Cyril RumbleSend a message to

Cyril Rumble

Cyril Rumble

pp Johnny Barry ---------------------------------------------- Johnny's fond memories of JJPF **********###### Scotus Academy opened up for business so to speak in September 1953. Joe was 7 at the time and was one of the first pupil intake. I arrived at Scotus the following year and, as a result, was always in the year behind Joe. As usual, at any school, the older boys did not take much notice of the younger fraternity so Joe and I did not really mix together very often until rugby started to loom large in our lives as we got a little older. We all played rugby at school which was basically mandatory with cricket and/or tennis in the summer months plus some athletics. As I got older, I was beginning to take notice of who was performing well at any sport but particularly rugby. Joe was always selected in the back row because he was aggressive, quick, and fearless. I was quite quick but aggressive and fearless I was not. For some strange reason, Joe and I began to acknowledge each other and form a genuine friendship but not at this stage socially outside of school. I very rarely played in the same school team as Joe because I was considered to be too small and not aggressive enough. However, I do remember on one occasion when Scotus held the annual inter house rugby match. Joe and I were on opposite sides. I was playing full back on that occasion and Joe was, as usual, in the opposition back row. The weather was lovely that afternoon. The opposing team kicked the ball ahead and I was set to gather the bouncing ball which I did eventually only to look up to see Joe bearing down on me with a big smile all over his face. I froze and was expecting to be carted into kingdom come by Joe but all he did was make sure I was unable to play the ball. I have always felt that the inter house rugby match that day was the beginning of our life long friendship. Joe being slightly older than me started to take notice of music, fashion, and the opposite sex in his early teens. I also believe that he also discovered beer in his early teenage years. He began to wear winkle picker shoes and comb his hair in an Elvis Presley lookalike fashion. His hair was always jet black and I believe a fair amount of Brylcreme kept his Elvis hair style in place. On another occasion, I remember one of the masters decided to organise a boxing match between class mates. Joe, as you can imagine, decided to volunteer to be one of the boxers. His opponent that day was a guy called Charlie who was more or less the same age and came from the same town just outside Edinburgh called Broxburn. Well, the boxing match did not last 3 rounds because both Charlie and Joe began hitting each other with great enthusiasm and after 3 mins they both became too exhausted to continue. Joe was declared the winner but only just. As you will all appreciate, Joe loved the competition whether it was in sport or his working life. Competition was in Joe’s DNA. After school Joe and I ended up playing rugby at EWRFC which was a fabulous rugby club to be a member of. The strange fact is that during a couple of seasons 1965/66 and 1966/67 there were, on occasion, 6/8 ex Scotus pupils in the Junior XV on a regular basis. I was captain of the Juniors in season 1966/67 and was only too pleased to have Joe in my team where I was telling him what to do and how to play on the odd occasion. I loved playing rugby with Joe and as a result our friendship grew stronger and stronger while we both began to mature at EWRFC. Joe was born on 19/03/46 and for the last 40yrs I contacted him every year on his birthday. Joe attended my wedding 1972 and I was at his wedding in 1971. I last spoke to Joe earlier this year when he in fact phoned me via FaceTime and he was in great form. I will always remember Joe with great love and respect. I will miss him enormously even though we did not see each other on a regular basis but when we did meet up in Epsom or Edinburgh it was always great fun. He was a unique character and will be missed by a huge number of folk. Johnny B.

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