Throughout the world this week wherever Bluenoses gather silence has
fallen and glasses have been lifted to toast the memory of a human
dynamo who made friends wherever he went. The cheeky chappy is no more.
Laughter and smiles seem to sum the man up - since he passed away the
phone calls I’ve had have been interspersed with a few tears from grown
men but most of the conversation has been about the pranks Tam got up
to and the work he did to put something back into life. Others take
and think of themselves first - Tam’s heart was generous, he put his
hand in his pocket time and again to support the causes he believed in,
to help a pal down on his luck or just to ensure he and those around
him had a good time.
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Tam with Super Ally
He made it to the the NARSA Convention in Las Vegas last month and
enjoyed himself amongst his friends and, despite his illness, having a
look at one of the wonders of the world in a helicopter flight down and
around the Grand Canyon accompanied by a long-time pal.
The Good Book tells us that man should live for three score and ten
years - Tam only got to 56 before he was taken from us by cancer.
That’s a tragedy but those were years he crammed with fun and those of
us who have the good fortune to meet him are all the richer for doing
so.
The first time I met him in the flesh I was due to spend the a night or
two in Detroit and ended up spending a week. In that week his family
were joined with house guests from Scotland, Canada and a gay
African-American barman who worked for Tam and who had got chucked out
of his flat! His hospitality never failed whether he had a full
wallet or an empty one.
Although he died in the town of Mount Clemens outside Detroit Tam’s
roots were in Scotland. He emigrated as a young man to Canada but the
love of the Rangers and his native land first blossomed in his home
town of Bonnyrigg - indeed, his membership of the local Masonic lodge
and the friendship of his childhood pals remained constant and as
strong as his accent despite nearly forty years in North America.
Although he was generous Tam was no fool. Beneath the jolly exterior
there was a determination as hard as granite - he worked hard, he
played hard and he stayed loyal to his beliefs and his friends whatever
the circumstances.
Earlier this year I knew he was coming towards the end of his life but
I also knew he was tough enough to face the reality so I gave him a
call and asked him how he’d like to be remembered and if there was
anything he’d like especially to be mentioned.
He thought about it for a wee while and said he didn’t want to blow his
own trumpet or put words in my mouth but he’d like me to mention his
family and friends; his love of Rangers; and the faith that made him
such a keen member of the Orange and Masonic brotherhoods. These were
the things that were important to him and he’d like to be remembered
through them.
By the time Tam emigrated to Canada he’d already established himself as
a regular at Ibrox; he’d joined the Portobello True Blues Orange lodge
in Edinburgh and picked up his musical skills as a member of the
Cameronian Flute Band. These threads, and his Masonic membership, were
to weave in and out of his life. And it shouldn’t be forgotten he was
the product of a mixed marriage and he chose his beliefs rather than
following them by rote.
In Canada he met his wife Jane, also a Scottish emigrant, while working
in his first job in an aircraft factory. They were to have many happy
years together - be blessed by two sons Andrew and Billy - and see two
grandchildren born. He was proud of his lads and the way they turned
out - “they got minds of their own and haven’t let me down.”
He moved around southern Ontario a fair bit - in each town he joined
in or started a Rangers club; joined the local Orange lodge and
visited the Masons. In Toronto he played with the Prince of Orange
band; in Cambridge he set up the Crown Defenders band. It was a
pattern of activity he was to keep up throughout his adult life.
Tam saw the strength of the support Rangers had in Canada and in the
early 90s set about building the North American Rangers Supporters
Association from the network of contacts he had. In those early years
Tam’s fax machine fairly hummed and copies of newspaper reports were
sent out all over Canada and America along with exhortations to little
groups of Bears all over the place - Tam was the sort of guy who if he
didn’t known someone in Montana would know someone in Wyoming or the
Dakotas.
He put people together, encouraged them, gave them something to aim
for, he understood the love for the club and knew that if he could find
someone to start a club in the wilds of Manitoba or Saskatchewan there
would be others who would eventually follow and slowly the club would
build up. He nurtured those contacts - let them know about events
they could travel to, encouraged them when others let them down,
ensured that if they went home to Scotland a ticket for a game would be
waiting for them.
As satellite TV coverage became easier to get - through the efforts of
himself, Stuart Martin and others more clubs started. The internet
made things easier for Bears to make contact. But there’s no doubt
that it was Tam’s vision that made NARSA - that and the hundreds of
hours on the phone, writing letters and travel. Along the way he came
across Bluenoses like himself who joined in and made it the credit to
the club it is today. The success of NARSA was a source of great pride
to him.
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Tam with fellow Bears at Ground Zero, New York City
Time and again he’d travel home arranging his trips to maximise the
number of games he could take in. He’d often just arrive up outside
Ibrox without any notice. He could have sat in the director’s box
every game if he wanted but he enjoyed it most when he was there with
his old pal Pops - the two remained friends since childhood. Sometimes
he’d phone and let me know he was over - other times he’d just grab a
cheap flight and arrive where I was selling the fanzine outside Ibrox
for a chat - once sporting a mad Russian hat after following Rangers to
Moscow on a whim.
A LOYAL LIFE
Tam love of an belief in the Orange Institution ran deep. In fact, he
said to me not long ago that whilst he couldn’t choose between the
Rangers and the Orange he did find the brotherhood of the Orange very
satisfying because it went to the fundamentals of his Christian faith
and his belief that not only was the Glorious Revolution a major
turning point in world history but it’s many facets brought together
his religious beliefs, his love of liberty and his love of the British
family of nations.
Throughout his time in North America he was a loyal servant of
Orangeism - he brought in new members, got old members to rejoin and
injected his sense of fun into everything he undertook and revitalised
the organisation in many towns and created a legacy that lasts
throughout Ontario and further afield.
In particular Tam had a great bond with the members of Lodge Mohawk.
The Mohawks had shown their loyalty to Britain by moving north after
the American War of Independence and many of their braves served the
Crown down the years. Tam said he felt very privileged to be taken
under the wing of Chief Red Dog and partake in their ceremonies -
particularly the highly emotional “Warrior Day” when those who had
fallen in battle were remembered.
THAT DAMN FLUTE!
Tam rarely travelled anywhere without his auld Orange flute. He’d
learned to play as lad and his repertoire went far beyond the usual
Orange standards. He had a fine range of Scots and Irish tunes and
often took the stage with local bands entertaining in pubs. Some of
his clients who attended the non-sectarian Saint Patrick’s Day
celebrations he ran in some of the bars he owned may never have known
or been happy about where he picked up his musical skills!
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Tam entertain the troops on the flute
LIVERPOOL AND CANADA
I think it’s fair to say Tam would like others to take up some of the
interests he developed - for their own enjoyment.
He was a tremendous fan of the people of Liverpool. He’d often say to
me how much he enjoyed the city and the people - “By God they know how
to have a party.” The verve of the Scousers married up entirely with
his sense of fun. It was a love affair with a city and it’s people
that lasted a lifetime. ‘Come down and enjoy yourself, there’s not a
city like it’ he’d say.
Tam had many passions - and Canadian history was one of them. He could
talk for hours on the subject of the early history of the country, the
formation of the Confederation, the wars with the French. He regarded
Canada as the jewel in the British crown - a nation with all the
benefits of Britishness but without being hamstrung with the class
division and conservatism of ‘back home.’ The fact that many of it’s
greatest figures and institutions had Orange and Masonic backgrounds
was simply a bonus for him!
GETTING BY
Tam crammed a couple of careers into his time. From early days in
factories to six years serving as an officer in the Metro Toronto
Police to running bars and clubs to making, losing and then making
another fortune in the construction industry.
I can’t help but get the feeling that earning a living simply got in
Tam’s way and stopped him spending even more time on his outside
interests! He turned his hand to many things. He had his ups and
downs but he learned from them. He made a good deal of money importing
window frames and sheet glass for the cladding of skyscrapers. Tam
once said to me he learnt more about himself and friendship when his
first glass business went down than in anything he’d ever done. He’d
felt he was on the crest of a wave and was enjoying the high life. But
it was the same old familiar faces who helped him when things went
wrong and his new friends disappeared.
In America he found the land of opportunity - where previous failure
didn’t go against him, where the people were as open and welcoming as
the Scousers and the Scots. As with most folk he had tough times but
in America he enjoyed new success running bars and going back into the
glass business.
A MAN’S MAN
A character like Tam will inevitably out with some people from time to
time. One lad who lives in Toronto did so many years ago. I think it
sums up the type of person Tam was when the guy said to me - ‘we fell
out over one thing - but I‘ll never decry him because the amount of
work he put into Rangers and the Orange was unreal.’
He had his faults but throughout his life Tam put his friends, family
and faith before himself. Time and again he took the hard path and not
the easy one because of his beliefs - he devoted time, energy and money
to the those organisations of which he was a member - he put far more
back into society than he took out. He thought of more than himself.
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Larking around with pals at Vancouver NARSA Convention
Three years ago Tam was told he had cancer - he fought it as best he
could. He took treatments and regarded every day as a blessing - he
beat the clock in many ways - each extra NARSA convention was savoured,
each Rangers game at Ibrox a triumph, he got to see his grandkids come
into the world. He went down fighting.
At the end, when the doctors could do no more for him, he took the
final journey (as Scotsmen always seem to want to do) home and died in
his own bed surrounded by his family in the wee small hours of the
morning.
And now, alone in the majesty of death, he receives that most beautiful
of tributes from his friends - he was a gentleman.