The world's first rugby sevens tournament

The world's first rugby sevens tournament was played at the Greenyards, on the 28th of April, 1883.

When it comes to 'firsts' as in the first occurrence of an event, why is it that people use the term first-ever? You'd be forgiven for thinking that the suffix is superfluous, but maybe it's used to avoid having to write “it was the first 'such and such' to take place on [insert date].” One such event, which took place on Saturday, the 28th of April, 1883, was the world's first rugby sevens competition. So there you go, the game at which the likes of Fiji and New Zealand now excel was invented, created, dreamt up, initiated – whatever you like – by a player from Melrose Football Club. Maybe the lack of player numbers, a contributory reason behind the nation's lack of rugby success in recent years, had also been a factor in the birth of seven-a-side rugby back in 1883? Had Melrose been unable to field a full team of fifteen on that Saturday afternoon? Nope, the incentive behind Ned Haig's innovative new game wasn't

The Battle of Dunbar

The Battle of Dunbar was fought on the 27th of April, 1296.

There have been two battles called 'The Battle of Dunbar' and to distinguish between them, they are referred to as 'Dunbar 1' and 'Dunbar 2'. The second is also referred to as “Cromwell's greatest victory” and could perhaps be called “Leslie's greatest defeat” and the first, which concerns this post, could also count amongst a list of someone's 'greatest defeats' – the Scots didnae win!

The history of battles is never impartial, with omissions and exaggerations being rife, especially in contemporary reports. The historic record often depends on whether the winners or the losers wrote the report. If the losers left anyone behind capable of writing up the events, that usually means some truth can be gleaned from studying both versions. However, a common misconception concerning Dunbar 1, namely that Robert the Bruce fought on the side of the Norman-English on the 27th of April, 1296, has nothing to do with partiality. The error derives from

James Craig and Edinburgh's New Town

James Craig's winning entry for the development of The New Town of Edinburgh was announced on the 17th of April, 1766.

It's hard to accept that the Edinburgh of the Enlightenment was a cesspit, but back in 1766, twenty years after Culloden, it stank. You might say, “It stank to high-heaven!” and you'd be right, after a manner of speaking, because the only way to avoid the stench was to live 'in the heavens' – that is on the upper floors of the tightly packed, high-rise tenements, where the air was a little less pungent.

Back in the mid-18th Century, Edinburgh consisted of what we call the Old Town, the area well favoured by tourists today, which sprawled along the spine of volcanic rock between Holyrood House and the Castle. At that time, Edinburgh was

Captain Sir James Clark Ross

Captain Sir James Clark Ross, Antartic explorer, was born on the 15th of April, 1800.

James Clark Ross shouldn't be confused with his equally famous uncle, John Ross, both of whom gained the honour of a knighthood and both of whom are famous Arctic / Antarctic explorers. There was a connection, though, as the former was the latter's nephew, being the son of John's brother, George. Albeit James Clark (not James Clerk; that was Maxwell) was born in London, his father and his uncle, of course, were of good Scottish stock, being the sons of the Rev. Andrew Ross, Minister of Inch, near Stranraer. Apart from exploring the polar regions and being prefixed Sir, James and his uncle shared another attribute, which was that they both joined the navy at a tender age, at least by modern standards. Uncle John Ross joined up in 1786, when he was nine, for goodness sake and James Ross, the nephew, entered the Royal Navy in 1812, when he was

Blackwood's Magazine

The Edinburgh Monthly Magazine was first published on the 1st of April, 1817.

If you've heard of Blackwood's Magazine or 'Maga' as it came to be called, you may not know that it began its literary life as the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine. It did, indeed. The Edinburgh Monthly Magazine was published by Scottish publisher and editor, William Blackwood, but, within a year, it took the name of its eponymous publisher.

On the 1st of April, 1817, the very first number of the Edinburgh Monthly Magazine appeared. The editors of the first six issues were James Cleghorn and Thomas Pringle, however, those two lasted a mere six months before Blackwood chucked 'em out. Blackwood brought in a chappie called John Wilson (who wrote under the pseudonym of Christopher North), and John Gibson Lockhart and in October 1817, re-launched under the title

The 'Wembley Wizards' of 1928

On the 31st of March, 1928, Scotland beat England by five goals to one, at Wembley.

Scotland doesn't have much to celebrate in the way of sporting success, particularly of late, which means the early years of the 21st Century. Indeed, it hasn't had much to cheer about that amounts to a track record, ever. Oh yes, there have been many stirring individual successes, but on the national, representative team front, there's been very little to gloat about, in any sport. From Eric Liddell to Alan Wells; Ian Stewart to Liz McColgan; Ecurie Ecosse to Jim Clark; Aberdeen FC winning the Cup Winners' Cup, against the odds, in '83; from Graham Obree and the benighted man of Hoy to [add your own, here... ___ ], we have had our fair share of stellar moments.

Sadly, against that pantheon of achievement, there are

William Hunter, pioneering obstetrician and anatomist

William Hunter, pioneering obstetrician and anatomist, died on the 30th of March, 1783.

William Hunter was a Scottish anatomist and physician who became one of the leaders in obstetric medicine in 18th Century London. He is recognised as one of the giants of medicine, a pioneer of the care that women receive during childbirth and as such, one of the 'founding fathers' of obstetrics, which, before Hunter, had been the domain of the midwife. Hunter's learned skill and methods helped elevate the discipline to a respected practice in medicine. Of course, in the 18th Century, the idea of a woman being involved in anything more complicated than mere nursing would've been scandalous, so only gentlemen had the opportunity, inclination and standing to practice such things. And practice is the key word, because