Lady Margaret Boat Club
Encyclopedia
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
club for members of St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The club is named after Lady Margaret Beaufort, foundress of the College.
History
LMBC was founded in 1825 by twelve members of the College. In its original rules, the Club was to "consist of eighteen contributing members, besides honorary ones", and all members had to be able to row. An early member was Patrick ColquhounPatrick Colquhoun (lawyer)
Sir Patrick Colquhoun QC was a British diplomat, legal writer and sculler who was considered the father of Cambridge rowing....
who in 1837 instigated the Colquhoun Sculls, in the year in which he won the Wingfield Sculls.
The greatest influence in the 1860s and 1870s was J H D Goldie
John Goldie
John Haviland Dashwood Goldie was an English rower, and barrister. He was the Cambridge University Boat Club President between 1870 and 1872, won the Colquhoun Sculls in 1870 and captained Leander Club between 1873 and 1876.Goldie was the son of Rev. Charles Dashwood Goldie, vicar of St Ives,...
, who raised LMBC to the "Headship of the River", won the "Colquhoun Sculls", and stroked Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
four times. The Goldie Boathouse
Goldie Boathouse
Goldie Boathouse is the fitness and administrative base of Cambridge University Boat Club, located on the river Cam in Cambridge, England. It was originally the University boathouse and was named after CUBC's President J. H. D. Goldie, who also gave his name to the University's second crew.The...
, used by the university crews, commemorates his services to Cambridge rowing as does the name of the university second VIII, officially known as the Goldie Crew (or Boat) and competes annually against Isis just before the University Boat Race. Another important name in LMBC history is LHK Bushe-Fox who had a long career with LMBC, becoming President of the Club in 1897. One of the greatest influences of this century was Roy Meldrum who established the "Lady Margaret" style, which he detailed in his rowing books.
The Boathouse was opened in the May term of 1901. It was extended in the 1970s, and was the first boathouse to have a workshop for the boatman. In the early 1980s, when the college began to admit women, further modifications were made upstairs to create the women's changing rooms. The boathouse was extended further in 2000 to create more indoor training space. A shed is now being built to house the club's fours, which are currently racked outside.
The Club's heyday was in the late 1940s and 1950s. LMBC won the "Ladies Plate" in 1949 with a new course record. In 1950, they made 4 bumps to go "Head of the Mays", and stayed "Head" for five years. In 1951, Lady Margaret won the Grand
Grand Challenge Cup
The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and most prestigious event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs...
at Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
and had five members of the successful Cambridge crew, which also defeated Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in the United States.
Between 1975 and 1981, Lady Margaret were Head of the Lent Bumps
Lent Bumps
The Lent Bumps are a set of rowing races held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge. They began in 1887, after separating from the May Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held in mid-June. Prior to the separation there had been a single set of annual bumps dating from its inception in 1827...
for 26 consecutive days, the longest continuous defence of the Lent Headship. LMBC last held the May Headship in 1989.
Current traditions
Members of the Club are well known for their scarlet jackets, which gave rise to the term, blazerBlazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
. Members with "First May Colours" are entitled to wear trim and gold buttons on their blazer, while "First Lent" or "Second May Colours" are entitled to wear silver buttons on their blazer.
The club is traditionally strong in the Lent
Lent Bumps
The Lent Bumps are a set of rowing races held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge. They began in 1887, after separating from the May Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held in mid-June. Prior to the separation there had been a single set of annual bumps dating from its inception in 1827...
and May
May Bumps
The May Bumps are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of March. Prior to the separation there had been a single set of annual bumps dating from...
CUCBC
Cambridge University Combined Boat Club
Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs is responsible for the day to day running of college rowing in Cambridge. It is also responsible for organising May and Lent bumps which are the main races of the Easter and Lent terms respectively....
Bumps race. The club motto has been "Si je puis" ("If I can") since 1825. The boat club song, Viva laeta, has a chorus that goes as follows:
- Vive laeta, Margareta, Beatorum insulis; Si possimus, Fuerimus, Semper caput fluminis.
Although the music is printed in the boat club's history and the song is sung at every Boat Club Dinner, few members know the tune.
Cambridge rumours
As with many institutions in Cambridge University, there are various historically inaccurate stories concerning LMBC.The most famous relates to the reason there is no "St John's College Boat Club" (SJCBC) and involves the death of the First Trinity Boat Club cox on the Cam in the May Bumps carefully unspecified in "in the late 19th century". The poor chap was allegedly skewered in the back by the pointed bow of the rampantly aggresive bumping up SJCBC VIII. This horrific accident led to SJCBC being bannished from the Cam for eternity by the other university college boat clubs. The aforementioned boat club members were then forced to re-group as the Lady Margaret Boat Club (LMBC) and, in a sign of contrition, the club's oars were painted bright red, representing the blood of the cox: a permanent stain on the boat club's history and the colour of the river as a result of the dreaful event.
Noteably, tellers of this story do not necessarily extend the blood red colour reference to the club's blazers, also bright red, since that allows them to suggest separately that the term "blazer" was originated by reference to the LMBC jacket (which may be true).
Some stories try suggest that the Trinity boat club was to some extent culpable (and that club had to change its name too), but it is difficult to see how a boat being bumped can be held responsible for the bumping boat's actions without behaving recklessly, which of course, would have made its mythical way into the story had it been "true".
As far as can be told, no one who tells the story (primarily to tourists passing under the Bridge of Sighs and/or non-oarsmen/women) believes a word of it.
It just turns out that SJC members were perhaps less prosaic than their couterparts at other colleges. Trinity generated the numerically unimaginative First, Second & Third Trinity Boat Clubs. St John's college members set up St John's, the Lady Margaret, the Lady Somerset & possibly the Lady Beaufort boat clubs. Each of these boat clubs were separate and autonomous and you were, no doubt, invited to join a small group of like minded souls who would run their own boat and a small club around it. Over the years, these mini-clubs faded out leading to mergers (First & Third Trinity Boat Club) or one boat club just became dominant within the college (LMBC) and the others faded into oblivion. The title of the Lady Somerset Boat Club is now used from time to time by former alumini of LMBC.