Stuart MacRae could claim a long Highland lineage but ended up starring against his ancestral home.
His mother Grace Stewart was born in Harris and said to be a traditional Highland lady who could speak Gaelic fluently and play Highland music.But Grace's Perthshire father Donald was a land manager - known to islanders not for hospitality, but eviction and clearance.On his father's side the MacRaes of Conchra had once fought for the Jacobites but by the late 18th Century were part of the Earl of Seaforth's regiment serving the British Empire in India.
It was a pattern which meant MacRae was born in 1855, not by the shores of Loch Duich, but in colonial Bengal. Rather than seek glory on the battlefield, he would win recognition for his sporting prowess, turning his hand to golf - including the founding of Newark Golf Club in Nottinghamshire. He also played rugby, cricket, tennis, squash - and football.
says: "It wasn't a written rule, it seems to be a social rule, that anybody who was born outwith the British Isles was considered to be a son or daughter of the Empire.England v Scotland in Sheffield in 1883, the first time MacRae played in the fixture Mr Whittle said: "MacRae played in the centre of the three half-backs, he was the first centre-half to have played international football.""The replacement was James Forrest, who was effectively the first openly professional player to play for England," says Mr Whittle.
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