Royal High School FP
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Royal High School Former Pupils was a former Edinburgh rugby union club; but the club was re-formed as Barnton RFC and is now known as Royal High RFC. Royal HSFP was a founder member of the Scottish Rugby Union, the second oldest national governing body in the world. The original club was disbanded in 2003 when it merged with
Corstorphine RFC Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...
but the merged club
Royal High Corstorphine Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
broke back into two clubs in 2017. These new clubs were known as
Corstorphine Cougars Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scotland, Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the cit ...
and
Barnton RFC Royal High School Former Pupils was a former Edinburgh rugby union club; but the club was re-formed as Barnton RFC and is now known as Royal High RFC. Royal HSFP was a founder member of the Scottish Rugby Union, the second oldest national gove ...
. Barnton RFC was the start of an attempt to revive the old Royal HSFP side. The club is now known as Royal High RFC.


History


School

The Royal High School is a school in Edinburgh with origins traceable to the 12th c at the Abbey of Holyrood, subsequently run by the City of Edinburgh. The school gives its name to High School Yards off Infirmary Street, where it was located before moving to the familiar Thos. Hamilton classical Greek building on Calton Hill at Regent Road which it occupied until July 1968, when it moved to new premises at East Barnton Avenue in the western side of Edinburgh near Davidson's Mains. Coeducation commenced in Sept 1976 and the school remains the Local Authority school for that area to date. The history is documented by Ross in a definitive work, William C. A. Ross, the Royal High School (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1934)


Rugby Union in the school

The Royal High School was playing a form of "football" by 1810 (the word "football" here referring to a handling code, rather than one like
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
). The Royal High played the first inter-school match with Merchiston in 1858. The Royal High School's rugby club was formed in 1868. These clubs were pioneered by former and attending pupils, who originally played their games together. Among the celebrated student founders of cricket and rugby football at the school were Taverner Knott and Nat Watt, who undertook their labours with the encouragement of Thomson Whyte, reportedly the first master to take a serious interest in sport at the school. The sporting clubs were formally integrated into the school body when, in 1900, at the request of the club captains, two masters undertook the management of cricket and rugby.


Foundation of Former Pupils side

The Royal High School Former Pupils club was formally organised in 1868, and was a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (future SRU) in 1873. Historically, RHSFP was much stronger, and produced players such as Mark Coxon Morrison (sometimes considered the best Scottish captain ever, and a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame), and
Pringle Fisher Pringle is a Scottish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aileen Pringle (1895–1989), American stage and film actress * Alan Pringle (born 1952), American football player * Alexander Pringle (politician) (1791–1857), Scottish ...
. Mark Morrison was capped 1896, and went to win twenty-three caps. Angus Buchanan of Royal High School FP, was the first person to score a try in international rugby. :"''Royal High, also a force in the nineteenth century, have had a similar history. They have continued to produce good players, but seldom good teams. They had a brief spell in the First Division, but never looked like establishing themselves. In recent years, the link between school and club has been broken... Royal H.S.F.P. have recently found difficulty in retaining the best players to come out of the Royal High School. Neither Colin Telfer nor Gordon Hunter ever played for them, though both worked in Edinburgh; Ivan Tukalo left Royal High for Selkirk in the summer of 1983 after the club lost its First Division place.''"(Massie) Bill McLaren recalls being chosen for a Scottish XV against the British Army for a game at Murrayfield on 15 February 1947, which contained two RHSFP players: T.P.L. " Tom" M'Glashan and D.T. McLean.McLaren, p. 37 Tom M'Glashan, was being still selected for Scotland in 1954, as the front row of a pack which contained three Macs, the others being Hugh McLeod and Robert MacEwen.


Sevens tournament

Royal HSFP hosted its first rugby sevens tournament in 1920.


Grounds

Due to the historic association with the Abbey of Holyrood, the school had the use of two pitches at Holyrood, adjacent to the Place of Holyroodhouse and conveniently situated beneath the school on Regent Road. Five rugby pitches were maintained at Jock's Lodge, where the RHS 'Preparatory Department' was relocated in the 1930s. On relocation to Barnton in 1968, pitches were then available adjacent to the new building. Jock's Lodge is located on the east side of the city, on the opposite side from the school's present location. This put them in competition with Portobello RFC,
Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...
, Leith and
Trinity Academicals Trinity Academicals RFC, nicknamed "Trinity" or "Trinity Accies" is a rugby union club based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Trinity Academy, Edinburgh. Trinity Accies competes in the . History Early days ...
for local talent.


Merger

The club merged with
Corstorphine RFC Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...
in 2003 to form Royal High Corstorphine RFC. However, the merger was short-lasting and the new club itself broke up in 2017.


Barnton RFC

A new club was formed from the old RHC Cougars side and given associate membership by the Scottish Rugby Union. Barnton RFC is an attempt to revive the Royal HSFP club.


Royal High RFC

The club has now reverted its roots and is now rebranded under the similar name Royal High RFC.


Notable players


Scotland internationalists

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented Scotland at full international level.


Edinburgh District

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented Edinburgh District at provincial level.


British and Irish Lions

The following former Royal HSFP players have represented the British and Irish Lions. John Barr


Honours

* Langholm Sevens ** Champions (3): 1949, 1953, 1960 * Melrose Sevens ** Champions (3): 1921, 1934, 1961 * Hawick Sevens ** Champions (3): 1914, 1938, 1962 * Gala Sevens ** Champions (1): 1919 *
Jed-Forest Sevens Jed-Forest Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Jed-Forest RFC, in Jedburgh, Scotland. The Jed-Forest Sevens was the fourth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1894, after the Melrose Sevens (1883), Gala Sevens (1884) ...
** Champions (2): 1907, 1947 * Peebles Sevens ** Champions (2): 1946, 1975 * Broughton Sevens ** Champions (1): 2022


References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Ironside, Robert & Thorburn, Alexander M.C. Thorburn, ''Royal High School Rugby Football Club: Centenary 1868-1968'' (Edinburgh, Royal High School, 1968) * Jones, J.R. ''Encyclopedia of Rugby Football'' (Robert Hale, London, 1958) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; ) * Ross, William C. A. ''The Royal High School'' (Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1934) * http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12385773.Pringle_Fisher/


External links


Royal High School Club: RHSFP Rugby Club History 1868-2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal HSFP RFC Scottish rugby union teams Rugby union in Edinburgh Sports teams in Edinburgh Rugby clubs established in 1868 Rugby clubs established in 2017 Sports clubs disestablished in 2003 1868 establishments in Scotland 2017 establishments in Scotland 2003 disestablishments in Scotland