I shake John Arthur’s hand and congratulate a wonderful Scottish victory.
“This match will go down in history.”, I said.
“I agree, we hope it is the first of many.”, said John.
“There was an argument over our second try. I knocked the ball forward over the English line and fell on it. They were bursting with anger. This is not allowed under their rules, fortunately, the umpire uses our rules.”, said John.
We both chuckle. England had no idea rugby had flourished in Scotland and had not expected such a challenge.
We walk over to Francis Moncrieff and congratulate Scotland’s leader, who is beaming after a hundred minutes of dramatic rugby.
I ask my final question.
“Do you know the man speaking to the English Captain?”, I said.
“His name is Edward Alfred Fortis.”, said Francis, “He has a successful business based in Sheffield and expanded to Edinburgh 10 years ago.”
The penny drops, I had assumed Carey & Fortis was a Scottish business.
“He keenly follows rugby and football.”, said Francis and walks over to commiserate the English team.
I explain to James, “Underestimating your opponent leads to defeat, just as the English have found today. We need to learn from this.”
We head back to the office on this fine Monday evening. There is work to be done.
———————————- © Graeme Brown 2019 ————————————-
The Hampden Collection 