James Bridie (19 September 1857 – third ¼ 1893) was a Scottish-born

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Centre who played club

for

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, and Newport and county rugby for

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Rugby career

Bridie was born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

in 1857 and was educated in

Madras College Madras College, often referred to as Madras, is a Scottish comprehensive secondary school located in St Andrews, Fife. It educates over 1,400 pupils aged between 11 and 18 and was founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell. History Madras ...

, St. Andrews, before moving to Wales. In the 1881 census he was described as a rope agent and was living in the centre of Cardiff with his wife Marion. Although playing for several south-eastern Welsh clubs, he is most notable as a Newport player. During the 1885/1886 season, Bridie had found work in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, and left behind his connections with Welsh rugby. Still wishing to continue playing rugby he joined local club Manningham FC. After just playing one game for Manningham he turned out for bitter rivals

, before switching back to Manningham FC.Collins (1998), pg 56. The Manningham supporters, created a chant based on the derogatory nursery rhyme,

Taffy was a Welshman "Taffy was a Welshman" is an English language nursery rhyme which was popular between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19237. Lyrics Versions of this rhyme vary. Some common versions are: Origins ...

; despite the fact that Bridie was deemed not to be Welsh by the Scottish rugby fraternity. :: Bridie was a Welshman :: Bradford was a thief. :: Bradford came to our house, :: and now we are in grief.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridie, James 1857 births 1893 deaths Bradford F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Greenock Wanderers RFC players Manningham F.C. players Monmouthshire County RFC players Newport RFC players Penarth RFC players People educated at Madras College Rugby union players from Greenock Rugby union scrum-halves Scottish rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players