Obituary: Lorn Cowie

Pictured: Lorn Cowie coming out of the tunnel on the day of Murrayfield Stadium's centenary celebration, with his grandson Tom.

Born in Glasgow on 1 June 1926, William Lorn Kerr Cowie was schooled at Fettes College in Edinburgh and then attended both Cambridge and Glasgow Universities.

Initially, rowing was Lorn’s sport of choice at Cambridge, but, reigniting his love for rugby, he joined Kelvinside West (a brief post-war amalgam of Kelvinside Accies and West of Scotland) and when his work in law took him to the capital, he enlisted with Edinburgh Wanderers.

Lorn had the distinction of playing for both Glasgow and Edinburgh in the inter-city, scoring a try for Edinburgh in the 1952 fixture, doubtless propelling him towards his Scotland debut later that season.

He made his Scotland debut as a back-row forward against England at Twickenham on 21 March 1953 and was Scotland cap number 649.

In law, Lorn joined the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh in 1952, becoming an Advocate Depute in the Crown Office. He was made a QC in 1967.

Ultimately, he became a High Court judge and also served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal, in Botswana from 1995–98.

Some 72 years to the day he made his Scotland debut, Lorn Cowie was among the former Scotland male and female players and international referees who took centre stage on the day of Murrayfield stadium’s 100^th anniversary, 21 March 2025.

Pictured: Scotland Rugby Legends past and present during a Scottish Rugby Centenary Celebration event at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Murrayfield, 21 March 2025, in Edinburgh. Lorn Cowie is pictured front and centre.

“We often talk about the ‘rugby family’ and to see the sparkle in Lorn’s eye that day as he interacted with players, family members and referees from throughout the decades, underlined the joy he had from our sport,” recounted SRU President Keith Wallace.

“It was such a privilege to meet him and his family and the thoughts of everyone connected with Scottish Rugby are with them today.”

Fittingly the last two people to leave the centenary celebrations were Lorn Cowie and the former Scotland, British & Irish Lions and Howe of Fife prop, David Rollo.

Scottish Rugby extends its sincere condolences to Lorn Cowie’s family and many friends.

When we have details of his funeral arrangements we will update on our website.