Piercy Henderson "Dolly" Morrison (30 July 1868 – 12 July 1936) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

three-quarter who played club rugby for Northern and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and played international rugby for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Personal history

Morrison was born in

Brotton Brotton is a village in the civil parish of Skelton and Brotton and situated approximately south-east of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, 9 miles from Redcar, east of Middlesbrough and north-west of Whitby. In 2011, the village had a population of 5, ...

, North Yorkshire in 1868 to Robert Morrison, a mine owner from Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at St. George's School in Harrogate and

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...

before matriculating to

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, Cambridge in 1887.

Rugby career

Morrison came to note as a rugby player when he played for Cambridge University. He won four sporting 'Blues', his first was in 1887, when he played at three-quarter along with

Macbeth Duncan Colonel Macbeth Duncan (1 September 1866 – 2 October 1942) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He later became the 48th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. Rugby Union career Amateur career Duncan was schooled at Cargilfield ...

and

Frederic Alderson Frederic Hodgson Rudd Alderson (27 June 1867 – 18 February 1925) was an English international rugby union threequarter who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Hartlepool Rovers. Alderson played international rugby for England a ...

.Marshall (1951), pg 68. Cambridge won the 1887

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

, and repeated the feat the next season, this time Morrison was joined by Thomas Todd and Alderson. In the 1889 Varsity Match, Morrison was given the captaincy of the Cambridge team,Marshall (1951), pg 73. but Cambridge lost by two tries to nil in a hard fought match. Morrsion played one more season with Cambridge, including the 1890 Varsity game, which ended in a no-score draw. While still representing Cambridge, Morrison was first selected to represent the English national team. He was brought in at wing to face

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the opening match of the

1890 Home Nations Championship The 1890 Home Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 1 February and 15 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. Despite losing the Welsh encounter, the English selectors kept faith with Morrison and he experienced his first international victory in a 6-0 win. The final game of the tournament was against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and Morrison completed the season by scoring his first and only international try. The English scored two tries in the first half of the game, and Morrison managed to score a try of his own when a passage of good English passing and some poor Irish tackling allowed him to touchdown between the posts. In 1890, Morrison was approached by

William Percy Carpmael William Percy Carpmael (20 May 1864 – 27 December 1936) was the founder and first president of the rugby union Barbarian Football Club. Carpmael was born the eldest of eight in Briscobel, Streatham in England.Starmer-Smith (1977), pg 13 ...

to join his newly formed invitational touring team, the Barbarians. Morrison accepted and became one of the original members of the team. Morrison's final international was in the match against Ireland in the 1891 Championship. Joined at three-quarters with old Cambridge teammate Alderson, Morrison finished his international career with a 9-0 win.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Piercy 1868 births 1936 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union centres Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players People from Redcar and Cleveland Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh Rugby union players from Yorkshire