Bill has carved a permanent place in the hearts and minds of spectators and fellow competitors at Crieff and around the globe. He started competing in 1958 and first won the Scottish Heavyweight Championship in 1959. He then went on to win the Championship an incredible 18 times during his 30 years as a competitor where he was never out of the top three.
He broke numerous records and amazingly, he still holds the Crieff Ground Record for the 22 lb hammer which he threw 123 feet 5 inches in 1969! In 1977 Bill was quite rightly awarded the MBE for his services to Highland Games around the world and in 1981 he won the World Championship in Melbourne, Australia.
So outstanding was Bill’s hammer throwing that author David Webster tells of the first time he saw Bill in action many decades ago at nearby Lochearnhead Games….”I was amazed at the controlled wind-up for his throw and the terrific speed he imparted into the hammer as he released it. He was the second person to throw but he disrupted the competition completely for his effort added seven feet to the existing record and split the hammer in two”. That throw was an astonishing 151 feet 2 inches – an achievement which was not surpassed until 1997.
David Webster tells other tales of Bill’s exploits, both on and off the competition circuit: the time in Japan when he threw a 26 stone Sumo wrestler to the ground. In a second bout he stood his ground but couldn’t budge the Japanese opponent: “I kept lifting the outside but the mannie inside kept his feet on the ground”.
In 1988 Bill stopped competing and was persuaded to turn “gamekeeper” and take up judging and he has been the Heavyweight Judge at Crieff every year since 1989, interrupted only once in 2003 when he was Chieftain.
As a Scottish Ambassador overseas and as a Highland Games Ambassador wherever a caber is tossed or a hammer thrown, Bill still reigns supreme. Noted for his dedication to the Games and his helpfulness toward his fellow competitors, he symbolises the true spirit of the Games and of Scotland.