1883 Scottish Athletics Championships

The 1883 Scottish Athletics Championships were the first national athletics championships to be held in Scotland. They were held under the auspices of the Scottish Amateur Athletic Association at Powderhall Grounds, Edinburgh, on Saturday 23 June 1883, in front of 3000 spectators. In addition to the twelve individual athletic events there was a 1-mile bicycle race won by G. B. Batten of Edinburgh University Bicycle Club. Lord Moncreiff presented the prizes.
Some sources describe Thomas Moffat, the winner of the half-mile, as a Canadian, but it was an absolute condition of entry that you be Scottish, either from birth, parentage, or residence. Moffat was born in Sheffield, but his father John Moffat was a Glasgow doctor. Thomas Moffat had emigrated to Canada, hence the Montreal AA affiliation, but had returned home for a family occasion when the championships came along. Earlier that year there had been a rival championship, hosted by the short-lived West of Scotland Amateur Athletic Association, and Moffat is the only man to win events at both championships.

Results summary

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	William A. Peterkin	10 1/2 sec.
2.	Dr. John Smith	1 foot
3.	Frederick G. Westenra	3 yards

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	William A. Peterkin	51 3/4
2.	Thomas Moffat	5 yards
3.	J. Glegg	4 yards

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	Thomas Moffat	2:00 3/4
2.	Thomas Ireland	20 yards
3.	W. J. Laing

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	David S. Duncan	4:35
2.	William M. Gabriel	5 yards
3.	John Johnstone	25 yards

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	Robert A. Carruthers	16 3/4
2.	Andrew R. Don Wauchope	2 feet
3.	Henry A. Watt	1 yard

Pos	Athlete	Time
1.	John Harvie	24:10
2.	James H. Vibart	24:29

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	William F. Methuen	5 ft 6in
2.	James N. Macleod	5 ft 5in

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	George Hodgson	9 ft 8in

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	Daniel A. Bethune	19 ft 5 1/2in
2.	Arthur E. Bullock	19 ft 3in

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	Kenneth Whitton	38 ft 11in
2.	William A. Peterkin	38 ft 9in
3.	Charles Reid	38 ft 8 1/2in

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	Robert Smith	94 ft 7in
2.	Kenneth Whitton	93 ft 2in

Pos	Athlete	Dist
1.	Robert F. H. Bruce	322 ft 5in
2.	A. R. Don Wauchope	316 ft 6in