James Aikman Smith (1859-1931) was a Scottish rugby union player and later became an international referee.
[8] An indication of how much a stickler for the rules Smith was, is found in the aftermath of a match he refereed between Gala and Hunslet, an English side from Yorkshire, in late 1893.
The SRU attested that the captain of Hunslet was guilty of misconduct on two points:- for the shinguards situation; and for complaining to the referee when Smith had chalked off a try for offside during the match itself.
The SRU rulechange came into effect the day before the match and was evidently problematic for the visiting English side.
[10] Such was his influence on the Scottish Rugby Union that Smith came in for ' a heap of abuse' in not protecting the Inverlieth pitch with straw prior to the 1899 Scotland versus Wales match.
The Napoleon epitaph fitted with the former SRU committee member and journalist known as Touch Judge on the Dundee Courier: he described Smith as a 'small grey man' who held court in every committee:[10] Of all the meetings as such I have no clear recollections save of this small alert man.
There were several notable chairman in all those years - Alexander Blair, Charles Fleming, William Andrew Walls, John Dallas, James Greenlees - all big men but the figure which dominated every meeting was that of the small man who sat at the chairman's left hand.
[10] Smith was travelling on the train with the Scotland team for the international match with Wales in Cardiff in 1931.