Royal High School Former Pupils was a former

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 ...

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 Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

, the second oldest national governing body in the world. The original club was disbanded in 2003 when it merged with Corstorphine RFC 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 and Barnton RFC. 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 Merchiston ( ) is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Location Merchiston Avenue is 1.3 miles Southwest of the West End of Edinburgh's principal street, Princes Street. Other areas near Merchi ...

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. Nat Watt

Historically, RHSFP was much stronger, and produced players such as

Mark Coxon Morrison Mark Coxon Morrison (2 April 1877 – 10 May 1945) was a Scottish international rugby union footballer who captained both Scotland and the British and Irish Lions. Rugby Union career Amateur career Morrison played for Royal HSFP. He played ...

(sometimes considered the best Scottish captain ever, and a member of the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

), and Pringle Fisher.

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 Colin McLeod Telfer (born 26 February 1947, in Hawick)player profile
at scrum.com. Retrieved 15 F ...

nor Gordon Hunter ever played for them, though both worked in Edinburgh;

Ivan Tukalo Iwan Tukalo (born 5 March 1961) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. His regular playing position was Wing. Rugby Union career Amateur career The son of a Ukrainian father and Italian mother, Tukalo was educated at the Royal ...

left Royal High for Selkirk in the summer of 1983 after the club lost its First Division place.''"(Massie)

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

recalls being chosen for a Scottish XV against the British Army for a game at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1954, as the front row of a pack which contained three Macs, the others being Hugh McLeod and

Robert MacEwen Robert MacEwen (25 February 1928 – 28 August 2013) was a rugby union international who represented Scotland from 1954 to 1958. Early life Robert MacEwen was born in Oxford. Rugby union career MacEwen made his international debut on 9 Januar ...

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 Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

and Trinity Academicals for local talent.

Merger

The club merged with Corstorphine RFC in 2003 to form

Royal High Corstorphine RFC Royal High Corstorphine RFC is a former Edinburgh rugby union club, formed from the merger of the Royal HSFP and Corstorphine RFC. The merged club was dissolved in 2017 as two clubs:- Corstorphine Cougars and Royal HSFP. History Royal High ...

. 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

. 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

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 Langholm Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Langholm RFC, in Langholm, Scotland. The Langholm Sevens was the last of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1908. Held around the end of every April, the tournament is part ...

** Champions (3): 1949, 1953, 1960 *

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

** Champions (3): 1921, 1934, 1961 *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (18 ...

** Champions (3): 1914, 1938, 1962 *

Gala Sevens Gala Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Gala RFC, in Galashiels, Scotland. The Gala Sevens was the second of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1884, just behind the Melrose Sevens in 1883. Held around the start of eve ...

** 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 Peebles Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Peebles RFC, in Peebles, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Peebles Sevens began i ...

** 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 Oliver and Boyd was a British publishing and printing firm that traded from 1807 or 1808 until 1990.

, 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