Elliot’s legacy endures

A farmer from the Borders, Elliot ended up playing out of Edinburgh Academicals, winning 29 international caps and being generally seen by his contemporaries as a top-class operator.

That he would have featured on the 1950 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, were it not for a commitment to farming, paints a picture of a player of the highest calibre.

And 71 years on from his final cap, Elliot, represented on the day by daughter Wendy Smith, was one of the Scottish ‘greats’ that were in attendance in March at Scottish Gas Murrayfield for a Parade of Champions, brought out in front of hundreds of enthusiastic supporters to commemorate the stadium’s centenary year.

Pictured: Scotland’s Parade of Legends on the centenary date of Murrayfield Stadium, 21 March 2025. Wendy Smith, daughter of Douglas Elliot, is back row with her dad’s cap.

Having enjoyed the day so much, Wendy wanted the rest of her family to see her Dad’s name in the Scottish Gas Murrayfield tunnel’s Roll of Honour – and through our archiving team, we managed to fit in a few other special items for WID Elliot’s granddaughter and great-grandchildren to have a look at.

Programmes from 1948 and in to the 50s; team photos from Five Nations encounters with England, Wales, France and Ireland; and even a quaich that Scottish Rugby had in its archive that was dated 2004 and apparently meant for Elliot himself but never delivered. Unsurprisingly, his family were thrilled with the posthumous presentation.

In its 100^th year, Murrayfield had another memorable moment for the family of one of its storied former players.

Pictured: Douglas Elliot’s granddaughter, Emma, with his great-grandchildren Rory and Ellie.