A rugby hero from the south of Scotland is still helping schoolboys pay for university more than half a century after his death.
Arthur Smith was a brilliant mathematician who studied at the Universities of Glasgow and Cambridge, but he is remembered for his talent on the rugby field.
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He played such an important role in his debut for Scotland that the game went down in history as “Arthur’s Battle”.
Smith died of cancer in 1975 aged just 42, but children at his former school in Kirkcudbright still benefit from the legacy that bears his name.
According to details recently released by National Records of Scotland, Smith was born on January 23, 1933, at Upper Towers Farm, near Castle Douglas.
At the age of 20, while studying mathematics in Glasgow, he became the Scottish national long jump champion with a distance of 6.17m (20ft 3in).
After gaining a first-class degree, Smith completed a PhD in applied physics at the University of Cambridge between 1954 and 1957.
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It was there that his love for rugby was ignited and he played in the varsity games against rivals Oxford University.
Smith, who is tall and has speed as an asset, has played for several clubs including London Scottish, Barbarians, Edinburgh Wanderers and Ebbw Vale in South Wales.
Smith captained the British and Irish Lions in 1962 [Getty Images]
It was on his international debut that he played a key role in ending Scotland’s losing streak.
They had suffered 17 consecutive defeats, but on that day – February 5, 1955 – Scotland beat Wales 35-10 at Murrayfield.
He played such a crucial role on the right wing – scoring the goal in the victory – that the game became known as “Arthur’s Game”.
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His son Iain, 60, from Edinburgh, said he remembered sitting on his father’s knee and asking him to tell him stories about the game.
Smith (right) is a member of the Lions team against the Springboks in Durban in 1962 [Getty Images]
“He obviously exaggerates, so by the time he told me about his attempt, he had beaten at least 20 players, but I used to love that,” he said.
“When I finally saw it on the EMI newsreel, classic EMI, he got the ball and you saw him run about five yards and beat a tackle.
“It randomly cuts to the crowd cheering and then cuts back and you see him in the corner, but there’s nothing in between.”
This was the first of Smith’s 33 appearances for the national team and Smith would be selected for every international match he played until his retirement in 1962.
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He also captained Scotland on several occasions and participated in two British Lions tours in 1955 and 1962, when he was elected captain of the team.
At the time, he was the first Scottish captain of the British Lions since 1927, when David MacMyn from Kirkcudbright was captain.
Smith was playing for Ebbw Vale when he was elected Scotland captain in 1960 [Getty Images]
Smith had both brains and brawn and built a career in finance at several brokerage firms.
At the time of his death he was an executive at Edinburgh Fund Management.
He and his wife Judith lived in Wales and Newcastle before settling in Edinburgh in 1960.
Ian said his father was trying to “make more money for the family.”
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“He was at the forefront of using statistics to understand market movements to tell people what to do with their stocks,” he said.
“It seems obvious now, but at the time it was a new concept.”
Smith received his high school education at Kirkcudbright College, where pupils have benefited from a fund set up in his name since his death.
The Arthur Smith Memorial Fund provides financial support of up to £3,000 to students while studying in higher education.
Anthony Tuffery, headteacher of Kirkcudbright School, said students who applied would be provided with information about those being honored by the fund.
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It has helped numerous students over the years and efforts are underway to encourage more students to take advantage of it amid concerns the application and interview process could delay their progress.
Ian said the fund was originally set up by friends of his parents after his father died from cancer to support him, his two sisters Jacqueline and Joanna and his mother Judith.
He was often asked if he was tired of being called Arthur’s son, but he laughed it off.
“It didn’t do me any harm at all and I got a lot of free drinks and good chats out of it,” he said.
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And, like his sisters, he is proud to see his father’s legacy, which led to excellence in athletics, academics and business, live on at the school.
