Some Major Events of the Fifties
(and their effect on Scotland)
(and their effect on Scotland)
1. Given that in 2014, we are asked to vote on the matter of independence for Scotland, it is appropriate that the first entry here is about the Scottish Covenant.
This was a petition to the UK government asking for home rule. John McCormick's idea for a petition first saw the light of day in 1930 but it was not until 1949 that a formal petition for home rule was written. There had of course been earlier attempts in the 19th century, but the Prime Minister William Gladstone, was too caught up in the events in Ireland to give much space to Scotland's demands.
The petition for home rule circulated around Scotland and gained around 2 million signatures by 1950. Now given that Scotland's population, including children, was only 5.1 million, there seems to have been an awful lot of support for home rule, even then. The covenant appears to have been entirely ignored by Westminster.
2. 25 December 1950: Scottish Nationalists steal the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey in London, where it has been kept since Edward I took it from Scone in 1286.
3. 2014 is the year of the Commonwealth Games and they are being hosted by Glasgow. Couch potatoes like myself nevertheless hope that Scotland will do well. Here is some info of a young swimmer in the Games of 1950.
2. 25 December 1950: Scottish Nationalists steal the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey in London, where it has been kept since Edward I took it from Scone in 1286.
3. 2014 is the year of the Commonwealth Games and they are being hosted by Glasgow. Couch potatoes like myself nevertheless hope that Scotland will do well. Here is some info of a young swimmer in the Games of 1950.
Elenor Gordon wins first Scottish Commonwealth gold 1950
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© SCRAN
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Helen Orr Gordon, or, as she became known, Elenor Gordon, was born in Glasgow in 1933 and, sixteen years later, became Scotland's youngest ever gold medallist when she won the 220-yard breaststroke in the then-called Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand.
This was the highlight of an illustrious career which has guaranteed her a place in the annals of the country's sporting history.
Gordon, the daughter of a professional lifeguard, set off on a six-week voyage to New Zealand to compete in the precursor to the Commonwealth Games accompanied by a chaperone because of her tender age.
In addition to her top-of-the-podium finish in the breaststroke, she was also an integral member of the Scots' relay team which picked up the bronze medal.
From a young age Gordon had been a prominent member of the remarkable Motherwell-based swimming team which trained under the tutelage of coach David Crabb. Because of her early promise, Gordon was earmarked as a potential successor to the domestically successful Nancy Riach, who had dominated the pre-War British female swimming classes.
Riach had been one of the country's brightest hopes in the pool,holding 28 Scottish and British records in 1945, until, at the age of only 20, she collapsed after the heats of the 1947 European Games in Monte Carlo, and shortly after died of polio.
Alongside Gordon and Riach, the Motherwell club also contained Jack Wardrop, who would go on to break four swimming world records during the 1950s and Cathie Gibson, a bronze medal winner in the 1948 Olympics, who once defeated Nancy Riach over a mile race in Dundee – Riach swimming freestyle and Gibson swimming backstroke!
Gordon's success in 1950 ensured that she as in the British team for the Helsinki Olympic Games two years later. On this occasion she was up against swimmers from the relatively new Butterfly class and, in a final tainted by controversy, she finished third behind two swimmers using the faster butterfly technique.
Her bronze medal was Britain's only swimming medal in the entire games and cemented her place as the country's number one competitor in the water.
She returned to Commonwealth competition in 1954, travelling this time to Vancouver in Canada, and again left with two medals. Once again she triumphed in the 220-yard breaststroke, confirming her position as the outstanding sportswoman of her class.
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© SCRAN
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The Scottish team once again competed in the relay event and this time took the gold medal. By this time Gordon was the Scots queen of the pool and she travelled to Melbourne for the 1956 Olympic Games with the hopes of the nation behind her.
Unfortunately in the games, which were overshadowed by world events such as the Suez Canal problem, the USSR's invasion of Hungary and a Chinese refusal to attend, she was unable to replicate her successes in Helsinki, Auckland and Vancouver.
Gordon may never have achieved the mainstream success of other successful Scots medallists, such as Liz McColgan or Yvonne Murray, but she is undoubtedly fully deserving of being considered as one of the country's top female competitors.
