Roderick MacLennan, a Gaelic speaker from Glasgow capped by England

THERE have been many English-born players who have represented Scotland over the years, but the Scot who has worn the lilywhite shirt and the red rose is a rarer breed. Rarer yet is a Glasgow-born Gaelic speaker, who was in the England ranks on the day that Scotland marked the official opening of Murrayfield Stadium by clinching a first-ever Grand Slam.

Scotland’s Invincibles of 1925 were made of “corrugated iron” according to the late Bill McLaren and included such legends as G.P.S. Macpherson, Dan Drysdale, Herbert Waddell, Jimmy Ireland, John Bannerman and winger Ian Smith, whose record of 24 tries in the Championship was surpassed only last year by Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll. And on 21 March, 1925, that Scotland defeated England 14-11 to clinch that historic Grand Slam.

Facing them that day was an England team into which new faces had been blooded that season. Those new men included Roderick Ross Forrest MacLennan – the clue is in the name – who was born in Glasgow in 1903.

The English pack also included Duncan Cameron Cumming, another with strong Scottish roots. Both ended up playing for England after playing for English schools and clubs, and in those days club loyalty often dictated which nation you represented. Changed days now when birth certificates proving eligibility must be produced, but back then such niceties were often ignored – three of the Scottish backs had been born furth these borders.

Maclennan’s father was an officer in the Gordon Highlanders and came from Croy in Nairn, and Maclennan himself attended Aberdeen Grammar School before his family moved to London where he was a pupil at Merchant Taylors’ School. He was an all-round sportsman, becoming the public school middleweight boxing champion before playing rugby for London Scottish, Middlesex and England, for whom he won three caps.

Cumming was proud of his Scottish roots, though he was educated at Giggleswick School. He was still at Cambridge University when making his England debut in the 1925 match at Murrayfield, and he won only one more cap. After the match, famously won by Waddell’s late drop goal, both teams and the committee enjoyed refreshments and dinner together.

In 1990, Jimmy Ireland vividly recalled to sportswriter Brian Meek that both of England’s ‘Scots’ spent some of the post-match celebrations learning Gaelic songs from John Bannerman, later Lord Bannerman.

Maclennan became a businessman in Northern Ireland before being called up for military service. His activities during the Second World War are shrouded in mystery as he served in the Intelligence Corps. He was demobbed with the honorary rank of captain in December, 1945, giving up his regular commission due to an unspecified disability. He retired from business in 1965 to live in Croy and became a county councillor and an elder of the local kirk. Maclennan died in January, 1986, aged 82.

Cumming graduated from Cambridge where he was a rugby ‘blue. Joining the Sudan administration, during the Second World War he became a General and was responsible for supervising the post-war union of Eritrea and Ethiopia, for which he was knighted. He died in 1979, aged 76.