David Smith

Born: October 31, 1936;

Died: November 30, 2015.

DAVID Buchanan Smith, who has died aged 79, was one of Scotland's best-known and most-colourful sheriffs, serving in the court for North Strathclyde at Kilmarnock for more than a quarter of century. But he was even better-known as the world's leading authority on curling and its history. An avid curler himself, he wrote several books on the subject and was possibly the world's greatest collector of "curliana," curling memorabilia. He was also a highly-respected historian of Scotland and particularly of Scots Law.

Big and burly, Sheriff Smith was a kenspeckle figure on the bench, nicknamed "the Ayatollah" by some in the legal profession and media after his trademark bushy beard morphed from black to white. In curling clubs around Scotland, and beyond, he was known simply as "The Sheriff."

David Buchanan Smith was born in Paisley, the eldest of three sons of Irene and Willie Smith, a clerk in the local Coates Thread Mill. He went to Paisley Grammar School and the University of Glasgow, graduating MA in 1958 in classics before gaining his LLB at the University of Edinburgh in 1961. That same year, he was called to the bar and also married Hazel, a classics student at Edinburgh.

As an advocate, he was self-employed but given instructions by many Edinburgh law firms. From 1968-75, he was standing junior counsel to the Scottish Education Department and from 1964-72 was a tutor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh. He was sheriff for North Strathclyde at Kilmarnock from 1975 until his retirement in 2001, aged 65, when curling and Scots history became his priority.

Among his most famous cases as a sheriff was one in 1985 during which he controversially sang a couple of lines of the sectarian song The Sash to make a legal point. In the assault trial, after evidence that the victim had been singing The Sash, Sheriff Smith asked him to sing it. When he refused, the sheriff launched into a couple of verses himself.

Needless to say, he got hammered by the tabloid press and was rebuked by his superiors but the appeal itself was upheld, proving that his legal point was valid, if not his methods. He also came under heavy criticism, notably from the "red top" papers, during the miners' strike of the 1980s. He had been overheard, during a curling event, saying he opposed legal aid to the miners, his argument being that they already had their union funding. During his term, however, the Kilmarnock sheriff's court gained a reputation as arguably the most efficient in the land.

In 1976, Sheriff Smith settled on South Beach, Troon, where he had time to engage in his passion for curling. He was a distinguished member of both the Troon Portland and Symington curling clubs, and an honorary member of Ayr Curling Club, serving as its secretary for many years and its president in 1995. The Royal Caledonian Curling Club honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

"Dad started curling in the 60s, mostly at Edinburgh Haymarket Ice Rink," his daughter Alison told The Herald. "He was soon hooked, both on the game and on its history. I can remember, as a child, skating on the end ice at Haymarket, while both my parents curled. They also went all over Scotland and even further afield to play."

Mr Smith went on to write several books now regarded as reference books by curlers worldwide, notably Curling: An Illustrated History (1981). He also built up a curling collection, from old stones to documents, books, photographs, medals and historic trophies. Early music (medieval, renaissance and early baroque) were among his other passions, as was Rabbie Burns. An imposing figure in the kilt, he was often asked to speak at Burns Suppers. Architecture and wildlife also fascinated him, and his desire to get to know other peoples and cultures made him handy in several languages.

Long after his retirement, Sheriff Smith remained well-known in Scottish legal circles for his writings and talks on Scottish history and Scots Law. From 1998, he was vice-chairman of the Stair Society, Scotland's leading legal history society, which encourages knowledge of the history of Scots Law and is named after Scotland's greatest jurist, James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount Stair. For the society, Sheriff Smith contributed to a number of legal publications including Miscellanies of the Society and The Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a Trustee of the Scottish Curling Trust.

His daughter Alison recalled him inviting her to the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood house when she was a young lady. "So mum and I invested in hats and lace gloves and off we went. Dad, as ever, wore his kilt. At one point, a gust of wind blew my hat off and, to my unending embarrassment, he pulled out his skean dubh, gave chase and pretended to spear it to the ground!"

His collection of curling memorabilia hit the headlines in 1997 when his house in Troon was burgled and around £10,000 worth of his collection stolen. It was his second burglary that year.

David Smith died in Templeton House nursing home in Ayr - fittingly on St. Andrew's Day. He is survived by his wife Hazel, son Patrick, daughter Alison, his brother Ronnie and grandchildren. Another son, Ewan, died in 1986.

PHIL DAVISON