dumfriesshire, also becoming an active member of the National Farmers' Union and a board member of the British Wool Marketing Board. He was awarded an OBE in 1969 and in 1985 was made a CBE for services to British agriculture. His three sons were also at the Academy – David (60-65), John (64-67) and Mike (62-67), who, while over from New Zealand for the funeral, took the opportunity to visit the school and see the new science centre.
On a happier note, we also report on a wedding that hit the headlines at the start of the month. The Times and The Telegraph both carried reports on the secret marriage in India last year of Duncan Campbell (49-58) with his long-time partner of 28 years, actress Julie Christie. We wish them both well.
Charlotte Gosling (95-96) is a regular columnist in The Scotsman's 'Recommends' pages and featured on 13th February with a piece on the best place to buy chocolates (for Valentine's Day) and on 27th February on the best places to buy flowers and to take afternoon tea (for Mother's Day).
In business, the start of the month saw The Scotsman carrying further news of Keith Miller (54-58), chief executive of the Miller Group, happily more positive than of late. It appears that Keith has been able to persuade other family members not to put their company shares on the open market, which could have risked a potential takeover of the company. Staying with property, at the end of January, the Sunday Times carried a feature on three homes that had been extended. One was a Glasgow flat, belonging to Pippa Tunnell, whose brother, William (75-88), acted as her architect in designing a bright and airy new look to the old flat.
On 14th February, The Scotsman carried a report that the post of Lord Lyon, King of Arms had been vacant 'for months'. The previous incumbent, Robin Orr Blair (45-48), who had held the post since 2001, had stepped down in December 2007. It is worth noting here that Robin's three predecessors were also Academicals. They were: Sir Thomas Innes of Learney (1906-10) from 1945 to 1969, Sir James Monteith Grant (10-21) from 1969 to 1981, and Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight (51-56) from 1981 to 2001. Maybe we will have to help Alex Salmond to find another suitable Academical!
To art, and Angus Farquhar (68-79) has produced another installation following the success of his illumination of the Storr and, most recently, Kilmartin Glen in Argyll. This time, The Scotsman tells us that the work is nearer home – Spirit is a celebration of the Chinese Lantern Festival in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens, mixing light shows, music and sound effects in the glass houses. Tickets are available from The Hub and the event runs until Sunday 9th March.
At last to the rugby and the papers have had a lot to say about Scotland's efforts on the rugby field. At the start of the month, Allan Massie of The Scotsman, pulled no punches as he wrote that the Scotland's team's biggest problem was its failure to score tries. Amongst other suggestions he had was that Frank Hadden should replace the captain, Jason White, with Mike Blair (86-99). For their latest match, against Ireland on the 24th, his wish came true and Mike took on the captaincy. He is the first former Academy player to captain Scotland at rugby in a championship match since Brian Neill (42-56) in the sixties.
No ready list is available of the number of former pupils to captain Scotland but we think he is the fourth since the war. Before Brian were John McPhail (34-41) and Douglas Elliot (36-39), the brother of Billy Elliot, mentioned earlier. Mike's comment before the match was Scotland had 'not played enough rugby' in the last few games and that 'all we can do is throw everything in and see what happens'. What happened was that Scotland were beaten 34-13 but both The Herald and The Scotsman did say that, despite the result, Scotland were playing better. Mike's comment was that 'we were right to change our game and we have to stick with this against England.' Let us keep our fingers crossed for next week.
Other major news for us was that Ross Rennie (91-04) made his debut for Scotland, becoming the 103rd former Academy pupil to be capped for the home nations. Ross was on the bench at the start of the match but was brought on for most of the second half. The Scotsman reported of him: 'youngster never looked out of place with good second half run; real beaver at breakdown and memorable big hit on Brian O'Driscoll.' Let us hope that this good showing brings him further appearances and the opportunity to prove himself at this level.
It is also good to read of the return of Donnie Macfadyen (84-97) to the Glasgow Warriors side after a succession of serious injuries. He played the first half of the Warrior's match against the Ospreys at Firhill on Friday night. Warriors won 9-6 and The Scotsman's reporter noted that 'Macfadyen stole possession superbly'.
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