Tribute to a giant of journalism in our city​​​​​​​ - John McLellan

Convenor Hamish Coghill, far right, at the 1995 Dispatch Trophy draw with, from left, secretary Robin Mutch, then Lothians Golf Association president Jimmy Roche and Edinburgh Evening News editor John McLellan

Assistant editor Hamish Coghill, who has died aged 88, looked every bit the Victorian gentleman-like historic newspaperman, a kindly man with magnificent mutton chop sideburns and longish white hair.

And indeed, he was the keeper of not just Evening News heritage, but a seemingly endless depth of knowledge about Edinburgh, essential given the regular arrival of new recruits knowing little about the city beyond the usual. People like me.

Man and boy an Evening News man since starting as a 17-years-old copy boy straight from George Watson’s College, he was one of the last living links with the days when the paper was produced from Market Street before the 1963 Evening Dispatch merger.

The Dispatch name lived on with the famous old team golf trophy and tournament which Hamish loved, and he represented continuity through the Evening News’s many changes in the 90s, especially the introduction of new technology.

He retired at 60 and so missed the move to Holyrood Road in 1999, but for those of us who worked with him, his presence lived on, especially if references to places like ‘Princess Street’ crept into copy. “In the name of God,” as Hamish used to mutter.