Hendersons Of Edinburgh

OBITUARY OF JAMES MCLAREN 'MAC' HENDERSON

SCOTLAND'S OLDEST RUGBY CAP BORN 1ST MAY 1907

James McLaren Henderson, Elphinstone School, Tranent, c1914

James McLaren 'Mac' Henderson, who was Scotland's oldest surviving rugby international and a member of the team that won the Triple Crown in 1933, has died aged 101. The doyen of Scottish rugby began an illustrious career in 1927, playing for his old school team, Edinburgh Academicals, the world's second oldest club whose home at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh is famed as the 'Cradle of rugby.'

As a young man he spent almost three years working on sheep stations in New Zealand, herding sheep on horseback and exploring the island's mountains and glaciers in his spare time. He also played regularly for Waipukurau Rugby Club returning to Scotland in 1930 and, while farming with his father at The Knowes near Dunbar, resumed his playing career with Accies.

James McLaren Henderson, c1915

There the wing forward was reunited with his talented rugby playing brothers, Ian and Ronnie, all going on to play for the Barbarians. Ronnie, was an international cricketer while Ian, a prop forward and the youngest of the brothers, played rugby for his country on 11 occasions between 1939 and 1948. Mac played for Accies from 1931 to 1933 when he was picked for Scotland, winning against Wales, England and Ireland. He always regretted that they did not have an opportunity to play against France, then embroiled in a dispute over their payment of players - professional rugby was something that 'Mac' frowned on all his life! It was, he argued, something that had done the game no good - 'then or now'. He was later to recall how the Irish match was postponed because of terrible weather conditions. Their boat was 14 hours late in arriving and they were, at one stage, feared lost in huge seas as they waited hours for conditions to improve so they could enter harbour. During that time a piano broke loose, threatening injury to some of the players! Dublin was deep in snow and there was no electricity when the team finally arrived.

The Scots returned on April 1st to pick up the Triple Crown.

James McLaren Henderson, 1936

After his international success he was picked for the Barbarians and it was while playing in their famous black and white hoops at Cardiff on their Easter tour that a serious ligament injury to his knee brought his playing career to an end just 20 minutes into the game.

His interest in and love of rugby, however, remained throughout his long life and he and his family were honoured by the SRU with a reception at Murrayfield to celebrate his 100th birthday.

He was also guest of honour at the Accies' 150th anniversary match with Barbarians at Raeburn Place in April last year when he was to recall playing with his brother Ronnie, the legendary G.P.S. Macpherson, and Ben Tod - and scoring a crucial try against Gala after which he had to intervene when one of the players set about the referee! "The wonderful winning of the Triple Crown is a fond memory as we beat Wales 11 - 3, England 3 - 0 and Ireland 8 - 6," he was to recall. "There was no chance of a Grand Slam that year for there was no match against France as some of the players were being paid."

Born on his father's farm at Elphinstone, East Lothian, 'Mac' was educated at the village school before becoming a 'boarder' at Edinburgh Academy where he first played schoolboy rugby. His father had moved to the tenanted farms of South Elphinstone and Buxley amidst the slag heaps of a mining area from Kincraig farm near Brechin, Angus in 1903. 'Mac' believed the family was descended from a long line of blacksmiths. His father was still farming at Elphinstone at the outbreak of the First World War. He sadly recalled how an army vet came and the family's two riding horses and a pony were commandeered to go to war. Years later he was still concerned that they might have met a terrible end at 'the front'. As a farmer, he was exempt from military service - and in any case, said he hated war.

It was during the depression years that the family moved to The Knowes on Lord Haddington's estate of Tyninghame near Dunbar and 'Mac' played a couple of seasons with the newly formed Dunbar RFC. The family were glad to be away from the dust and coal mines of Elphinstone and tenancies were easy to obtain - some estates found difficulty in letting farms at all. On leaving the Academy he worked for a short spell in the office of an Edinburgh firm of Chartered Accountants before leaving to concentrate on farming.

Like his father, also James and known in the farming community as the 'Cattle King' because of the large number of beasts he dealt in and fattened, 'Mac' became a fine stockman. James senior specialised in Blue-Greys and there were trips to Dublin over the years as well as visits by Irish cattle dealers to the Henderson farms. Mac went on some of these trips and took in the Dublin Horse Show and racing at The Curragh.

The beasts he tended were both his business and his hobby.

'Mac' then moved to Ugston near Haddington, bought with the aid of a £5,000 loan from an uncle, and later bought the neighbouring farms of Gateside, Spittalrigg, and Blinkbonny, at one stage farming some 1,100 acres. In 1947 Ugston was sold to his old friend and fellow rugby player Lt. Cmdr. Wilfred Crawford and the Henderson family moved to near-by Spittalrigg where he continued to run a herd of 80 milking cows, moved there when Gateside was sold in 1960.

Wedding day, 1937

He met his wife, Janet, while playing tennis at a friend's home at Gullane. She was the daughter of a Glasgow architect and the couple had a society wedding in Troon. Her brother, journalist George Millar, went on to be a hero of the French resistance and later wrote books 'Maquis' and 'The Horned Pigeon' about his wartime experiences behind enemy lines.

Under Janet's influence, 'Mac' became one of the first farmers in Scotland to recognise the importance of organic vegetables. A near-vegetarian, she was a great believer in healthy food and soon they were producing compost-grown herbs and vegetables in the 1950's. The couple opened the first farm food shop in Edinburgh in 1962, also delivering their produce throughout the Capital.

1940 with a gun!

The business expanded and a year later they opened Henderson's Salad Table below the shop in Hanover Street, and a wine bar followed managed by sons Nicholas and Oliver along with Peter and daughter Catherine. It is still run by the latter three while brother Nicholas owns the popular Whighams Wine Cellars in the West End. Eldest son, Andrew still runs Spittalrig which has changed much since Mac's day, with no stock.

Mac Henderson, 95th birthday

Sadly Mac was predeceased by his wife who caught an infection after joining her daughter Catherine on a visit to South-East Asia. She died on her return, refusing to be treated by doctors because of her belief in natural cures.

The couple had seven children, Andrew, John (deceased) Sara, Peter, Nicholas, Catherine and Oliver - 15 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. On his retirement from farming shortly after the death of his wife, 'Mac', a keen golfer in his younger days, lived for a time in Gullane before moving to a flat in Haddington.

First and foremost a family man, Mac delighted in his grandchildren and made frequent visits to daughter Sara and her children in France. His secret of longevity, he always said, was 'All things in moderation, fresh air, exercise and avoiding too much stress.' Despite failing eyesight and hearing, he battled successfully with the local authority, campaigning to have pedestrian crossings installed on the busy streets of both Haddington and Gullane for the benefit of other pensioners.

Only last year 'Mac' and Richard Demarco opened the Janet Henderson Gallery in Henderson's in memory of the founder of the internationally known, and loved vegetarian restaurant, bistro, deli and art galleries.

The fighting spirit that stood him in such good stead on the rugby pitch lived on to the end!