Scotland’s most decorated Olympian describes ‘special’ OBE moment

Scotland’s most decorated Olympian has described the “special” moment when he was made an OBE at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Swimmer Duncan Scott, who won his eighth Olympic medal at the Paris Games last year, said it was “humbling” to be recognised by the King at an investiture ceremony held at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The 28-year-old was one of a number of Scots receiving honours from the King during Royal week, when the monarch traditionally spends a week based at the palace.

Among those honoured were artist Dame Barbara Rae, while Paralympic swimmer Stephen Clegg was made an MBE for services to swimming, and Kevin Hay, who translated the Bible into Doric, was made an MBE for services to the Doric language.

Speaking to the PA Media news agency after receiving his award, Scott said of sport that “you don’t do it for the recognition. You do it for things that you want to achieve, either individually or as part of a team”.

He continued: “But there is that added element that it’s really humbling and really nice to be recognised for the hard work that you’ve put in.”

He added: “Being able to celebrate and receive this award with my family here today, I think it’s just quite a special moment.”

Scott added that it was not his first meeting with the King, the pair having met in 2017 when the then-Prince Charles opened a pool at an East Ayrshire village.

“I actually met the King when he opened the pool in New Cumnock,” Scott explained.

“So we had a brief conversation about that. He’s always had a real passion for for swimming facilities up and down the country.”

Painter and printmaker Dame Barbara studied at Edinburgh College of Art and went on to teach art in secondary schools then lecture at Aberdeen College of Education and Glasgow School of Art.

Her work has been shown around the world in both group and solo exhibitions, including at venues in Chicago, New York, Washington, Santa Fe, Oslo, Hong Kong, Dublin and Belfast.

The 81-year-old described attending the investiture ceremony as “nerve-wracking”, but that the King had set her at ease.

She said: “I’m feeling relieved, actually, because it was a bit nerve-wracking, especially having to walk backwards and curtsy.

“But he was very interesting to talk to, and expressed interest in what I was doing, talking about my Antarctic travels.

“And I referred to his painting, and that of Prince Philip, whom I met a while ago, and he was just very pleasant, a lovely man, and made me feel quite relaxed.”

The Falkirk-born artist added that being awarded this “really quite rare accolade” was “really important” for Scottish art.

“I hope that (it) will be an inspiration to the generations of artists that are coming up, some very good, talented artists that are coming up,” she explained.

“And it’s good for the institution like the Royal Scottish Academy to have this honour, and I believe it’s for everybody, not just for me.”

She also reflected that being made a dame had not changed her own life as an artist in any way, and that she still had to “go into the studio and make a painting”.

She added: “You don’t get any better because you’re a dame, unfortunately, so you’ve still got to get into the studio and solve problems, and just be creative and carry on.”

Paralympic swimmer Clegg, who won two gold medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, described being made an MBE as a “huge honour”.

“Some people go their entire lives never receiving anything close to this,” he said.

“So to receive an MBE is a really special thing, and it gives me a lot of pride to know that I’ve been recognised by my country in this way.”

The swimmer, who has a visual impairment and competes in the S12 category, added that the accolade “puts a spotlight on not just the sport as a whole, but sport for the disabled community”.

He recalled as a child struggling with “all the barriers and limitations” people had placed on him, and that swimming had been an “arena” in which he had been able to prove them wrong.

“And I hope that’s a sport other people can discover”, he added.

Meanwhile, retired solicitor Mr Hay was made an MBE after spending 17 years translating the New Testament and then the Old Testament into Doric, the first time the whole text has ever been changed into any variant of the Scots language.

The Old Testament translation was published last year while the New Testament version came out in 2012, comprising more than 800,000 words between them.

Speaking after the investiture, Mr Hay said he was “absolutely delighted” to have been recognised for his work.

“(I am) especially pleased because the recognition is for my work with the Doric language, which has been repressed for the best part of 100 years,” he said.

“And to think that it’s now being recognised by the king is really superb.”

Mr Kay, who was born to a Doric-speaking family in Inverkeithny in what is now Aberdeenshire, added that when he first set out on his translation he could never have imagined it would lead to an audience with the King.

“In fact, when I was at school, you got belted if you spoke Scots of any kind, even one Scots word, and you could get the belt,” he said.

“And here’s now a recognition for doing something in that very language. So it’s great.”