Even these days many folk might be familiar with A. A. Cameron who
hailed from Lochaber. In his own day, his fame spread far and wide as being one
of the best athletes to have ever competed at heavy events. Calum Maclean
recorded three items about the Lochaber strongman from John MacDonald of
Highbridge and here is one which was transcribed on the 4th of January 1951:
Tha fhios gun cuala iomadh duine fora(fh)ais
air a’ ghaisgeach a bha ’s an dùthaich seo, mar a theireadh iad A. A. Cameron,
an Camaranach. B’ eòlach mi air, ri mo thaobh, agus duine còir agus duine coibhneil.
Bhiodh e a’ falabh thall is a-bhos aig na cleasan agus e a’ dèanadh
a’ ghrõthaich orra anns a chlach nearst agus anns a chuile car a
bhitheadh ann (F610.). Ach bha e turas a’ dol ro Siorrachd Pheairt. Is bha na
Pearstaich a’ smaoineachdainn nach robh a’ nearst aige
idir a bh’ aige. Agus bha clach mhór ann an sin aig taobh balla taobh an
rathaid mhór. Agus thuirst iad gum b’ àbhaist daoine a bh’ ann a Siorrachd
Pheairst a chlach a bha sin a thogail
dìreach rud beag fos cionn an talaimh, cho àrd ri ’m brògan agus feadhainn nach
togadh cho àrd sin fhéin i (H1562.2.). Agus thuirst iad ris a’
Chamaranach a fiachainn. Cha robh an Camaranach air son seo a dhèanadh.
“O,” thuirst iad, “chan eil umat
ach an gealtaire cha téid agat air.”
Agus thug e dìreach leum far an rathaid mhóir
agus rug e air a’ chlach agus thilig e taobh thall a bhalla i (F624.2.).
And the translation goes something
like this:
Many folk have heard mention of our local
hero who was called A. A. Cameron. I knew him as well as myself and he was a
decent, kind fellow. He would travel far and wide to attend Highland games and
he used to win at putting the stone and every other type of heavy event. But
one time he was travelling through Perthshire. The Perthshire folk didn’t
believe at all that he was as strong as all that. There was a big boulder besides
the dyke next to the highway. And they said that folk in Perthshire used to lift
this boulder as high as their shoes and a few others who couldn’t lift it quite
so high. They said to the Cameron to try it but he didn’t want to.
“Oh,” they said, “you’re such a coward if you
can’t manage it.”
And he jumped from the highway and he caught
hold of the boulder and threw it over the other side of the dyke.
There
is also catchy two-part strathspey entilted A. A. Cameron and is a popular
tune in music sessions and has been recorded by various pipers, and other
musicians besides, over the years:
Alexander
Anthony Cameron (1877–1951), to give him his full name, was one of the all-time
great strongmen and athletes and hailed from Dochanassie in Brae Lochaber. He was
sometimes known as the Mighty Mucomir and was indubitably the greatest heavy of
his time. He dominated the heavies from the turn of the century until the First
World War when many of Dinnie’s and Johnstone’s records fell before the
onslaught of the strongman from Inverness-shire. A native of Dochanassie, Cameron was a true
Highlander in every respect and although he did his share of travelling and
sampled the bright lights of the entertainment world he preferred his native
land. Farming meant more to Cameron
than anything else and it is a farmer that his friends knew him best. Indeed to
this day the good folks of Fort William refer to him as “Mucomir”, following
the old Highland custom of naming a person the property he owns. As well as a
farmer and professional athlete A. A. was for a time a member of the Partick Police and
being over 6 feet 1 inch in height and 17 stones of muscular bodyweight, a
better upholder of law and order would be hard to find. There were times, however,
when he would have appeared to be on a hairline between lawful and lawless. At
a fair ground in Aberdeen for instance he pulled the handle off a grip machine
intended for testing the strength of lesser men than himself. At Turriff Games
he proved “grippy” in quite a different way for he was the leader of a strike
for better cash prizes. The athletes on this occasion refused to compete unless
the prize money was raised.
Alex was a natural
strong man; he came of hardy stock who had been tillers of the soil for
generations. His father was quite a small man but his mother was a MacMillan, a
clan renowned for their great strength and fine physiques. One of A.A.’s MacMillan
ancestors was casting peat one day when the horse and cart got well and truly stuck
in a bog. The horse struggled and strained but its efforts only succeeded in
getting it more firmly embedded in the peat. Muttering at the horse he loosened
the harness, freed the animal and practically heaved the terrified horse out of
the bog and on to firmer ground. Going back to the cart he carefully selected
foot-holes and after a titanic struggle he finally pulled the cart back on to
the track. Perspiring and panting he gently patted the horse’s neck. “I dinna wonder
ye couldnae pull it oot horse,” he puffed, “it was a struggle even for me.”
From such stock came
the Lochaber athlete
and he rarely indulged in proper training. The best training, he maintained, was
swinging a scythe and he could work day after day at this task. This was an
exercise Cameron
enjoyed until the hour of his death for he died as he was happily cutting grass
in front of his cottage on the Letterfinlay estate at Speanbridge.
The tales of Sandy Cameron reached the ears
of English entrepreneurs who immediately made tempting offers to entice Cameron to their stages. The
era of the strong man was at its height and Sandow, Cyr, the Saxon Brothers and
many others were commanding huge salaries. The modest country lad was reluctant
to leave his native heath but decided life in front of the footlights was at
least worth trying. He didn’t stay long. The greensward, he felt ,was the place
for him to demonstrate his strength and those who wished to do battle with him
could meet him there, and although such notables such as C. B. Cochrane and
George Hackenschmidt the great wrestler made attractive offers, he simply
refused point blank. Hackenschimidt, The Russian Lion, who once wrestled
Mucomir was particularly impressed with the Scot. He described him as the
strongest man he had ever handled and went into a bout and left him to think
over a particularly good offer to go on tour with Hackenschmidt’s team. Returning
to the dressing room after the contest the Russian again brought up the subject
of the tour. “You’ll be going to take it,” said Hack, never dreaming for a
minute that anyone would turn down such a good chance.
“Aye, I’ll be going,” answered Cameron, adjusting his bowler hat, “back to Lochaber.” And matching his words he picked up his umbrella and made for the door.
At the Highland
games, the Highland Adonis displayed similar determination and confidence.
Often he would only take his first attempt in an event and leave the remainder
of the heavies to battle it out for second and third places. On one occasion he
got a particularly good throw of the hammer and J. J. Miller who was judging
the competition complimented him on his efforts. “You’re good for another five
feet,” Miller said encouragingly. “Na, na” replied Cameron. “If I do that they’ll expect it
every time.”
In the late 1900s he
toured Australia and New Zealand and later was a great success on a sensational
tour which took him as far as Russia. Although best known for his feats in the
heavy events Mucomir was extremely agile and actually established a record on
the standing high jump with a leap of 4 feet 11 inches in a competition against
Marsh, a great American jumper. No mean feat for 17 stone man-mountain. A. A. Cameron retained his
strength and fine physique to the very end. He was a popular judge at the games
and officiated right up until the year of his death. Just a few weeks before he
died he attended Glenfinnan Games where he was seen talking to the athletes in Gaelic
and shaking hands with friends. A handshake from A. A. incidentally was described as a “shattering
experience.”
Although this great
athlete finally passed the last tape on 18th September 1951, at the age of 76, his
memory will be evergreen in the minds of Scottish strength lovers and admirers
of the virile Highland character. His championship belt and several photographs
can still to be seen in the museum at Fort William.
His
obituary from The Oban Times reads as
follows:
THE
DEATH TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY of Mr Alexander Anthony Cameron, the well-known
Lochaber former heavy-weight athlete who, in his day, held ground records at
practically every Highland Games in the country.
“A.
A.” as he was called by his friends, had been living for the past five years in
a cottage at Letterfinlay on the shore of Loch Lochy and was cutting hay on
Tuesday when he collapsed and died. He was 75 years of age.
Although
retired from athletics for thirty years, he still took a keen interest in the
performances of the heavy athletes of to-day, and regularly assisted at the
athletic events at the Lochaber Games–the Games at which he first made his
name.
It
was at the beginning of the century that A. A. Cameron was in his prime and at
one time he held 16 records, some of them still unbeaten. These included the
light and heavy hammer, the 56 and 28 lb. weights, and the 22 lb. ball. His
Canadian record 16 lb. ball putt of 56 ft. was only broken last year. His
Scottish record standing leap of 4 ft. 11 ins. is still unbeaten by a
heavyweight.
As
a young man he joined the Patrick Police and while he was on the Force he
toured the Highland Games making his name as an outstanding athlete. He toured
America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
A
tall, fine figure of a man, he looked much younger than his years. His
hand-shake still retained that strength which made him famous as a wrestler in
his youth.
He
was the son of the late Mr and Mrs Donald Cameron of Mucomir. Before going to
stay at Letterfinlay, Mr Cameron farmed at Fassifern at Lochielside.
References:
Anon.,
‘Lochaber’s Famous Athlete: The Late A. A. Cameron’, The Oban Times, no. 5045 (22 Sep., 1951), p. 3
SSS NB 5, p. 480
Image:
A.
A. Cameron, c. 1890s.
No comments:
Post a Comment