McCrae's Own

Paxo IS working on the Great War: at the end of last week he was spotted near Tynecastle stadium, home of Heart of Midlothian, for interviews about "McCrae's Own".

In 1914, Sir George McCrae, a hatter by profession, and former MP for East Edinburgh, secured permission to raise a new battalion.  He announced he'd find enough men ‘within seven days’. It sounded unlikely – until Wednesday 25 November, when eleven professional footballers employed by Hearts enlisted. Hearts were leaders of the Scottish League, so the news made headlines. After this, it took McCrae only six days to raise his full complement of 1347 officers and men. Boosted by professionals from Raith Rovers and Falkirk, his volunteers included numerous local sportsmen, hundreds of Hearts ticket-holders and supporters, along with players and followers of many other clubs, including an estimated 150 supporters of Hearts’ great city rivals, Hibernian.

If you can't wait for Jeremy's version, the story of their war is here.