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In
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In The News - April 2009 |
The Evening News carried an obituary at the end of March on Jimmy Pryde, piping instructor and Pipe Major at the Edinburgh Academy from 1983 to 1999, who died in February. Jimmy had been in the Royal Scots for his National Service, after which he decided to stay on in the army where he was appointed pipe major of the Royal Scots Greys. Jimmy arranged and recorded a version of Amazing Grace with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which was for five weeks number one in the British singles charts in 1972. As pipe-major at the Academy, he helped to lead the band to victory in the Scottish Schools Competition in 1990 and 1991.
Further to the musical theme, the McCalmans, in which Nick Keir (58-70) sings and plays, have released a new album, Live Coming Home. It was given a four-star review in The Scotsman, where 'the Macs' were described as the Masters of the Good Night Out. This summer they are making a Fringe appearance in the Queen's Hall on 16th August. From folk to jazz and Tom Bancroft (76-85) was quoted in The Scotsman discussing the Scottish Jazz Awards. He was "all in favour of such schemes" but believes that "they shouldn't be taken too seriously."
On Tuesday 28th, former children's laureates Anne Fine and Michael Morpurgo were on Radio 4's Today programme. When asked what books had inspired them as youngsters, Michael Morpurgo chose Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1861-63) because it was the very first book he read where he "simply became the hero of the story… and only a great writer can do that to a reader. Stevenson is the genius writer. He can do anything: he can write travel books, he can write children's books, he can write dark, adult novels, he is a great poet. So I want to be Robert Louis Stevenson."
Moray Nairn (75-88) appeared in The Scotsman on 14th April as co-author with Susie Dumbreck of a review of the best small theatres in Edinburgh. Their production of Kiss of the Spider Woman is on at the St Bride's Centre from 12th to 16th May. The day before, Moray had been the subject of The Scotsman's 'Ten Questions'. On being asked for his memories of school, he said that his experiences at the Academy had a great impact on his enthusiasm for music and theatre. While on drama, on Thursday 23rd, Iain Glen (66-79) starred in Radio 4's Afternoon Play, The Iceman Goeth. Iain played the actor Ian Holm in the build-up to Howard Davies' 1976 production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, which Holm had to leave during the performance after suffering an attack of stage fright.
Several Academicals had letters in The Scotsman last month, the first being Mike Pringle (59-64), pointing out that his BBC interview on the attack of Sir Fred Goodwin's property had been edited down to one line; an article in The Scotsman in March had similarly used Mike's words to suggest that Sir Fred had "brought it on himself". Mike wanted to make it clear that he did not condone the "illegal and cowardly" actions of the perpetrators. Sandy Macpherson (47-54), while listing the bureaucratic problems associated with this year's Gathering of the Clans, was promoting the event, saying that "the clans should triumph". It was the dominance of American English that disturbed Ronnie Sloan (48-60), in particular its use in Microsoft's e-mail spell-checker. The Scotsman also published a language-related letter by John Edward (73-87), in which he set the record straight on the European Parliament's use of gender-neutral language. John also appeared in the press in the results of the London Marathon, run on 26th April. John set himself the target of finishing in under 4 hours and did so by just 31 seconds. For those who like figures, he was the 1641st fastest male over 40.
Continuing with sport, a bit of news from March escaped entry in this column last month. Chukwuma Osazuwa (94-01) is returning to rugby after a stint playing soccer for Dunbar, Haddington and Musselburgh. "Rugby was always where my heart lay," he is quoted as saying in The Scotsman's report of his signing for Heriot’s. He says that he has been "made increasingly welcome" there, despite having "a soft spot for Edinburgh Accies." On the professional scene, Mike Blair (86-99) led his Edinburgh side to an impressive 32-30 away victory over Ospreys last week, with Phil Godman (90-95) kicking the winning conversion. Edinburgh coach, Andy Robinson, backed Mike for the vacant scrum-half slot in the Lions tour. "He is a quality international scrum-half… Mike played well tonight — he is a quality operation." Whether he is what the Lions selectors want is not yet known. Fingers remain crossed.
No Accie cricket results have yet been spotted in the press but two former pupils are playing in the top leagues. Stuart Moffat (82-95), a cricket international before he won his rugby caps, is playing for Scottish Premier champions, Grange, and former Scottish under-19 captain, Duncan Paterson (95-00) is playing for Ferguslie in Division One.
The Scotsman of 30th April reported on a collection of nineteenth-century golf medals and diaries going up for auction this month. They were won by Freddie Guthrie Tait (1879-83) who, in his twenties, earned an impressive reputation as a golfer, initially at St Andrews, where he won all the prizes offered by the Royal and Ancient Club. He won the amateur championship in 1896 at Sandwich and 1898 at Hoylake. After gaining a commission at Sandhurst, Freddie fought in the Boer War, being wounded in Magerfontein in 1899 and dying of further wounds at Koodoosberg in 1900. He was the son of Peter Guthrie Tait (1841-47) and his three brothers also attended the Academy. The most recent connection with the school are his four great nephews, the youngest of whom, Willie Tait (67-76), was First XI captain at the Academy in 1976 and has played regularly for the MCC in its matches against the school.
Lastly, Ed Saunders (staff 94—) was interviewed in The Evening News before the First XV match against BATs two weeks ago. He commented that it was "wonderful to see players really fulfil their potential but just as satisfying when lads continue to enjoy their rugby after school at the Edinburgh Academy." The BATs won the cup, which was presented by Doug Moffat (61-65) on behalf of Tods Murray, who have sponsored this end-of-season BATs fixture in recent years. The trophy, called the Ed Saunders Cup in recognition of Ed's contribution to rugby and the Accie community, was handed over by Stuart Moffat (82-95).
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