During 1950 the question of setting up a coaching scheme was discussed at several of the meetings but the differing ideas left the committee no further forward at the end of the year than it had been initially. Finance was also a great problem for the Association in these early years, as the following extract from the minutes of one 1950 meeting put it. “ The Treasurer was not able to give a clear picture of the financial position owing to the temporary misplacement of the bank and account books, but was able to convince the meeting that the Association was in debt. “
Also at the end of 1950, with the question of joining GNAS still not resolved, it was suggested that SAA should apply for membership of FITA, but this was left for future consideration as the committee could not make up its mind which course of action to follow. Late 1950 also saw the first mention of International matches with the receipt of a letter from Northern Ireland asking for a match between the two countries. SAA asked in a return letter for further information, and in February 1951 when no reply had been forthcoming, a further letter was sent. This February meeting also had a lengthy discussion on whether to allow the use of bowsights, but was completely divided on the matter and decided to refer it to the AGM.
The second AGM took place on 24th March 1951, when new clubs were reported at Ayr, Annandale and Edinburgh (Gents). Mention was also made of the receipt of two Silver Arrows from Slazenger for the Scottish Championships. The first flight championships were also reported to have been held, and the proposal to allow bowsights to be used was defeated by 6 votes to 4.
In 1951 came the first mention of an agreement to form
SAA into three Areas, East, North and West. The coaching question had
apparently been resolved as a list of ten coaches was drawn up and from
these two panels of examiners were named to test new candidates in the
East and West. The proposed International match with Northern Ireland
had been arranged for the end of June and was held in Belfast. The team
was comprised of five Gents plus a non-shooting reserve. The round to
be shot was a York. Official team dress was decided upon as blue sweater,
white trousers and white cap. The crossing to Northern Ireland by boat
was apparently pretty rough and after the 100 yds, Scotland trailed by
147 points. A report of this first ever International match held in the
United Kingdom was printed in the August/September issue of the British
Archer magazine (a forerunner of todays Archery U.K.).
It states that although Northern Ireland led at the halfway stage, the
first couple of dozen after the break saw the scores virtually level.
Scotland soon went ahead and remained in the lead until the end when the
final totals were Scotland 2096 and Northern Ireland 1875. (Those of you
able to put two and two together will realise that these scores meant
that the 5 Scottish archers averaged about 420 each for the York round.
To put this into context one has to remember that they would probably
have been shooting with steel bows and had no bowsights. The British archer
report also mentions that the Northern Ireland captain, their best shot,
had some difficulty with his equipment, breaking four bowstrings in fairly
rapid succession).
The team representing Scotland in the match were named as Mr. G. Hamilton, Mr. B. Douthwaite, Mr. W. Douthwaite, Mr. R. Campbell and Mr. G. Penman. (The same Mr. G. Penman is still shooting and has been at the Skye shoot for a number of years). Also in 1951 there is mention of a visit by the Royal Co. of Archers to Kilwinning where they had a shoot using the ancient 9 inch targets at 30 yards. They also apparently returned the Ancient Trophy to its rightful owners.
The question of membership of FITA had resurfaced and after a letter enquiring about this possibility, FITA had replied stating that SAA could not join as GNAS were recognised as the governing body for archery in the United Kingdom. It was also reported that the conditions set by GNAS at that time for SAA to join them were not acceptable, though it makes no mention of what these conditions were. In August 1951 there is mention of the Western Area now being a functioning unit, and asking for a rebate of 10/- from the affiliation fees of each club in the Area to defray expenses. As SAA had no funds as such, this was refused. The first West Championships were held in September 1951 with over 30 archers competing, after which tea was taken at a local hotel, followed by the area AGM. There is in addition a report of a successful shoot taking place at Dundee where the surprise was the triumph of a Lady over all the Gentlemen in winning the trophy, presumably all shooting the same round.
The first meeting of the East clubs late in 1951 was poorly attended and no decisions were taken. The SAA committee agreed to have commemorative medals struck for the members of the team who took part in the International match with Northern Ireland.
A letter was sent from the Scottish Archery Association to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II offering condolences on the death of her father, King George VI.
In 1952 letters were still going back and forth to GNAS regarding a possible meeting of the two to discuss differences between them, though little progress was being made. A letter was received from the secretary of FITA saying he was coming over to Scotland for a visit and would hope to meet the SAA officials. A new British record for the Hereford round was set by a Mrs. Hartley of the Burntisland club with a score of 808.
At the third AGM in March 1952, more new clubs were reported in Berwick, Gorebridge, Cowdenbeath, Perth, Kilmarnock and Airdrie. A total of eight shoots had been held during the season, and the Western Area had organised a postal league during the summer months which had been won by Kilwinning. A further proposal that bowsights should be permitted was again defeated, this time by 16 votes to 2. A proposal that binoculars be prohibited by both ‘archers’ and ‘spotters’ was also defeated, though it was agreed that only archers should use them. A proposal that SAA should affiliate to GNAS was also defeated.
The committee proposed that affiliation fees be increased to £2.2/- per club but this was amended to a fee of 2/6d per club member, which was carried. The accounts for the year showed an income of £175.14/1d, including a grant from thr Education department of £125.3/7d, with expenses of £83.9/10d, these figures representing almost ten times those of the first years accounts. The secretary, in his report, defined the Executive Committee as a group of widely differing personalities, ranging from ‘mulish stubbornness’ to ‘extreme forbearance’, despite which the year’s work had been successfully dealt with. (seems nothing changes !)
Ray Masson. (1984/5)