Dave Howie was the brother of Bob Howie, who also played for Kirkcaldy and also gained seven national caps, in the 1920s, as well as representing Great Britain in four games on the 1924 tour to South Africa. Although he and his brother gained fourteen caps between them, their father, a grim farmer, never watched them once, saying: "Rugby an' fermin' will no agree, an' A ken which'll pit mair money in yer pooch."