William Lorn Kerr Cowie, Lord Cowie (born 1 June 1926) is a retired Scottish

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

and former Scotland international

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 ...

player.

Rugby union career

Amateur career

Cowie played rugby at

Fettes Fettes may refer to: * Fettes College, a private school in Edinburgh, Scotland * , a German hip-hop group * Fettesian-Lorettonian Club, Sports Club People with the surname * Christopher Fettes (born 1937), English-born Irish teacher and social act ...

where he played

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He attended

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

after Fettes but his studies were interrupted by WWII. In Glasgow, Cowie played and captained

Kelvinside-West Kelvinside-West is a former rugby union team that played their home games at Balgray Playing Fields, Glasgow, Scotland. Kelvinside-West was a short-lived rugby union club based on the merger of Kelvinside Academicals and West of Scotland. His ...

after the 2nd world war. Kelvinside-West was a short term club merger fix for a post-war player shortage and as numbers increased the constituent clubs of

Kelvinside Academicals Kelvinside Academicals is a former rugby union team that played their home games at Balgray Playing Fields, Glasgow, Scotland. The team was founded in 1888 by former pupils of the Kelvinside Academy. The team no longer exists. In 1982 it merg ...

and West of Scotland once again went their own ways. When that happened Cowie played for West of Scotland. His legal work took him to Edinburgh and Cowie then played for

Edinburgh Wanderers Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfiel ...

Provincial career

Starting off in Glasgow with

, Cowie first represented Glasgow District and played for them against Edinburgh District in the Inter-City match. Cowie played for Edinburgh District in the Inter-City and the

Scottish Inter-District Championship The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats. The Scottish Rugby Union confirmed in January 2023 that the Scottish In ...

. He played for Edinburgh in the

1954–55 Scottish Inter-District Championship The 1954–55 Scottish Inter-District Championship was a rugby union competition for Scotland's district teams. This season saw the second formal Scottish Inter-District Championship. The district sides selected were Glasgow District, Edinbu ...

match against the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. He is one of the few players of the era to play for both Glasgow District and Edinburgh District.

International career

He was capped for once in 1953. He played in the Five Nations match against England at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

on 21 March that year. In his rugby career he played as a No.8.

Law career

Cowie became a Senator of the College of Justice in 1977. He joined the Advisory Faculty of Advisers in Edinburgh in 1952, becoming an Advisory Depute in the Crown Office Scotland staying there till 1967. He was made

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1967. He reprised his role as Advisory Depute from 1969-77. He became a Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, staying in the role from 1977–94. He then became a Judge of the Court of Appeal, Botswana from 1995–98.

References

1926 births Living people Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Edinburgh Wanderers RFC players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Kelvinside-West players Glasgow District (rugby union) players West of Scotland FC players Rugby union players from Glasgow Rugby union number eights Senators of the College of Justice {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub