Andrew "Jock" Wemyss (pronounced "Weemz") (22 May 1893,

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

– 21 January 1974, Edinburgh) was a Scottish rugby union player, who played at

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. Wemyss lost one of his eyes in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but continued to play after the war (games were suspended during the conflict). In his memoires John M. Bannerman wrote "When my International Career began in 1921, the immediate post-war sides had been made up of old salts and old soldiers like Jock Wemyss, Finlay Kennedy, Charlie Usher and A.T. Sloan- men who would have played scores of Internationals had they not been fighting the greater battles of the First War. Wemyss to me is the symbol of the Scottish forward, a man who in his play, his written commentaries on the game and his patriotic enthusiasm epitomises all that is best in the spirit of rugby"

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Wemyss played for Brunstane in Edinburgh. From the Musselburgh News of 5 March 1920: Mr Andrew Wemyss, who resides in Joppa, and is a former member of the Brunstane Rugby Football Club, has been selected by the Scottish Rugby Football Union to take part in the international match against England. It is the third international honour which has fallen to the lot of this player. Scotland won 2, lost 3 and drew 3 of the 7 games in which Wemyss played''McEwan's Rugby Record Season 1990-91'', (Edinburgh : IMA Promotional Services, 1990)14-20. He became a founder member of two rugby union clubs; first Haddington and then Co-Optimists. Wemyss, together with George St Claire Murray, a rugby enthusiast from the

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

club, founded the Co-Optimists invitational rugby club in 1924. This came after an invitation game against Haddington, a club Wemyss had been a founder member of at the age of 17. Wemyss went on to be successful journalist and commentator, and on the occasion of Haddington's 90th anniversary, the club received a letter from the Bill McLaren stating how much he owed Jock for early tutelage.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 )
profile
at scrum.com 1893 births 1974 deaths Edinburgh Wanderers players Haddington RFC players Rugby union players from Galashiels Scotland international rugby union players Scottish disabled sportspeople Scottish rugby union players Rugby union props {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1890s-stub

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

See also

References