Captain Robert Barclay Allardice, known simply as Captain Barclay, was one of Britain’s earliest sporting heroes. Born in Stonehaven in 1779, one of eight children, he was immensely strong, his party piece being to lift an eighteen-stone man standing upon the palm of his hand from the floor to the dinner table. He even found time to set up a distillery, the Glendury Distillery, on the north bank of the River Cowie in 1825 to give a boost to local arable farmers.
However, his greatest claim to fame was his prowess at pedestrianism, a form of long distance walking, immensely popular in Britain during the latter part of the 18th century and early 19th century. Large crowds would attend pedestrianism events, drawn by the curiosity of seeing extraordinary feats of endurance and the opportunity to engage in their favourite pastimes, drinking and gambling.
Barclay had shown his promise as a 15-year-old, winning a 100 guineas wager by walking heal to toe for six miles in an hour. In 1796, his first recorded competitive walk, he covered 110 miles in 19 hours 27 minutes in a muddy park. Known for accepting seemingly impossible challenges, in 1801 he wagered 1,000 guineas that he could walk 90 miles in 21 hours. He reportedly caught a cold and he fell short again when the stake was raised to 2,000 guineas, but he triumphed with an hour to spare when the pot stood at 5,000 guineas.
In September 1808 Barclay began considering the ultimate pedestrian challenge, to walk a mile an hour for a thousand hours consecutively. The prize on offer was 1,000 guineas. Others had accepted similar challenges but had fallen short, including a tailor who in 1772 walked a course on “a spot of ground marked out for the purpose near Tyburn Turnpike” and a man called Jones who retired after three weeks in an attempt to walk every hour for a month. While lack of sleep, swollen legs, and other medical problems defeated others, a Gloucestershire man, rather sensibly, rode a horse one mile an hour over a thousand hours on Stinchcombe Hill in Dursley, accomplishing the feat “with ease”.
After some initial trials, Barclay began his attempt just after midnight on June 1, 1809 on a half-mile course laid out on smooth and uncultivated land near Newmarket. For lighting, seven gas lamps were hung on poles 100 yards apart and tents were erected for assistants who recorded weather conditions and Barclay’s demeanour at each stage. His tactics were to start a mile around a quarter of an hour before the end of an hour followed by another mile at the start of the next, thus ensuring a rest of ninety minutes before starting the next two miles. This approach almost spelt disaster as over the first three days he occasionally overslept, causing him to hurry over the course to ensure completion of a mile within the hour.
Barclay completed his extraordinary feat of endurance on July 12th, having walked for 12 days and 8 hours over the 41.7 days, losing 32 pounds in weight during the process. Picking up a purse of 16,000 guineas, he celebrated by taking a warm bath. Over 10,000 spectators had watched his walk and 100,000 guineas wagered on the outcome.
Despite eschewing any form of rigorous training, he was reputed to be a hearty eater and drinker, and preferring a top hat, cravat, warm woollen suit, lamb’s wool socks and thick-soled shoes to any athletic strip, his success was attributed by Walter Thom in his book Pedestrianism (1813) to his strength and unique walking style. He would bend his body forward to throw his weight on his knees, taking short steps and raising his feet only a few inches from the ground.
Barclay’s feat made him a household name and encouraged other pedestrians to perform astonishing feats of endurance, including George Wilson, whom we shall meet next time. Fittingly, Barclay suffered no ordinary death. He was killed in 1854 after being kicked in the head by a horse.
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