Visiting Canwick Road cemetery in Lincoln this afternoon, we spotted a small Scottish saltire flag planted at the foot of a tree at the cemetery’s northern boundary. Had it not been for another grave further along, almost completely hidden by foliage and bearing the strangely appropriate name, Bush, we could easily have missed it. After that, though, we were actively looking out for other hidden stones, hoping desperately to find evidence of a deceased Hedge, a Tree or even a Lurker.
No such luck, as it happened.
But then we saw the flag. And looking further we spotted a brass plaque fixed to the nearest tree trunk.
The plaque reads:
In this place lies William McBeath, who in 1872, along with three friends, had an idea to start a football team. That football team became Rangers FC.
Sports journalist Gary Ralston explains in his book, “Rangers 1872: The Gallant Pioneers”, how Rangers was formed by four young boys walking through a park in Glasgow who simply decided one day to form a football club. Apparently McBeath had quite a sad life, and in the ended his days in a Lincoln poorhouse on Burton Road. It is also said that a charge of bigamy and a fraud trial also featured in McBeath’s life before he died in 1917. He now lies in an unmarked grave in Washingborough Cemetery.
So, although someone has already researched McBeath’s life, his final resting place is still not marked by anything other than a little flag beneath a tree. Seems a shame, doesn’t it?
William McBeath’s resting place has now been fittingly marked thanks to the members of Vanguard Bears Rangers Supporters Website, who collectively donated monies to cover the cost of purchasing the plot from Linclon City Council, and a headstone from a local Stonemason.
A Gallant Pioneer – forgotten by some, now remembered by many.