James Harper-Orr was an excellent all-round sportsman. Not only was he captain of the Scotland hockey team, but he also played First Class Cricket for his country, was an international standard skier, and was a top golfer with the Falkirk Tryst club. He donated the magnificent Harper-Orr trophy to the Tryst club in 1913. Harper-Orr competed in the 1914 British Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s, Sandwich, but lost by 1 stroke in his first-round match.
An attacking forward, Harper-Orr was a member of the Edinburgh Hockey Club when he won the bronze medal representing Scotland at the 1908 London Olympics. As a cricketer, he played for the Stenhousemuir Cricket Club and was the club’s president for many years. Harper-Orr was also captain of the Stirling County side and made three appearances for Scotland in 1912-13, scoring a combined total of 91 runs. At the inaugural meeting of the Stirlingshire County Golf Union in 1930 he was appointed vice-president. By profession, Harper-Orr was an advocate and an honorary Sheriff Substitute of Stirlingshire.