Ian Mitchell Book Review - The Celebrated Captain Barclay - Scottish Sporting Hero
The Celebrated Captain Barclay: Sport, Money and Fame in Regency Britain
by Peter Radford. 15.99. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7472-7222-0
Ian looks at the feats of an early Scottish sporting hero.
Those who think that the commercialisation of sport is a recent phenomenon would benefit from reading this book, which shows that activities such as boxing, cricket, horse-racing and walking - were big business in Regency Britain. While the country was at war with Napoleon huge numbers of people from all walks of life gambled large sums of money on the outcome of sporting events.
Captain Robert Barclay Allardice was the laird of Ury near Stonehaven. He was enormously strong and could lift an 18 stone person with one hand, had a huge appetite, consuming an 8lb leg of mutton to the bone in 10 minutes, and was also addicted to gambling on sport. In 1800 when his income from his gaming and its associated lifestyle threatened to submerge him until he carried out the act which made him not only rich, but the most famous sportsman of his day. In 1809 Barclay wagered that he would walk 1,000 miles winnings up to 16,000 guineas). Such a feat might be deemed hard enough, but Barclays stipulation was that he would do it at a mile every hour thus doing without any rest of more than an hour of so for almost 6 weeks. He went into a very modern form of preparation for this event, dieting and exercising under expert trainers, and tens of thousands gathered to see him complete the challenge of 12 July on Newmarket Heath. So important was this event that the course was lit by gas light at a time when this was a rare novelty on streets.
After completing this Greatest Sporting Event Ever, Barclay was a national celebrity and he engaged in further marathons of pedestrianism as well as becoming a boxing promoter, 20,000 people turning up for one bout he organised, which made him 10,000 richer. But Barclay spent his money as fast as he made it and at one point was contemplating selling his estate, only he was so inefficient at estate management that he could not find the title deeds. While his physical powers were astounding, almost incredible, Barclay's mental and moral capacities were not, to the dismay of his largely Quaker relatives. He was a typical rumbustious gentleman of the period who drank, swore, got into fights, was suspected of cheating at some of his sporting events and narrowly escaped prosecution for a death at one of the fights he organised. Though admired by his crowd of cronies his boorish behaviour made him many enemies and probably prevented him embarking on a political career.
This book shows the incredible amount of walking people did two hundred years ago, either for enjoyment or for commercial wagers, and how astonishingly popular walking was as a spectator sport. The work is also interesting in giving details of the life in Scotland of a Regency laird, and Barclay's attempts (often failures) to go into cattle breeding, whisky distilling and the coaching business. But although a failure as a businessman, Barclay is undoubtedly among the Pantheon of Scotland's all-time sporting greats.
Ian R. MitchellArt Prints shop | Flathunting | Business Listings | Property Listings | Classified Ads | Pinboard
