In Memoriam: James Main Nicol

“We are all travellers in what John Bunyan
calls the wilderness of this world ….
and the best that we find in our travels is
an honest friend.  He is a fortunate
voyager who finds many.  We travel
indeed to find them.  They are the end
and the reward of life.  They keep us
worthy of ourselves; and when we are
alone, we are only nearer to the absent.”
                                  – Robert Louis Stevenson

It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we chronicle the death of James Main Nicol on April 10th, 1905.  By his untimely decease the Club sustains an irreparable loss, as although not an original member he was closely identified with the aims of the Club, for which he ever worked with a rare and ungrudging enthusiasm.

To the members individually, his removal is a personal grief for the loss of a true friend and comrade of wide sympathies and generous nature.

Nicol was born of Scots parents at Chelsea, in December 1855.  In 1863 they returned to Scotland and he was at school in Glasgow until 1869, when he became a pupil of William Alfred Roberts, M.D., L.D.S. of Edinburgh.  On the completion of his pupilage he became principal assistant to his uncle William Henderson Nicol, Dental Surgeon of Leeds.  In 1882 he passed the greater part of the year in Edinburgh attending medical classes at the Extra Mural School, Minto House, Where he gained the silver medal for anatomy.  At the conclusion of this course he took the L.D.S. degree of Edinburgh and returned to Leeds to his former appointment with his uncle, which he continued to hold until his death.

Ever an ardent lover of nature and sport, he joined our ranks in 1899 and brought to his membership that whole-heartedness so characteristic of the man, and none ever worked more strenuously and unselfishly for the well-being of the Club.  Although not notable as a climber – for he only essayed this form of sport of recent years – he was yet keenly interested in all phases of the craft, and on many occasions was a participant in some of the better-known rock climbs of the Lake Country.

A true North man in his love of the hills, and a mountaineer in its truest sense, his keenest enjoyment came from his many rambles in Lakeland, or “God’s own Country” as he sometimes termed it, and all who at any time accompanied him will ever remember those excursions with feelings of the deepest gratitude.

An untiring walker, the cheeriest of companions, at such times who so ready with joke, song, story and dry – but always good natured – comments on men and things?

To him the Lake Country was a passion, and his untiring exertions on behalf of the Brandelhow and, more latterly, Gowbarrow Schemes will not soon be forgotten.^[1]

Of the man himself there is no need for words to us who knew him.  It is certain that the lives of some men are a constant privilege to all with whom they are associated, and such a life was that of James Nicol.  Of high principle, to know him was to respect him, and his life was a record of acts of kindliness and cheerful unselfishness.  A charm of manner, a perfect courtesy, and a wide outlook upon men and life, tempered by a quick but strong sense of humour, gained for him in no ordinary degree the love and affection of those privileged to intimacy.  In a word – the keynote to his life and character was sympathy, and he gave of his gifts with both hands.

A brave spirit has passed from amongst us and we are infinitely poorer by the loss.

VALE, ATQUE VALE!

A.C.