Looking into the history of Scottish Olympic gold medal winners recently, I was sidetracked by the life of Launceston Elliot, who won gold at the very first Olympics in 1896 for the single-handed lift. Although the wrestler and strong man is generally regarded as Scottish because of his family background, and is in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, he never lived in Scotland.
He was born in 1874 in the small Indian town of Kaladgi, now in Karnataka but at that time under the Bombay Presidency; his father was magistrate and collector there. The town is currently under threat of being submerged because of the Almatti Dam project, but that is another story.
Elliot came to England as a teenager when his father retired, and travelled under his own steam to compete at Athens. His life is well told in the Oxford Dictionary of Biography (click for link).
He ran a farm called Highfield at Mottingham in Kent, but when he (or rather his father) hit financial problems in 1903 he was forced to cash in on his strength and turned professional. He got involved in product endorsement, and his name appeared next to adverts for Cadbury's Cocoa: "I find nothing so refreshing and nourishing after a severe feat of strength".
He also went on the stage, and this took him to Scotland, probably for the first time. He made an 'important appearance and first engagement' at Aberdeen in August 1903.
He took his act as far as South America, but returned to Scotland in 1908. The 'magnificently developed and proportioned British Hercules' performed twice nightly at the Palace Theatres in Aberdeen and Dundee, part of a nationwide chain of music halls. What tickled me was the advert for his show on Saturday 8 February 1908, which was 'Under the Patronage of the Aberdeen Football Club'. Quite why the football club should have gone into the music hall business is not explained.
He left Britain behind for good in 1923 and died in Melbourne seven years later - his grave was refurbished a couple of years ago. Whether he can really be hailed as a Scottish sporting hero is open to question, given his limited connection to the country, but by all accounts he was a proud Scot.
He was certainly a fascinating character.
He was born in 1874 in the small Indian town of Kaladgi, now in Karnataka but at that time under the Bombay Presidency; his father was magistrate and collector there. The town is currently under threat of being submerged because of the Almatti Dam project, but that is another story.
Elliot came to England as a teenager when his father retired, and travelled under his own steam to compete at Athens. His life is well told in the Oxford Dictionary of Biography (click for link).
He ran a farm called Highfield at Mottingham in Kent, but when he (or rather his father) hit financial problems in 1903 he was forced to cash in on his strength and turned professional. He got involved in product endorsement, and his name appeared next to adverts for Cadbury's Cocoa: "I find nothing so refreshing and nourishing after a severe feat of strength".
He also went on the stage, and this took him to Scotland, probably for the first time. He made an 'important appearance and first engagement' at Aberdeen in August 1903.
He took his act as far as South America, but returned to Scotland in 1908. The 'magnificently developed and proportioned British Hercules' performed twice nightly at the Palace Theatres in Aberdeen and Dundee, part of a nationwide chain of music halls. What tickled me was the advert for his show on Saturday 8 February 1908, which was 'Under the Patronage of the Aberdeen Football Club'. Quite why the football club should have gone into the music hall business is not explained.
He left Britain behind for good in 1923 and died in Melbourne seven years later - his grave was refurbished a couple of years ago. Whether he can really be hailed as a Scottish sporting hero is open to question, given his limited connection to the country, but by all accounts he was a proud Scot.
He was certainly a fascinating character.
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