The sixth earl was heavily involved in steeplechasing as a racehorse owner whose cerise and blue colours were most famed for being carried to victory twice in the Grand National in 1868 and 1871 by The Lamb.
The English word cherry, French cerise, Spanish cereza, and Southern Italian dialect cerasa (standard Italian ciliegia) all come from Classical Greek κερασός "cherry tree", which has been identified with Cerasus.
In the early days of the century the club played in cerise and French grey, the colours of the then Duke of Hamilton.
The SYF Art and Crafts Exhibition was introduced in 1968, and local compositions by youths were showcased, such as the composition by Cerise Lim, then a Secondary 3 Methodist Girls' School student which was performed in 1969.