Will Ogilvie in 1901. Kerry & Co. of Sydney, from the collection of The State Library of Queensland / Wikimedia Commons. Many sportsmen have been inspired by country life to put brush to canvas. So too have many whose talents have a more literary cast. The canon of fiction, prose, verse, and song generated by the lovers of country sports and the lifestyle in which they are set fill many shelves at the National Sporting Library & Museum. The poems and songs of William H. Ogilvie are among them.

William (or more commonly, Will) Ogilvie was born into a large family based in the Scottish border town of Kelso during the summer of 1869. He was educated at Kelso High School before attending Fettes College in Edinburgh where he was a good athlete, participating in rugby and running, and an excellent student, winning a prize for Latin verse.