NRA Journal - Summer 2004 - National Rifle Association

important of which is that Bruce’s spider is missing.The whole is coloured a dark dull grey. It wouldappear that though Watts had designed the Shieldroughly in 1860, the design was not finalised untilmuch later, as so much detail was changed between1863 (the first model) and 1865 when the Shield wasfinished.At the beginning of November 1864, the plaster shieldwas presented to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh inParliament Square before a jubilant crowd. It was thenhung in Parliament House. If the metal shield hadnot been finished before the next Wimbledon Meeting,the model would doubtless have gone South to be represented.In fact, it was two years later, in theAutumn of 1866 that Horatio Ross wrote to the Facultyof Advocates “offering to present to the Faculty themodel of the Elcho Challenge Shield now hanging inthe lobby of the Parliament House”. This offer wasaccepted and they returned thanks to Mr Ross. Themodel remains there to this day, hanging over adoorway in the Box corridor.In 1865 the iron Shield was finally finished and readyto be presented to the winners - England. It was amagnificent sight. Burnished till it shone like silverand with the bands delineating the hexagonal area atthe top of the shield and the sides, bright with gold.A trophy worthy of the match and Lord Elcho’swishes. He wrote “I paid them [Elkington] £500 forit, but they said it was worth £1500, and I believe it,as the work was most difficult and laborious, and nofiner specimen of modern repousse metal work is tobe seen.” This then, is the trophy which is competedfor each July, though now it has lost its colour and is aworn shadow of its former glory. In spite of the rulethat the Shield “shall be kept in some conspicuousplace in the country representing the winning team,”England did nothing after their wins in 1865, 67, or68. It was not until 20 August 1870, that the LordMayor of London received the Shield for the first time.How then, apart from the inadequate writtendescriptions of the design, do we know what theShield originally looked like? It was in 1879, whenLord Elcho left the active command of his regiment -the London Scottish, - that “They asked me what Ishould like to have as a remembrance of our long andhappy connection. They proposed a dirk, but I mildlyThe drawing of the Elcho Shield published in the IllustratedLondon News 8 July 1865.The actual Elcho Shield as competed for today.36