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GoLFiANA Miscellanea. 



GoLFiANA Miscellanea 



BBiira 



A Collection of Interesting Monographs on 
the Royal and Ancient Game of Golf 



Edited bt 

JAMES LINDSAY STEWART 



LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO 
GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MOEISON 

1887 



THE NTW VOliK 

puBiic i.ii;!'.Ain 
30G240B 



PEEFAOE. 

The editor of the present volume having for some time 
felt interested in golfing literature, and having had experi- 
ence, along with others, of the great difficulty there is in 
procuring, some of the scarcer productions, had thus sug* 
gested to his mind, the idea of a small collection at a low 
price, Mid so within the reach of any one. 

So far as the wealthy devotees of the pastime are con* 

^ oemed, Mr. Clark's most beautiful volume supplies all that 

V^ could possibly be wished, or that the imagination could 

Kicy. The present attempt is of a more humble nature, 
d may bring within the reach of some what may be 
^ highly appreciated, but which, on the score of cost, may 
^^ not hitherto have been quite attainable. No doubt the 
^^ present work contains many defects, both probably of 
X omission as well as of commission, and the hope is 
^ expressed that such drawbacks may be dealt with for* 
\!a bearingly. Should occasion be afforded of bringing out a 
N^ second edition, there will be an opportunity of rendering- 
^ the collection more perfect, and thus more interesting. 

It is a good sign of the present and more immediately 




Ti PBBFACE. 



preceding generations/ that the love for this manly and in- 
vigorating pastime has been very greatly on the increase. 
And the Scottish people may congratulate themselves that 
ihe early attempts to '* cry down " by authority, their 
national game, failed ; and that notwithstanding the risk 
that it then incurred of being obliterated from the list of 
Scottish pastimes, the game has been perpetuated to the 
present generation. As likewise that the goKer can never 
again labour under the disadvantages, that his prototype 
two or three hundred years ago had to contend with. 

Along with the more widely extended attachment to the 
game, there has been also a largely-increasing interest in 
its literature and historical associations. The literary pro- 
ductions on the subject are not very numerous, and such 
as they are, whether historical, poetical, or descriptive, all, 
except such as may have been published within a few years, 
are scarce and difficult to get. A number of golfing 
articles have also from time to time been appearing in 
newspapers and magazines of the day ; some of these are 
very interesting, and of course not. now attainable in 
ordinary circumstances by the general reader. Among the 
earliest productions is The Ooff: An Reroi-Comical Poem 
in Three Cantos, by Thomas Matheson. The author was 
a native of Edinburgh, and appears to have been himself 
an ardent golfer, and to have been associating with 



FEEFAOE. vii. 



the enthnsiasts of tlie day^ many of them high in the social 
scale, including President Forbes and others. The His* 
torical Account of the Game of Golf published by the 
Thistle Golf Club in 1824, is a most scholarly and learned 
production, and will no doubt always rank as among the 
most important writings on the subject. Oamegie*s 
Golfiana, published in 1842, created very considerable 
interest in its day, and from its lively and facetious style, 
will, in all probability, long continue to be a favourite. 
For the same reason the two prose sketches by James 
Paterson, which this volume contains, will continue to be 
read with interest — ^namely, the Historical Sketch of Golf 
and The Cock o' the Green, both extracted from Eay*s 
Edinburgh Portraits. The author was a most able and 
yersatile writer, and from whose pen many works of merit 
have come, among others a History of Ayrshire, in five 
volumes. 

As to the descriptions of, and directions for, playing the 
game, it is questionable if the work of H. B. Famie 
("Keen Hand "), published first in 1857, has for full detail 
and methodical treatment ever been excelled, and that it 
will keep its own place, we cannot doubt. Since its first 
appearance, there have been several guides or manuals 
issued, but they mostly appear to be a good deal indebted 
to the foregoing volume — the work itself is extremely 



yiii. PREFACE. 



scarce. A good many other interesting pieces, of consider- 
able merit and variety of character, will be found in these 
pages. As already intimated, no doubt the list might 
have been extended, and at some future time perhaps an 
opportunity may be afforded of doing so. 

The Editor desires to express thanks to authors and 
publishers for permission to reprint the productions con- 
tained in this volume. He also desires to acknowledge 
considerable indebtedness to Mr. B. Clark's most beautiful 
volume entitled Golf: A Royal and Ancient Game. The 
golfer everywhere, of any elevation of taste and spirit, 
must feel that he owes not a little to Mr. Clark, in that, by 
the conception and publication of such a beautiful volume, 
he has done for the game of golf, what probably has 
never been so artistically attempted, on behalf of any 
other popular game of any nationality. 



CONTENTS. 



FAas 
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE GAME OF 

QOLFf ••••••••• 9 



THE QOLF: AN HEROLCOMICAL POEM IN 
THREE CANTOS, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ROYAL SCOT- 
TISH GAME OF GOLF, 56 

GOLFIANA : OR, NICETIES CONNECTED WITH 

THE GAME OF GOLF, 76 

THE R ULES OF THE GAME OF GOLF. PL A TED 
BY THE ROYAL AND ANCIENT GOLF CLUB 
OF ST. ANDREWS, 100 

THE GAME, AND HOW TO PLAY IT, . • lU 

SOME OF THE OLDER GOLF CLUBS, , . 178 



z. 



CONTENTS. 



THE GOLFER'S GARLAND, 19^ 



THE LINKS 0' INNERLETHAN, 



A GOLFING SONG, 



MEDAL DAT AT ST, ANDREWS, 



AMONG THE ST. ANDREWS GOLFERS, 
MEDAL DAT AT BLACKHEATH, 



A CHAPTER ON GOLF, ..' . . . 



. 19$ 



196 



. 199 



. W9 



. f^m 



THE GOLFER AT HOME, 



• • • • «<x4 



• f 



EARLT LEGAL REFERENCES TO GOLF, , 



255 



GOLFING ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 



^9 



THE GAME OF DUTCH KOLF, . . . . S7$ 



THE GAME OF GOLF IN FRANCE, . . . IS75 



THE COCK 0* THE GREEN, . . . . . f^8 



ALLAN ROBERTSON, THE CHAMPION GOLFER, m 

• 3 » • 



■^ 



CONTENTS. xi. j 



LIST OF GOLFING SOCIETIES, . ... 296 



A GOLFING VOCABULARY, 998 



GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



HISTOEIOAL ACCOUNT OF THE GAME 
OF GOLF* 



about to reprint a set of Enlea 

aerly drawn up for regulating 

concerns of their fraternity, the 

ncil of the Thistle Golf Clitb 

e conceived that a short Ilis- 

toncal Account of their favourite 

amusement mould prove not altogether unacceptable to 

the lovers of a game at once so ancient and so national. 

With this view, they have collected whatever notices 

they could find which seemed calculated to throw aay 

light on the origin and history of Golf, and, at the same 

time, to preserve from oblivion some of those names 

which, either from rank, or from distinguished proficiency 



10 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

in the game itself, have entitled themselves to a place in 
its annals. The information which they have obtained 
is indeed neither very various nor important. K the 
origin of the most valuable institutions of civilised life, 
the laws and usages of the most enlightened nations, are 
lost in the mist of antiquity, eluding the researches of the 
philosopher and historian, it was not to be expected that 
any distinct record would be found, setting forth the in- 
vention and progress of a mere popular recreation. 

The etjrmology of the word golf has been traced, with 
much appearance of probability, to the Teutonic term, 
from which the Germans have their noun kolbe, a club, 
and whence springs the Low Dutch kolf, a sound which 
very closely resembles that of golf, the exchange of the 
labial letter h for If being very common in that language. 
If this derivation be correct, it follows that the game of 
Golf is strictly synon3rmous with the "game of Club." 

By most authorities this amusement is regarded as 
being not only very ancient, but also as peculiar to the 
natives of North Britain. It will be seen, by the ex- 
tracts about to be introduced from ''Strutt's Sports and 
Pastimes of the People of England,'* that the latter 
opinion is not quite incontrovertible ; whilst, in regard 
to the precise period at which the game of Golf became 
common in Scotland, our best antiquaries supply no facts 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 11 

upon wHcli we can arrive at a satisfactory determination. 
That it is of considerable antiquity, however, there is no 
reasonable ground to doubt ; and as the best proof of 
this, it may be mentioned that there are statutes of so 
early a date as the year 1457, prohibiting the exercise of 
Gk)lf, lest it should interfere with the more important 
accomplishment of Archery. In those times the bow was 
the principal instrument of war among all the nations of 
Europe, and a weapon, too, in the use of which the 
English, from whom our Scottish ancestors had most to 
fear, had attained a noted superiority. In one of the 
Acts alluded to,* it is "decreeted and ordained that 
the weaponschawinges be halden be the Lordes and 
Barronnes Spirituel and Temporel foure times in the 
zeir, and that the fute-ball, and golfe be vtterly cryit 
downe, and not to be vsed." 

This prohibition shows clearly that, in the time of 
James the Second, the game of Golf had already 
become a very general amusement in Scotland; and 
as, in the former reign, there is a similar Act of 
Parliament, anno 14:24,f discouraging the exercise of 
foot-ball, without any mention being made of Golf, 
it seems probable that the latter pastime was intro- 

• James II. ParL 14, cap. 64. t James I. Pari. 1, cap, 17. 



12 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

duced into the northern parts of Britain about the 
beginning of the fifteenth century. 

In both the subsequent reigns of James the Third 
and James the Fourth, there are similar Acts of 
Parliament against Foot-ball and Golf. Under the 
former pf these monarchs, anno 1471,* it is enacted, 
that "the fute-ball and golfe be abused in time 
cumming, and that the buttes be maid up and schutting 
used, after the tenour of the Acte of Parliament maid 
thereupon." In the reign of James the Fourth, anno 
149 1,! it is statute and ordained, "That in na plsce of 
the realme there be vsit futte-baUis, golfe, or uther sik 
unprofitabill sportis, for the commoun gude of the 
realme, and defence thairof, and that bowis and schut- 
ting be hantii, and bow-markes maid therefore ordained 
in ilk parochin, under the pain of fourtie shillinges, to 
be raised be the schireffe and baillies foresaid." 

The reader, by perusing the following extracts from 
the volume of Strutt will be enabled to determine 
whether any of the various games at ball, in which the 
English at that period indulged, are to be classed with 
the game of Golf. 

I. The Ball has given origin to many popular pastimes. 



♦ James III. Pari. 6, cap. 44. f James IV, Pari. 3, cap. 32. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. IS 

and I have appropriated this chapter to such of them as 
are or have been usually practised in the fields and other 
open places. The most antient amusement of this kind 
is distinguished with us by the name of Hand-ball and 
is, if Homer may be accredited, coeval at least with the 
destruction of Troy. Herodotus attributes the invention 
of the ball to the Lydians ;* succeeding writers have 
affirmed, that a female of distinction named Anagalla, a 
native of Corc3rra, was the first who made a ball for the 
purpose of pastime, which she presented to Nausica, the 
daughter of Alcinous, King of Phoeacia, and at the same 
time taught her how to use it.f This piece of history 
is partly derived from Homer, who introduces the 
Princess of Corcyra, with her maidens, amusing them- 
selves at hand-ball. 

" O'er the green mead the sporting virgins play, 
Their shining veils unbound ; along the skies. 
Tost and retost, the ball incessant flies. "J 

Homer has restricted this pastime to the young 
maidens of Corcyra, at least he has not mentioned its 
being practised by the men. In times posterior to 



♦ lib. i t iElian, lib. ii. Volaterranus, lib. xxix. 

X Odyssey, lib. v. Pope's translation. 



14 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

the poet, the game of hand-ball was indiscriminately 
played by both sexes. 

II. It is altogether uncertain at what period the ball 
was brought into England. The author of a manuscript, 
written in the fourteenth century, and containing the 
Life of St. Cuthbert,* says of him, that when he was 
young, " he pleyde atte balle with the children that his 
fellowes were." On what authority this information is 
established, I cannot tell. The venerable Bede, who also 
wrote the life of that saint, makes no mention of baU-play 
but tells us he excelled in jumping, running, wrestling, 
and such exercises as required great muscular exertion ; f 
and among them, indeed, it is highly probable that of the 
ball might be included. 

in. Fitzstephen, who wrote in the thirteenth century, 
speaking of the London schoolboys, says, " Annually upon 
Shrove Tuesday, they go into the fields immediately after 
dinner, and play at the celebrated game of ball ; J every 
party of boys carrying their own ball ; *' for it does not 
appear that those belonging to one school contended with 
those of another, but that the youth- of each school 



♦ Trinity College Library, Oxford, marked Ivil 
t"Sive enim saltu, sive cursu, sive luctatu," &c. Vita Sancti 
Oadbereti, c. i. 
t " Lusum pilaB celebrem," Stephanides de India. 



THE GAME OF GOLF, 15 

diverted themselves apart. Some diflBculty has been 
started by those who have translated this passage, respec- 
ting the nature of the game at ball here mentioned. 
Stowe, considering it as a kind of Goff or bandy-ball, has, 
without the least sanction from the Latin, added the word 
bastion, * meaning a bat or cudgel ; others again have 
taken it for foot-ball, "f which pastime, though probably 
known at the time, does not seem to be a very proper one 
for children : and indeed, as there is not any just autho- 
rity to support an argument on either side, I see no reason 
why it should not be rendered hand-ball.J 

IV. The game of hand-ball is called by the French 
palm-play, § because, says a modern author, originally 
"this exercise consisted in receiving the ball and driving 
it^back again with the palm of the hand. In former 
times they played with the naked hand, then with 
a g'ove, which in some instances was lined ; after- 
wards they bound cords and tendons round their hands, to 
make the ball rebound more forcibly, and hence the 



♦ ** The scholars of every school have their ball or bastion in their 
hands." — Survey of London, 

t Lord Lyttelton, History of Henry the Second, vol. iii. p. 275, and 
the anonymous translator of Fitzstephen, published by Mr. White, 
A.D. 1772. 

II By the word celebrem,, the author might advert to the antiquity of 
the pastime. 

Jiie de paume, and in Latin pUa palmaria. 



16 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

racket derived its origin." * During the reign of Charles 
the Fifth, pahn-play, which may properly enough be de- 
signated hand-tennis, was exceedingly fashionable in 
France, being played by the nobility for large sums of 
money : and when they had lost all that they had about 
them, they would sometimes pledge a part of their 
wearing apparel rather than give up the pursuit of the 
game. The Duke of Burgundy, according to an old 
historian,*!' having lost sixty franks at palm-play with the 
Duke of Bourbon, Messire William de Lyon, and Messire 
Guy de la Trimoullie, and not having money enough to 
pay them, gave his girdle as a pledge for the remainder, 
and shortly afterwards he left the same girdle with the 
Comte d'Eu for eighty franks, which he also lost at tennis. 
V. At the time when tennis-play was taken up seriously 
by the nobility, new regulations were made in the game, 
and covered coui'ts erected, wherein it might be practised 
without any interruption from the weather. In the six- 
teenth century tennis-courts were common in England, 
and the establishment of such places countenanced by the 
example of the monarchs. In the Vocabulary of Oom- 
menius, { we see a rude representation of a tennis-court, 

* Essais Historiques sur Paris, par Saint Foiz, vol, i. p. 160: 
•t Laboureur. Sub an. 1368. 
X Orbis sensualium pictus, published by Hoole, a.d. 1668. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 17 



divided by a line stretched in the middle, and the players 
standing on either side with their rackets ready to receive 
and return the ball, which the rules of the game required 
to be stricken over the line. * 

VI. We have undoubted authority to prove that Henry 
the Seventh was a tennis-player, f and his son Henry, who 
succeeded him, in the early part of his reign was much 
attached to this diversion ; which propensity, as Hall 
assures us, being perceived by "certayne craftie persons 
aboute him, they brought in Frenchmen and Lombards to 
make wagers with hym, and so he lost muche money ; but 
when he perceyved theyr crafte, he eschued the company 
and let them goe." J He did not, however, give up the 
amusement, for we find him, according to the same 
historian, in the thirteenth year of his reign, playing at 
tennis with the Emperor Maximilian for his partner, 
against the Prince of Orange and the Marquis of Branden- 
borow ; " the Earl of Devonshire stopped on the Prince's 

* Hence the propriety of Heywoode's proverb, "thou hast stricken 
the ball under the line," meaning he had failed in his purpose. — John 
Heywoode*s Works, London, 1566. 

t In a MS. register of his expenditures, made in the thirteenth year 
of his reign, and preserved in the Remembrancer's Office, this item 
occurs: Item, for the King's loss at tennis, twelvepence, for jbhe loss 
of balls, threepence." Hence one may infer the game was played 
abroad, for the loss of balls would hardly have happened in a tennis- 
court. 

X In the Life of Henry VIII. the second year of his reign, foL 11. 



- ■ ■- -- 



18 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

side," says my author, "and the Lord Edmond on the 
other side, and they departed even hands on both sides 
after eleven games fully played." * Among the additions 
that King Henry made to Whitehall, if Stowe be correct, 
were "divers fair tennis-courts, bowling-allies, and a 
cock-pit." f 

James the First, if not himself a tennis-player, speaks 
of the pastime with commendation, and recommends it to 
his son as a species of exercise becoming a Prince, f 
Charles the Second frequently diverted himself with 
playing at tennis, and had particular kind of dresses made 
for that purpose. § 

VII. A French writer speaks of a damsel named 
Margot, who resided at Paris, and played at hand-tennis 
with the pahn, and also with the back of her hand, better 
than any man ; and what is most surprising, adds my 
author, at that time the game was played with the naked 
hand, or at best with a double glove. || 

Vin. Hand-ball was formerly a favourite pastime 
among the young persons of both sexes, and in many parts 



•Ibid.,fol. 98. 

t Survey of London, p. 496. J Basilicon Doron, lib. iii. 

§ So had Henry VIII. In the wardrobe rolls we meet with tenes- 
cotes for the King, also tennis-drawers and tennis-slippers. — MSS. 
Harl. 2248 and 6271. 

II A. D. 1424. Saint Foix Essais Historiques sur Paris, vol. i. p. 160. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 19 

of the kingdom it was customary for them to play at this 
game during the Easter holidays for tansy cakes ; but 
why, says Bourne, thoy should prefer hand-ball at this 
time to any other pastime, or play it particularly for a 
tansy cake, I have not been able to find out.* The 
learned Selden conceives the institution of this reward to 
have originated from the Jewish custom of eating bitter 
herbs at the time of the passover. f 

Anciently, the mayor, aldermen, and sheriflF of New- 
castle, accompanied with a great number of burgesses, 
used to go every year, at the feasts of Easter and Whit- 
suntide, to the Forth, \ with the mace, the sword, and the 
cap of maintenance carried before them. The young 
people still continue to assemble there at thosQ seasons 
particularly, and play at hand-ball, or dance, but are no 
longer countenanced by the presence of their govemors.§ 

Fuller mentions the following proverbial saying used by 
the citizens of Chester, "When the daughter is stolen, 
shut Pepper Gate," which he thus explains : " The mayor 
of the city had his daughter, as she was playing at ball in 



* Antiquities of the Common People, chapter zziv. 

t Table Talk, under the article Christmas. 

:;: The little mall of the town. 

§ Mr. Brand in his additions to Bourne. 



20 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Pepper-street, stolen away by a young man through the 
same gate, whereupon he caused it to be shut up." * 

IX. Hand-tennis still continues to be played, though 
under a different name, and probably a different modifica- 
tion of the game ; it is now called Fives, which denomina- 
tion, perhaps, it might receive from having five competi- 
tors on each side, as the succeeding passage seems to 
indicate : When Queen Elizabeth was entertained at 
Elvetham, in Hampshire, by the Earl of Hertford, " after 
dinner, about three o'clock, ten of his lordship's servants, 
all Somersetshire men, in a square greene court before her 
Majesties windowe, did hang up lines, squaring out the 
forme of a tennis-conrt, and making a crosse in the 
middle; in this square theyf played Qyo to five, with 
hand-ball at bord and cord, as they tearme it, to the great 
hking of her highness." J 

XIV. There are many games played with the ball that 
require the assistance of a club or bat, and probably the 
most ancient among them is the pastime now distin- 
guished by the name of Goff. In the northern parts of 
the kingdom Goff is much practised. It requires much 



* FuUer's WortMes, published 1662, p. 188. 
t "Being stript out of their dublets." 

t Progress of Queen Elizabeth, published by Mr, Nichols, vol. ii. p. 
18. This circumstance occurred a.d. 1591. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 21 

room to perform this game with propriety, and therefore 
I presume it is scarcely seen at present in the vicinity of 
the metropolis. It answers to a rustic pastime of the 
Eomans, which they played with a ball of leather stuflFed 
with feathers, called paganica, * and the goff-ball is 
composed of the same materials to this day.f In the 
reign of Edward the Third the Latin name, Cambuca, \ 
was applied to this pastime, and it derived the denomina- 
tion, no doubt, from the crooked club or bat with which 
it was played ; the bat was also called a bandy, from its 
being bent, and hence the game itself is frequently 
written in English bandy-ball. At the bottom of the 
seventh plate the reader will find two figures engaged at 
bandy-ball, and the form of the bandy as it was used early 
in the fourteenth century.§ 

GofiP, according to the present modification of the game, 
is performed with a bat not much unlike the bandy : the 
handle of this instrument is straight, and usually made of 



* Because it was used by the couutry people. 

1 1 haye been told it is sometimes stuffed vath cotton. 

X Cambuta vel cambuca. Baculus incurvatus, a crooked club or 
staff ; the word cambuca was also used for the virga episcoparum, or 
episcopal crosier, because it was curved at the top. — Du Cange, Glos- 
sary in voce Cantbuta. 

§ Taken from a MS. book of prayers, beautifully illuminated, in the 
possession of Francis Douce, Esq., and now, with tbe rest of his books, 
in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (see p. 1). 



22 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

afih; abont four feet and a half in length, ; the curvature 
is affixed to the bottom, faced with horn, and backed with 
lead ; the ball is a little one, but exceedingly hard, being 
made with leather, and, as before observed, stuffed with 
feathers. There are generally two players, who have 
each of them his bat and ball. The game consists in 
driving the ball into certain holes made in the ground, 
which he who achieves the soonest, or in the fewest 
number of strokes, obtains the victory. The Goff lengths, 
or the spaces between the first and last holes, are some- 
times extended to the distance of two or three miles ; the 
number of intervening holes appears to be optional, but 
the balls must be struck into the holes and not beyond 
them ; when four persons play, two of them are sometimes 
partners, and have but one ball, which they strike 
alternately, but every man has his own bandy. 

It should seem that Gfoff was a fashionable game among 
the nobility at the commencement of the seventeenth 
century, and it was one of the exercises with which Prince 
Henry, eldest son to James the First, occasionally amused 
himself, as we learn from the following anecdote recorded 
by a person who was present.* "At another time 



'^ An anonymous author of a MS. in the Harleian Library, marked 
639L 



THE GAME OF GOLF, 23 

playing at Goff, a play not unlike to Palemaille, whilst 
his schoolmaster stood talking with another, and marked 
not his highness warning him to stand further ofiF, the 
prince, thinking he had gone aside, lifted up his goffnslub 
to strike the ball ; mean time one standing by said to 
him, beware that you hit not Master Newton, wherewith 
he, drawing back his hand, said, Had I done so, I had but 
paid my debts.'* 

XV. A pastime called Stow-baU is frequently mentioned 
by the writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
which, I presume, was a species of Go£P, at least it appears 
to have been played with the same kind of ball.* 

XVI. According to the author just now quoted. Pall- 
mall was a pastime not unlike Goff ; but if the definition 
of the former, given by Ootgrave, be correct, it will be 
found to differ materially from the latter, at least as it 
was played in modem times. " Pale-maille," says he, 
"is a game wherein a round box-ball is struck with a 
mallet through a high arch of iron, which he that can do 
at the fewest blows, or at the number agreed upon, wins." 
It is to be observed that there are two of these arches, 
that is, " one at either end of the alley." f ^^^ game of 

* In Littleton's Latin and English Dictionary, the Golf-ball and the 
Stow 'ball are the same. See his explanation of the Latin word 
Paganica. f French and English Dictionary, under Pale-maille. 



24 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Mall was a fasliionable amusement in the reign of Charles 
the Second, and the walk in St. James's Park, now called 
the Mall, received its name from having been appropriated 
to the purpose of playing at Mall, where Charles himself 
and his courtiers frequently exercised themselves in the 
practice of this pastime. The denomination Mall, given 
to the game, is evidently derived from the mallet, or 
wooden hammer, used by the players to strike the ball. 

XVII. Commenius * mentions a game, which he attri- 
butes, indeed, to the children, and tells us it consisted in 
striking a ball with a bandy through a ring fastened into 
ground : a similar kind of pastime, I am informed, exists 
to this day in the north of England ; it is played in a 
ground or alley appropriated to the purpose, and a ball is 
to be driven from one end of it to the other with a mallet, 
the handle of which is about three feet three or four 
inches in length, and so far it resembles Pall-mall ; but 
there is the addition of a ring,f which is placed at an 
equal distance from the sides of the alley, but much 
nearer to the bottom than the top of the ground, and 
through this ring it is necessary for the ball to be passed 
in its progress; the ring is made to turn with great 

* Orbis sensualium pictus, chap, cxxxvi. 

t The ring is not mentioned by Cotgrave. I have, however, been 
told that it was sometimes used in the game of mall. 



. 



THE GAME OF OOLF. 26 

facility npon a swivel, and the two flat sides are distin- 
guished from eacli other ; if the ball passes through the 
one, it is said to be lawful, and the player goes on ; but if 
through the other, it is declared to be unlawful, and he is 
obliged to beat the ball back, and drive it through again, 
until such time as he causes it to pass on the lawful side ; 
this done, he proceeds to the bottom of the ground, where 
there is an arch of iron, through which it is also necessary 
for the ball to be passed, and then the game is completed. 
The contest is decided by the blows given to the ball in 
the performance, and he who executes his task with the 
smallest number is the victor. 

XV Hi. Club-ball is a pastime clearly distinguished 
from Oambuc, or Goff, in the edict above-mentioned, es- 
tablished by Edward the Third, and the difference seems 
to have consisted in the one being played with a curved 
bat, and the other with a straight one. Upon the eighth 
plate are two specimens of club-ball ; the first exhibits a 
female figure in the action of throwing the ball to a man 
who elevates his bat to strike it ; * behind the woman, at 
a little distance, appear, in the original delineation, 
several pther figures of both sexes, waiting attentively to 
catch or stop the ball when returned by the batsman; 



* From a MS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, dated 1344, and 
marked Bodl. 264. 



B 



26 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

these figures have been damaged, and are very indistinct 
in many parts, for which reason I did not think it proper 
to insert them upon the plate. The second specimen of 
Olub-ball, which, indeed, is taken from a drawing more 
ancient than the former,* presents to us two players only, 
and he who is possessed of the bat holds the ball also, 
which he either threw into the air, and struck with his 
bat as it descended, or cast forcibly upon the ground, lind 
beat it away when it rebounded ; the attention of his 
antagonists to catch the ball need not be remarked.f ' 

XIX. From the Olub-ball originated, I doubt not, that 
pleasant and manly exercise, distinguished, in modern 
times, by the name of Cricket; I say in modem times, 
because I cannot trace the appellation beyond the com- 
mencement of the last century, where it occurs in one of 
the songs \ published by D'Urfey ; the first four lines run 
thus ; 

Her was the prettiest fellow 

At foot-ball or at cricket ; 
At hunting chace, or nimble race. 

How featly her could prick it. 



* Froni a genealogical roll of the Eiogs of England, to the time of 
Henry III., in the Royal Library, British Museum, marked 14, B. ▼. 

t It does not appear in either of these instances how the game was 
determined. 

t " Of a noble race was Shenkin." Pills to purge Melancholy, vol. 
ii p. 172, the fourth edition, published 1719. 



THE GAME OF GOLF, 27 

Cricket, of late years, is become exceedingly fashionable, 
being much countenanced by the nobility and gentlemen 
of fortune, who frequently join in the diversion. 

When, by the invention of gunpowder, the use of the 
bow, as a military weapon, was superseded in Scotland, 
the sundry statutes which had been enacted against the 
use of Golf, were permitted to fall into desuetude ; upon 
which this popular game was once more practised without 
any restraint, and soon became the favourite amusement 
of the nobihty and gentry in all parts of the country; 
Even kings themselves did not decline this manly exercise,, 
and it will not be displeasing to the golfers of the present 
day to be informed, in the words of the Scots Magazine^ 
for May, 1792, "That the two last crowned heads that 
ever visited this country, used to practise the Golf in th& 
Links of Leith." 

King Charles I. was extremely fond of this exercise; 
and it is said that, when he was engaged in a party at 
€k)lf, on the Links of Leith, a letter was delivered into his 
hands, which gave him the first account of the insur- 
rection and rebellion in Leland.* On reading which L& 
suddenly called for his coach, and leaning on one of hia 
attendants, and in great agitation, drove to the Palace of 

* See Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, p. 504* 



28 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Holyrood-House, from whence next day he set out for 
London.* 

James, Duke of York, afterwards James IL, was not 
less attaxihed to this elegant diversion. In the years 1681 
and 1682, being then commissioner from the King to 
Parliament, while the Duke resided at Edinburgh with his 
Duchess, and his daughter, the Princess Anne (afterwards 
Queen Anne), a splendid court was kept at the Palace of 
Holyrood-House, to which the principal nobility and 
gentry resorted.f The Duke, though a bigot in his prin- 
ciples, was no C3mic in his manners and pleasures. At 
that time he seemed to haye studied to make himself 
popular among all ranks of men. Balls, plays, and 
masquerades, were introduced for the entertainment of 
both sexes ; and tea, for the first time heard of in Scot- 



* In the above article Charles is said to have set off from Holyrood- 
House for London, the day after he received intelligence of the Irish 
Rebellion. This appears to be a mistake, but in so far as the King's 
love for golf is concerned, it is of no importance. 

The Irish Rebellion broke out under Sir Phellm O'Neale, on the 23d 
of October, and Charles received intelligence of it from Lord Chichester 
and others on the 28th. He immediately communicated this to the 
Scottish Parliament, and despatched a messenger to the English ; but 
far from setting off next day himself, he stayed in Edinburgh till the 
Scottish Parliament was dissolved, which occurred on the 17th of 
November. He was present that day himself, as appears by the 
minutes. He probably left Scotland soen after ; for he tarried at York 
a day or two, which occasioned alarm, and yet reached London on 
25th. 

t See Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, p. 504. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 29 

land, was given as a treat by the Princesses to the Scottish 
ladies who visited at the Abbey, The Duke, however, did 
not confine' himself to diversions within doors. On the 
contrary, he was frequently seen in a party at Golf, on the 
Links of Leith, with some of the nobility and gentry. " I 
remember," says Mr Tytler of Woodhouselee,* "in my 
youth, to have often conversed with an old man, named 
Andrew Dickson, a golf -club maker, who said that, when a 
boy, he used to carry the Duke's golf-clubs, and to run 
before him and announce where the balls fell." Dickson 
was then performing the duty of what is now commonly 
called a fore-cadie. 

From that time till the present the game of Golf has 
continued to be a fashionable amusement in Scotland, par- 
ticularly at Musselburgh and St. Andrews. 

In connection with the anecdotes related above, there is 
a traditionary narrative on the same subject, which tends 
to illustrate the history of Golf as a royal amusement, as 
well as to throw some light on a heraldic device and 
inscription which have of late attracted considerable 
notice. 

In the Oanongate of Edinburgh, on the wall of a very 



* See Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, p. 
504. 



30 OOLFIANA MmCELLANEA. 

ancient-looking house* (No. 77) is a tablet, bearing the 
following coat-armorial : — Three pelicans vnlned :— on a 
chief three mallets. Crest — a dexter hand grasping a 
golf -club — Motto, "Far and sure." 

There are several stories connected with this achieve- 
ment, which, though they all obviously relate to the same 
occurrence, embrace a considerable variety of circumstan- 
ces, and require no small latitude in respect of chronology. 
According to one account, the important match at Gk)lf, 
which it was no doubt meant to commemorate, is said to 
have taken place in the reign of James the Fifth ; and it is 
added that the monarch himself bore a part in it. The 
following notice is perhaps better entitled to the confi- 
dence of the reader, inasmuch as the date of the match, in 
the time of James, Duke of Tork (who, from what has 
been said, appears to have been a noted golfer), corres- 
ponds with the apparent age of the house, much more 
closely than would any similar event supposed to have 
taken place in the reign of so remote an ancestor : 

" Two English noblemen, who, during their attendance 
at the Scottish Court had, among other fashionable amuse- 
ments of the period, occasionally practised Golf, were one 
day debating the question with his Highness the Duke of 

* This house is situated on the north side of the Canongate, a little 
above Queensberry House. 



TEE GAME OF GOLF. 31 

Tork, whether that amasement were peoaliar to Scotland 
or England ; and having some difficulty in coming to an 
issue on the subject, it was proposed to decide the question 
by an appeal to the game itself ; the Englishmen agreeing 
to rest the legitimacy of their national pretensions as 
golfers, together with a large sum of money, on the result 
of a match to be played with his Highness and any 
Scotchman he could bring forward. The Duke, whose 
great aim at that time was popularity, thinking this no 
bad opportunity both for asserting his claim to the charac- 
ter of a Scotchman, and for flattering a national prejudice, 
immediately accepted the challenge ; and, in the mean- 
time, caused diligent inquiry to be made as to where the 
most efficient partner was to be found. The person 
recommended to him for this purpose was a poor man, 
named John Patersone, a shoemaker, who was not only 
reputed the best golf -player of his day, but whose ances- 
tors had been equally celebrated from time immemorial. 

" On the matter being explained to him, Patersone was 
not quite satisfied as to how he should be able to acquit 
himself in such great company; but on the Duke 
encouraging him, he said he would do his best. 

"The match was played, in which the Duke was, of 
course, completely victorious ; and the shoemaker was 
dismissed with a reward corresponding to the importance 



32 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

of bis seryice ; being an equal sbare of tbe stake played 
for. 

" Witb tbis money be immediately built bimself a com- 
fortable bouse in tbe Canongate^ upon tbe wall of wbicb 
tbe Duke caused an escutcbeon to be affixed, bearing tbe 
arms of tbe family of Patersone,* surmounted by tbe 
above crest and motto." 

Tbe inscription alluded to consists of four elegaic verses 
in Latin, written by tbe celebrated Dr. Pitcaime, and 
wbicb is to be found in a collection of jeux d'esprit, en- 
titled " Selecta Poemata Arcbibaldi Pitcaim, Med. Doc- 
toris, Gulielmi Scot a Tbirlstane, Equitis, Tbomae Kin- 
cadii, Oivis Edinburgensis, et Aliorum. Edinburgi 
Excusa anno MDGOXXvn. 

cum vidtor ludo scotis qui proprius esset 
ter tres vidtores post redimitus avos 
patersonus bumo tunc educebat in altum 
banc quae vidtores tot tulit una domum 

I bate no perfon. 

• 

Tbe motto, "I bate no person," being an anagram- 



* " The name of Paterson bears Argent, three pelicans feeding their 
young, or, in nests vert." — Mack. Her, 

" The Patersons, designed of Dalkeith of old, carried the same with 
a chief azure, charged with three moUets argent. (Pont's MS.") — 
Nisbet's Scottish Hei'cMry, Edin. Moccxxn. p. 362. 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 3a 

matical transposition of the letters contained in the 
words, "John Patersone," leaves no room for doubt as 
to the name of the hero who figures in the several 
legends to which the fact in question has given rise. 

It must have been remarked that the scene of all the 
exploits performed by the golfers of the "olden time/' 
was the Links of Leith.* 



♦ John, fifth Lord Balmerino, a descendant of the lord who had been 
the subject of a notable prosecution under the tyrannical government 
of Charles I., was residing (Dec. 24, 1729), in advanced age at his house 
in Coatfield Lane, in Leith. One of his younger sons, named Alexan- 
der (the immediate younger brother of Arthur, who made so gallant a 
death on Tower Hill in 1746), was leading a life of idleness and plea- 
sure at the same place. As this young gentleman was now to be in- 
volved in a bloody afiGeiir which took place in Leith Links, it may be 
worth while to recall that, five years back, he was engaged on the same 
ground in an an affair of gaiety and sport, which yet had some ominous 
associations about it. It was what a newspaper of the day calls ** a 
solemn match at golf." played by him for twenty guineas with Captain 
Porteous f of the Edinburgh Town-guard ; an affair so remarkable on 



t John Porteous was the son of a tailor in Edinburgh. His father 
intended to breed him up to his own trade, but the youthful profligacy 
of the son defeated the parent's prudent intention, and he enlisted into 
the Scotch corps at that time in the service of the States of Holland. 
There he learned military discipline, and on his return to his own 
country in 1715, he was engaged by the Magistrates of Edinburgh to 
discipline the City Guard. For such a task he was eminently qualified, 
not only by his military education, but by his natural activity and re* 
solution ; and, in spite of the profligacy of his character, he received 
a captain's commission in the corps. 

The duty of the Edinburgh City Guard was to preserve the public 
peace when any tumult was apprehended. At executions they gener- 
ally surrounded the scaffold, and it was on an occasion of this kind, in 
17d6, that Porteous, their captain, committed the outrage for which he 
paid the penalty of his life. 

We need hardly remind our readers that a full account of the mur- 
der of Captain Porteous is ^ven in the ** Heart of Midlothian," and 
forms one of the most striking incidents in the novel. 



.^L 



34 GOLPIANA MISCELLANEA. 

In a spirited poem, entiled " The Goff," composed by 
Mr. Thomas Mathison, originally a writer in Edinburgh^ 



account of the stake, that it was attended by the Duke of Hamilton, 
the Earl of Morton, and a vast mob of the great and little besides — 
Alexander Elphinstone ending as the winner. No one could well have 
imagined, as that cheerful game was going on, that both the players 
were, not many years after, to have blood upon their hands, one of 
them to take on the murderer's mark upon this very field. 

On the 23rd of December, 1729, the Honourable Alexander Elphin- 
stone met Lieutenant Swift, of Cadogan's regiment, at the house of Mr. 
Michael Watson, merchant in Leith. Some hot words having risen 
between them, Elphinstone rose to depart, but before he went he 
touched Swift on the shoulder with his sword, and dropped a hint that 
he would expect to receive satisfaction next morning on the Links. 
Next day, accordingly, the two gentlemen met at. eleven in the fore- 
noon in that comparatively public place (as it now appears), and fought 
a single combat with swords, which ended in Swift receiving a mortal 
wound in the breast. 

Elphinstone was indicted for this act before the High Court of Jus* 
ticlary ; but the case was never brought forward, and the young man 
died without molestation at Leith three years after. —Cfiambera* DomeS' 
tie Annals of Scotland. 

The common called Craigentinny, a piece of waste ground which 
once skirted the beach opposite Seafield Toll-bar, and is now entirely 
washed away by the sea, was likewise a great resort of golfers during 
the seventeenth century. The Logans of Restalrig had a piece of 
ground near their seat at Lochend, appropriated to their own amuse- 
ment ; to which the inhabitants of Canongate, and the courtiers of lat- 
ter times, were in the habit of repairing, after the possessions of the 
above family were forfeited. There is a tradition preserved among the 
descendants of the Logans, who are considerable proprietors in Ber- 
wickshire, that Halbert Logan, one of the last of the race who resided 
in the neighbourhood of his ancient patrimonial territory, was one day 
playing here, when a messenger summoned him to attend the Privy 
Council. Despising this, and being also heated by his game, he used 
some despiteful language to the officer, who instantly went to court 
and reported the same ; and a warrant being then issued by the in- 
censed councillors, on a charge of high treason, he was obliged to throw 
down his club, mount a fleet horse, and fly to England. — Chambers* 
Traditions of EdinhwrgK 



THE GAMS OF GOLF. 36 

and afterwards Minister of Brechin, there is the following 
allnsion to the locality which we have just specified : 

" North from Edina eight furlongs and more, 
Lies that famed field, on Fortha's sounding shore. 
Here, Caledonian chiefs for health resort, 
Confirm their sinews by the manly sport. 
Macdonald and unmatched Dalrymple ply 
Their ponderous weapons, and the green defy : 
Eattray for skill, and Crosse for strength renown'd, 
Stuart and Leslie beat the sandy ground ; 
And Brown and Alston, chiefs well known to fame, 
And numbers more the Muse forbears to name. 
Gigantic Biggar here full oft is seen, 
Like huge Behemoth on an Lidian green ; 
His bulk enormous scarce can 'scape the eyes ; 
Amazed spectators wonder how he plies. 
Yea, here great Forbes,* patron of the just, . 
The dread of villans, and the good man's trust, 
When spent in toils in serving human kind. 
His body recreates, and unbends his mind.f 



* Duncan Forbes, Esq., Lord President of the Court of Session in 
Scotland. It is reported of this great man, that he was so fond of 
€k)lf, as to play on the sands of Leith when the Links were covered 
with snow. He died December 10, 1747. 

In the " Lives of Simon, Lord Lovat, and Duncan Forbes of Cullo- 
den," we find the following notice of his playing Golf with his son on 
the Links of Musselburgh :— " This day (Nov. 1, 1728), after a very 
hard pull, I got the better of my son at the gouf in Musselbuigh links. 
If he was as good at any other thing as he is at that, there might be 
some hopes of him."— if iS. at Culloden House. 

t The names of the Players, left blank in "first edition of Mathison's 
poem, are supplied from the Record Book of the Honourable Company 
of Golfers, all of whom were Members of the Club. 



36 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Since the preceding sheets were thrown ofiP, copies of 
two very curious instruments, under the Privy Seal of 
Scotland, have been obtained from the Public Archives. 
These throw considerable light on the history of Golf, 
about the beginning of the 17th century, the period when 
it seems to have been in greatest repute in Scotland. 

The first is an appointment by James VL, in favour of 
William Mayne, to the oflBce of fledger, bower, club- 
maker, and spear-maker to his Majesty, and is dated at 
Holyrood-House, 4th April, 1603 ; the other is a similar 
appointment, in favour of James Melvill, and others, to 
the office of Golf -ball makers, and is dated at Salisbury, 
5th August, 1618. 

REGISTRUM SEORETI SIGILLL 

Lib. Lxxnj. 234. 

Ane Letter maid to Williame Mayne, bower burges of 
Edinburgh, makand and constituand the said Williame, 
during all the dayis of his lyif-tyme, Mr. fledger, bower, 
club-maker, and speir-maker to his Hienes, alsweill for 
gayme as weir, and gevand to him the offices thairof, with 
all feyis and casualties apperteining and belanging thairto, 
and quairof onie vtheris persounes quhatsimieuir that hes 
vseit and exercit the saidis offices of befoir hes beine in 
vse, with command thairin to his Hienes thesaurer, present 
and to cum, to reddelie ansuer and mak payment to the 
said Williame Mayne, of the zeirlie fie and dewtie vsit, and 



THE GAME OF GOLF. 37 

wount to be payit for the dischargeing of the saidis offices, 
to onie persoun or persounes in onie tyme bigane, indming 
all the dayis of the said Williames lyfetime, etc. At 
Halirudhous, the fourt day of Aprile, Im. sex hundrethe 
thrie zeiris. 

Per Signaturam, 



EEGISTEUM SEOEETI SIGILLL 

Lib. lxxxvij. 169. 

Ane Letter maid ma^and mentioun that our Sonerane 
Lord ynderstanding that thair is no small quantitie of gold 
and siluer transported zeirlie out of his Hienes kingdome 
of Scotland for bjdng of golf ballis, vsit in that kingdome 
for recreatioun of his Majesties subjectis, and his Hienes 
being eamestlie dealt with by James Melvill, in favors of 
Williame Bervick and his associate, who onlie makis, or 
can mak golf ballis within the said kingdome for the pre- 
sent, and were the inbringeris off the said trade thair : 
The said James Melvill vndertaking by them, and vther 
puir peopill (who now for laik of calling wantis manten- 
ance), whome he sail adjoyne to the said Williame 
Bervick and his associate, to fumische the said kingdome 
with better golf ballis, and at ane moir easie rate than 
have beine sauld there these manie zeiris b3rpast : In con- 
sideration quhairof, his Majestic, bothe tendring the 
generall weill of his subjectis and increase of vertew 
within his kingdome, geving and granting vnto the said 
James Melvill, with Williame Bervick and his said asso- 
ciate, and sik vtheris as the said James Melvill sail 
adjoyne to them, onlie libertie to mak golf ballis within 
the said kingdome for the spaice of tuentie ane zeiris 



38 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

allanerlie, dischairging all vtheris alsweill of making as 
selling any golf ballis maid within the Hngdome hot those 
that ar maid by the said James, his servantis, and 
Williame Bervick and his associate : Provyding aUwayis, 
that the (said) merchandis sail not be restranit from im- 
porting and selling the said golfe ballis so brocht home or 
maid by the said patentis : Provyding lykwayis, that the 
saidis patentaris exceid not the pryce of four schillingis 
money of this realme for everie ane of the saidis golfe 
ballis as for the pryce thairof : And to the effect the said 
James and his associates may have the benefite of his 
Majestie's grant, his Hienes by these presentis dothe 
expresslie prohibite and dischairge and forbid all and 
sindrie his Majesties subjectis, and yther persounes qnhat- 
snmever, that nane of them presume, nor tak vpon hand, 
to mak or sell anie golf ballis maid within the said 
kingdome, vtheVis then the said James Melvill and his 
deputies, with the said Williame Bervick and his associate, 
for the spaice foirsaid, or to utter or sell the samjme to his 
Hienes subjectis vpone quhatsumever coUour or pretence, 
vnder the pain of escheitting of all suche ballis so to be 
maid or sauld; the ane halff of the benefite aryssing 
thairby to come to our Souerane Lordis use, and the 
vther halfp to the use of the said James Melvill and 
his assignayis only : And that the said letter be extendit 
in the best form, with all clauses neidfull, with power in 
the samjrn to the said James, by himself, his deputies, and 
servantis, in his name, to seirche, seik, and apprehend all 
sik golf ballis as sal be maid or sauld within his Hienes 
said kingdome vtherways then according to the trew 
meaning of his Majesties grant, and to escheit the samyn 
in maner aboue specifeit. And for the better tryell heirof, 
his Majestic ordanes the said James Melvill to have ane 



TBB GAME OF GOLF. 39 

pEuticolar stamp of his awin, and to cause mark and stamp 
all sache ballis maid be him and his foirsaidia thairwitli ; 
and that all ballis maid within the kingdome fonnd to be 
Ttherways Btamped aall be escheated in maner foiraaid. 
Gtevin at oar Court of Sallisbery the fyft day of August, 
the zeir of tJod Ih.tio. and auchteine zeiris. 

Per Signaturam. 



40 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 



THE GOFF: 

AN HEBOI-OOMIOAL POEM IN THREE CANTOS.* 

Ccetera, quce vacuas tenutssent carmina mentes, 
Omnia jam volgata, — ^Vnio. 

THOMAS Mathison, the Author of this Poem, was a 
native of Edinburgh, and bom before the year 1720, was 
originally an agent or writer in his native town. At the 
time when he wrote The Gopf, which was first published 
at Edinburgh in 1743, he apparently was personally 
acquainted with President Forbes, mentioned in the Poem 
as "great Forbes, patron of the just;" and it may have 
been at that gentleman's suggestion that he turned his 
attention to the Church. He was licensed by the Presby- 
tery of Dalkeith, November 1st, 1748, and for a time 
officiated in a Presbyterian congregation in the North of 
England. In September, 1750, he was ordained assistant 
and successor to William Hepburn, minister of Inverkeilor ; 

* Edinburgh : J. Cochrane & Co., 1743, 8vo. 
Second Edition,— V^i&t Hill, Edinburgh, 1793, 4to. 



TEE aOFF. 41 



and was translated to the second cHarge of the parish of 
Brechin in July, 1794. He died June 19, 1760. Puhli" 
cations; "The Goff," 8vo, Edin. 1743; re-printed 4to, 
1793. " A Sacred Ode, occasioned by the late successes 
attending the British Arms," Edin. 1760, 8yo. 



THE GOFF. 



GoFP, and the Man, I sing, who, emlous, plies 
The jointed club ; whose balls invade the skies ; 
Who from Edina's tow'rs, his peaceful home, 
In quest of fame o'er LetJuis plains did roam. 
Long toil'd the hero, on the verdant field, 
Strain'd his stout arm the mighty club to wield ; 
Such toils it cost, such labours to obtain 
The bays of conquest, and the bowl to gain. 

thou GoLFiNiA, Goddess of these plains ! 
Great Patroness of GOFF 1 indulge my strains ; 
Whether beneath the thorn-tree shade you lie. 
Or from Mercerian tow'rs the game survey, 
Or, round the green the flying ball you chase. 
Or make your bed in some hot sandy ^ooe : 
Leave your much-lov'd abode, inspire his lays 
Who sings of GofF, and sings thy fav'rite's praise. 

North from Edina eight furlongs and more 



42 aOLFlANA MI8CMLLANBA. 

Lies that fam'd field, on Fork's sounding shore. 
Here, Caledonian Chiefs for health resort, 
Confirm their sinews by the manly sport. 
MacdancUd and nnmatch*d Dalrymple ply 
Their ponderous weapons, and the green defy ; 
Eattray for skill, and Crosse for strength renown*d, 
Stuart and Leslie beat the sandy ground. 
And Brown and Alston, Chiefs well known to fame. 
And numbers more the Muse forbears to name. 
Cigantic Biggar here full oft is seen. 
Like huge behemoth on an Indian green ; 
His bulk enormous scarce can 'scape the eyes. 
Amazed spectators wonder how he plies. 
Yea, here great Forbes, patron of the just. 
The dread of villains and the good man's trust. 
When spent with toils in serving human kind. 
His body recreates, and unbends his mind. 

Bright Phoebus now had measured half the day, 
And warm'd the earth with genial noon-tide ray : 
Forth rush*d Castalio and his daring foe. 
Both arm'd with clubs, and eager for the blow. 
Of finest ash Castalio*s shaft was made, 
Pond'rous with lead, and fenc'd with horn the head^ 
(The work of Dickson, who in Letha dwells. 
And in the art of making clubs excels), 



THE GOFF. 43 



Whicli late beneath great Claro*8 arm did bend, 
But now is wielded by his greater friend. 

Not with more fury Norria cleay'd the main, 
To pour his thund'ring arms on guilty Spain ; 
Nor with more haste brave Haddock bent his course, 
To guard Minorca from Iberian force, — 
Than thou, intrepid hero, urg*d thy way. 
O'er roads and sands, impatient for the fray. 

With equal warmth Pygmalion fast pursu'd, 
(With courage oft are little wights endued), 
'Till to Golfinia's downs the heroes came. 
The scene of combat, and the field of fame. 

Upon a verdant bank, by Floea grac'd. 
Two sister Fairies found the Goddess plac'd ; 
Propp'd by her snowy hand her head reclin'd, 
Her curling locks hung waving in the wind. 
She eyes intent the consecrated green. 
Crowded with waving clubs and vot'ries keen. 
And hears the prayers of youths to her address'd. 
And from the hollow face relieves the ball distress'd. 
On either side the sprightly Dryads sat, 
And entertain'd the Goddess with their chat. 

First Vebdubilla, thus : rural Queen I 
What Chiefs are those that drive along the green ? 
With brandish'd clubs the mighty heroes threat, 



44 GOLPIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Their eager looks foretell a keen debate. 

To whom GoLFiNiA : Nymph, your eyes behold 

Pygmalion stout, Castalio brave and bold. 

From silver lemons banks Castalio came. 

But first on Andrean plains he courted fame. 

His sire, a Druid, taught (one day of seven) 

The paths of virtue, the sure road to heaven. 

In Pictish capital the good man past 

His virtuous life, and there he breath'd his last. 

The son now dwells in fair Edinas town. 

And on our sandy plains pursues renown. 

See low Pygmalion, skilled in Qoffing art, . 

Small is his size, but dauntless is his heart : 

Fast by a desk in Edina domes he sits. 

With saids and sicklikes length'ning out the writs. 

For no mean prize the rival Chiefs contend. 

But full rewards the victor's toils attend. 

The vanquished hero for the victor fills 

A mighty bowl containing thirty gills ; 

With noblest liquor is the bowl replete ; 

Here sweets and acids, strength and weakness meet. 

From Indian isles the strength and sweetness flow. 

And Tagv^s* banks their golden fruits bestow ; 

Gold Caledonians lucid streams controul 

The fiery spirits, and fulfil the bowl ; 



THE GOFF, 45 



For Albion's peace and Albion a friends they pray, 
And drown in punch the labours of the day. 

The Goddess spoke, and thus Gaubolia pray'd : 
Permit to join in brave Pygmalion's aid, 
0*er each deep road the hero to sustain, 
And guide his ball to the desired plain. 

To this the Goddess of the manly sport : 
Go, and be thou that daring Ohief's support. 
Let Vebdttbilla be Castcdio's stay : 
I from this flow'ry seat will view the fray. 
She said : the nymphs trip nimbly o'er the green. 
And to the combatants approach unseen. 



OANTO II. 

Ye rural powers that on these plains preside, 
Ye nymphs that dance on Fortha's flow*ry side. 
Assist the Muse that in your fields delights, 
And guide her course in these uncommon flights. 
But chief, thee, Golfina ! I implore ; 
High as thy balls instruct my Muse to soar : 
So may thy green for ever crowded be. 
And balls on balls invade the azure sky. 

Now at that hole the Chiefs begin the game, 



46 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Which from the neighboring thorn-tree takes its name ; 

Ardent they grasp the ball-compelling clubs. 

And stretch their arms t' attack the little globes. 

Not as our warriors brandish'd dreadful arms, 

When fierce Bellona sounded war's alarms. 

When conqu'ring Cromwell stain'd fair Eska*s flood. 

And soak'd her banks with Caledonian blood ; 

Or when our bold ancestors madly fought. 

And Olans engag'd for trifles or for nought. 

That Fury now from our bless*d fields is driv'n. 

To scourge unhappy nations doom'd by heav*n. 

Let Kouli Kan destroy the fertile East, 

Victorious Vernon thunder in the West ; 

Let horrid war pervade perfidious Spain, 

And George assert his empire o'er the main : 

But on our plains Brittania*s sons engage. 

And void of ire the sportive war they wage. 

Lo, tatter'd Irus, who their armour bears. 
Upon the green two little pyramids rears ; 
On these they place two balls with careful eye. 
That with Clarindas breasts for colour vye, 
The work of Bohson, who, with matchless art. 
Shapes the firm hide, connecting ev'ry part. 
Then in a socket sets the well-stitch'd void. 
And thro* Che eyelet drives the downy tide ; 



s 



• I 



THE GOFF. 47 



Orowds urging crowds the forceful brogue impels, 
The feathers harden and the leather swells ; 
He crams and sweats, yet crams and urges more. 
Till scarce the turgid globe contains its store : 
The dreaded falcon's pride here blended lies 
With pigeons' glossy down of various dyes ; 
The lark's small pinions join the common stock. 
And yellow glory of the martial cock. 

Soon as Hyperion gilds old Andrea* 8 spires, 
From bed the artist to his cell retires ; 
With bended back, there plies his steely awls, 
And shapes, and stuffs, and finishes the balls. 
But when the glorious God of day has driv'n 
His flaming chariot down the steep of heav'n, 
He ends his labour, and with rural strains 
Enchants the lovely maids and weary swains : 
As thro' the streets the blythsome piper plays, 
In antick dance they answer to his lays ; 
At every pause the ravish'd crowd acclaim. 
And rend the skies with tuneful Bohsons name. 
Not more rewarded was old Amphion^a song ; 
That rear'd a town, and this drags one along. 
Such is fam'd Bohson, who in Andrea thrives. 
And such the balls each vig'rous hero drives. 

First, bold Castalio, ere he struck the blow. 



48 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Lean'd on his club, and thus addressed his foe : 
Dares weak Pygrrudion this stout arm defy, 
Which brave Matthias doth with terror try 1 
Strong as he is, Moravio owns my might, 
Distrust his vigour, and declines the fight. 
Eenown'd Clephanio I constrained to yield. 
And drove the haughty vet'ran from the field. 
Weak is thine arm, rash youth, thy courage vain ; 
Vanquished with shame you'll curse the fatal plain. 
The half-struck balls your weak endeavours mock, 
Slowly proceed, and soon forget the stroke. 
Not so the orb eludes my thundering force ; 
Thro' fields of air it holds its rapid course ; 
Swift as the balls from martial engines driv'n, 
Streams like a comet thro' the arch of heav'n. 

Vaunter, go on {Pygmalion thus replies) ; 
Thine empty boasts with justice I despise. 
Hadst thou the strength Goliah's spear to wield, 
Like its great master thunder on the field. 
And with that strength CulloderCs matchless art. 
Not one unmanly thought should daunt my heart. 
He said, and sign'd to Ims, who, before. 
With frequent warnings filled the sounding shore. 

Then great Castalio his whole force collects. 
And on the orb a noble blpw dirept^* 



THE GOFF. 49 



Swift as a thought the ball obedient flies. 
Sings high in air, and seems to cleave the skies ; 
Then on the level plain its fury spends ; 
And Iru8 to the Chief the welcome tidings sends. 
Next in his turn Pygmalion strikes the globe : 
On th' upper half descends the erring club ; 
Along the green the ball confounded scours ; 
No lofty height the ill-sped stroke impow'rs. 

Thus, when the trembling hare descries the hotrnds, 
She from her whinny mansion swiftly boxmds ; 
0*er hills and fields she scours, outstrips the wind ; 
The hounds and huntsmen follow far behind. 

Gambolia now afforded timely aid. 
She o'er the sand the fainting ball conveyed, 
Eenew'd its force, and urged it on its way. 
Till on the summit of the hiU it lay. 

Now all on fire the Chiefs their orbs pursue, 
"With the next stroke the orbs their flight renew ; 
Thrice round the ground they urge the whizzing ball, 
And thrice three holes to great Castalio fall ; 
The other six Pygmalion bore away. 
And sav'd a while the honours of the day. 

Had some brave champion of the sandy field 
The Chiefs attended, and the game beheld, 



/ 



50 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

With ev'ry stroke liis wonder had increased. 
And emlous fires had kindled in his breast. 



CANTO III. 

Harmonious Nine, that from Parnassus view 
The subject world, and all that's done below ; 
Who from oblivion snatch the patriot's name, 
And to the stars extol the hero's fame, 
Bring each your lyre, and to my song repair. 
Nor think Golfinia's train below the Muses's care. 

Declining Sol with milder beams invades 
The Scotian fields, and lengthens out the shades ; 
Hastes to survey the conquered golden plains, 
Where captive Indians mourn in Spanish chains ; 
To gilt the waves where hapless Hosier dy'd. 
Where Vernon late proud Bourbons force defy'd. 
Triumphant rode along the wat'ry plain, 
Britannia s glory and the scourge of Spain, 

Still from her seat the Power of GOFF beheld 
Th' unweary'd heroes toiling on the field : 
The light-foot Fairies in their labours share, 
Each nymph her hero seconds in the war ; 
Pygmalion and Gambolia there appear, 



THE QOFF. 61 



And Yebdubella with Castalio here. 
The Qoddess saw, and op'd the book of Fate, 
To search the issne of the grand debate. 
Bright silver plates the sacred leaves infold, 
Bound with twelve shining clasps of solid gold. 
The wond rons book contains the fate of all 
That lift the club, and strike the missive ball ; 
Mysterious rhymes, that thro' the pages flow, 
The past, the present, and the future show, 
GoLFiNiA reads the fate-foretelling lines. 
And soon the sequel of the war divines ; 
Sees conquest doom'd CastcUws toils to crown, 
Pygmalion doomed superior might to own. 
Then at her side Viotobia straight appears. 
Her sister Goddess, arbitress of wars. 
Upon her head a wreath of bays she wore. 
And in her hand a laurel sceptre bore ; 
Anxious to know the will of Fate, she stands. 
And waits obsequious on the Queen's commands. 

To whom GoLPiNiA : Fate-fuMling maid. 
Hear the Fates' will, and be their will obey'd : 
Straight to the field of fight thyself convey, 
"Where brave Castalio and Pygmalion stray ; 
There bid the long-protracted combat cease. 
And with thy bays Castalio' a temples grace* 



^ 



62 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

She said ; and swift, as Hermes from above 
Shoots to perform the high behests of JovB, 
ViOTOEiA from her sister's presence flies, 
Pleas'd to bestow the long-disputed prize. 

Meanwhile the Chiefs for the last hole contend. 
The last great hole, which should their labours end ; 
For this the Chiefs exert their skill and might. 
To drive the balls, and to direct their flight. 
Thus two fleet coursers for the Eoyal plate 
(The others distanc'd), run the final heat ; 
With all his might each gen'rous racer flies. 
And all his art each panting rider tries. 
While show'rs of gold and praises warm his breast. 
And gen'rous emulation flres the beast. 

His trusty club Pygmalion dauntless plies : 
The ball ambitious climbs the lofty skies ; 
But soon, ah I soon, descends upon the fleld, 
The adverse winds the laboring orb repell'd. 
Thus when a fowl, whom wand'ring sportsmen scare, 
Leaves the sown land, and mounts the fields of air. 
Short is his flight ; the fiery Furies wound, 
And bring him tumbling headlong to the ground. 

Not so Castalio lifts th* unerring club. 
But with superior art attacks the globe ; 
The well-struck ball the stormy wind beguird, 



TH^ QOPF. 53 



And like a swallow skiinm'd along the field. 

An harmless sheep, by Fate decreed to fall. 
Feels the full fury of the rapid ball ; 
Full on her front the raging bullet flew, 
And sudden anguish seiz'd the silent ewe ; 
Stagg'ring, she falls upon the verdant plain, 
Gonyulsive pangs distract her wounded brain. 
Great Pak beheld her stretch'd upon the grass, 
Nor unreveng'd permits the crime to pass : 
Th' Arcadian God, with grief and fury stung, 
Snatch'd his stout crook, and fierce to vengeance sprung ; 
His faithful dogs their master's steps pursue ; 
The fleecy flocks before their father bow, — 
With bleatings hoarse salute him as he strode. 
And frisking lambkins dance around the God. 
The sire of sheep then lifted from the ground 
The panting dam, and piss*d upon the wound : 
The stream divine soon eas'd the mother's pain ; 
The wise immortals never piss in vain : 
Then to the ball his homy foot applies ; 
Before his foot the kick'd offender flies ; 
The hapless orb a gaping face detained, 
Deep sunk in sand the hapless orb remained. 

As VebdubHiLA mark'd the ball's arrest. 
She with resentment fired Castalio's breast ; 



54 aOLFIAlTA MISOELLANBA. 

The nymph assmn'd Patrico*s shape and mien, 
Like great Patrico stalk'd along the green ; 
80 well his manner and his accent feign'd, 
CastcUio deem*d Patrtco's self complained. 
Ah, sad disgrace 1 see rustic herds invade 
QoLFmiAN plains, the angry Fairy said. 
Tour ball abus'd, your hopes and projects crost. 
The game endangered, and the hole nigh lost : 
Thus brutal Pak resents his wounded ewe, 
Tho' Ohance, not you, did guide the fatal blow. 

Incens'd Castalto makes her no replies, 
T* attack the God, the furious mortal flies ; 
His iron-headed club around he swings. 
And fierce at Pan the pond'rous weapon flings. 
Affrighted Pan the dreadful missive shunn'd ; 
But blameless Tray received a deadly wound : 
Ill-fated Tray no more the flocks shall tend, 
In anguish doom'd his shortened life to end. 
Nor could great Pan afford a timely aid ; 
Ghreat Pan himself before the hero fled : 
Even he, a Q-od, a mortal's fury dreads, 
And far and fast from bold Castalio speeds. 

To free the ball the Chief now turns his mind. 
Flies to the bank where lay the orb confin'd ; 
The pond'rous club upon the ball descends. 



TSU GOLF. 65 



Involv'd in dust th* exulting orb ascends ; 
Their loud applause the pleas'd spectators raise ; 
The hollow bank resounds Castalio*8 praise. 

A mighty blow Pygmalion then lets fall ; 
Straight from the impulsive engine starts the ball, 
Answ'ring its master's just design, it hastes. 
And from the hole scarce twice two clubs' length rests. 

Ah ! what avails thy skill, since Fate decrees 
Thy conqu'ring foe to bear away the prize ? 

Full fifteen clubs* length from the hole he lay, 
A wide cart-road before him cross'd his way ; 
The deep-cut tracks th' intrepid Chief defies ; 
High o'er the road the ball triumphing flies. 
Lights on the green, and scours into the hole : 
Down with it sinks depress'd Pygmalion's soul. 
Seiz'd with surprise, th' affrighted hero stands, 
And feebly tips the ball with trembling hands ; 
The creeping ball its want of force complains, 
A grassy tuft the loit'ring orb detains. 
Surrounding crowds the victor's praise proclaim, 
The echoing shore resounds CastaJws name. 

For him Pygmxdion must the bowl prepare. 
To him must yield the honours of the war, 
On Fame's triimiphant wings his name shall soar 
Till time shall end, or OOFFING be no more. 



56 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



mSTOEIOAL SKETCH OF THE EOYAL SCOTTISH 

GAME OF GOLF * 

The game of Golf (or Scotice, Goff) is a pastime, 
although not entirely unknown in England, more peculiar 
to Scotland, and has long been a favourite with the 
citizens of Edinburgh. In the Teutonic, or German, Jcolhe 
signifies a club ; and, in Holland, the same word, pro- 
nounced holf, describes a game— of which the Dutch are 
very fond — ^in some respects akin to the Scottish pastime 
of golf. 

At what period this amusement came to be practised in 
Scotland is not precisely known; but, from the circum- 
stance ol foot-hall being prohibited by a statute in 1424, 
in which no mention is made of golf, while it is specially 
noticed in a later enactment, 1457, the presumption is 
that the game was unknown at the former period, and 
consequently that its introduction must have been about 
the middle of the fifteenth century. 

The prohibitory laws against foot-ball and golf were 
enacted that these pastimes might not interfere with the 

* From Kay's JEdirUmrgh Portraits, 1842, and written by James 
Paterson, author of the History cf Ayrshire, etc. 



BOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF GOLF. 67 

practice of archery, the bow being then an instrument of 
war, in the use of which the Scots sometimes fatally 
experienced the superiority of their English neighbours. 
But a change haying been effected by the invention of 
gunpowder, archery was no longer of national importance 
as a military exercise— the laws for its encouragement fell 
into desuetude — ^and the people were permitted again to 
indulge, without restraint, in the popular recreation. 

GoK was a favourite amusement of the citizens of Perth 
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; so much 
so, that the younger portion of the community could not 
withstand its fascination even on the Sabbath-day. In the 
kirk-session records is an entry, 2nd January, 1604, in 
which the "visitors report, that good conduct was keeped 
the last Sabbath, except that they found some young boys 
pla3dng at the gowf in the North Inch in the time of 
preaching, afternoon, who were warned then by the 
officiars to compear before the session this day." They 
accordingly appeared, and the ringleader, Eobert Eobert- 
son, was sentenced "to pay ane merk to the poor," and 
ordained, with his companions, "to compear the next 
Sabbath, into the place of public repentance, in presence 
of the whole congregation." 

Early in the reign of James VI., the business of club- 
maMng had become one of some importance. By "ane 

D 



58 OOLFIANA MlSOJ^LLAIfjeA. 

letter " of his Majesty, dated Holyrood House, 4th April, 
1603, "William Mayne, bower, burgess of Edinburgh,'* is 
made and constituted, "during all the days of his lyf- 
time, master fledger, bower, club-maker, and speir-maker' 
to his Hieness, alsweill for game as weir;" and, in 1618 
the game of golf appears to have been so generally in 
practice, that the manufacturing of balls was deemed 
worthy of special protection. In "ane" other letter of 
James VI„ dated Salisbury, 5th August, of the above year, 
it is stated that there being " no small quantity of gold 
and silver transported zeirly out of his Hieness' kingdom 
of Scotland for bpng of golf-halls,'* James Melvill and 
others are granted the sole right of supplying that article 
within the kingdom, prohibiting all others from making 
or selling them "for the space of twenty-one zeirs." The 
price of a ball was fixed at " four schillings money of this 
realm;" and "for the better tryell heiroff, his Majestie 
ordanes the said James Melvill to have ane particular 
stamp of his awin, and to cause mark and stamp all suche 
ballis maid be him and his forsaidis thairwith ; and that 
all ballis maid within the kingdome found to be otherwais 
stamped sail be escheated." 

From this period the game of golf took firm hold as 
one of the national pastimes — ^practised by all ranks of the 
people, and occasionally countenanced by royalty itself. 



BOTAL SCOTTISH GAMM OT GOLF. 69 

Eyen kings themselves, says a writer in the Scots 
Magazine for 1792, did not decline the princely sport; 
and it will not be displeasing to the Society of Edinburgh 
Gblfers to be informed, that the two last crowned heads 
that ever visited this country, used to practise the golf in 
the Links of Leith, now occupied by the Society for the 
same purpose. 

King Charles I. was extremely fond of this exercise ; 
and it is said that, when he was engaged in a party at golf 
on the Links of Leith, a letter was delivered into his 
hands, which gave him the first accoxmt of the insurrec- 
tion and rebellion in Lreland ; on reading which, he 
suddenly called for his coach, and leaning on one of his 
attendants, and in great agitation, drove to the Palace of 
Holyrood House, from whence next day he set out for 
London. 

In the " Eules of the Thistle Golf Club, with Historical 
Notices relative to the Progress of the Game of Golf in 
Scotland" — a thin octavo — ^by Mr. John Oundell, privately 
printed at Edinburgh in 1824, the author observes in a 
note that there is an evident mistake in saying that 
Charles set off the next day after he had received news of 
the Bebellion, as, in point of fact, he stayed in Scotland 
till the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament. This mis« 



66 QOLFIANA MlSCElLAlfEA. 



take does not^ howeyer, affect the truth of Charles's 
partiality for golf. 

The Duke of York, afterwards James 11., was not less 
attached to this elegant diyersion. In the year 1681 and 
1682, being then Commissioner from the King to Parlia- 
ment, while the Duke resided at Edinburgh with his 
Duchess, and his daughter the Princess Anne, afterwards 
Queen, a splendid court was kept at the Palace of Holy- 
rood House, to which the principal nobility and gentry 
resorted. The Duke, though a bigot in his principles, 
was no cynic in his manners and pleasures. At that time 
he seemed to have studied to make himself popular among 
all ranks of men. Balls, plays, masquerades, etc., were 
introduced for the entertainment of both sexes ; and tea, 
for the first time heard of in Scotland, was given as a 
treat by the Princesses to the Scottish ladies who visit at 
the Abbey. The Duke, however, did not confine himself 
merely to diversions within doors. He was frequently 
seen in a party at golf on the Links of Leith with some of 
the nobility and gentry. " I remember," says Mr. Tytler 
of Woodhouselee, " in my youth to have often conversed 
with an old man, named Andrew Dickson, a golf club- 
maker, who said that, when a boy, he used to carry the 
Duke's golf-clubs, and to run before him and announce 



BOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF GOLF. 61 

where the balls fell." Dickson was then performing the 
duty of what is now commonly called Skfore'Cadie. 

Connected with a house of some antiquity in the Oanon- 
gate of Edinburgh — said to have been built by one John 
Patersone, an excellent golf -player — ^the following tradi- 
tion is preserved : — ^During the residence of the Duke of 
York in Edinburgh, that Prince frequently resorted to 
Leith Links in order to enjoy the sport of golfing, of 
which he was very fond. Two English noblemen, who 
followed his Court, and who boasted of their expertness in 
golfing, were one day debating the question with his 
Boyal Highness whether that amusement were peculiar to 
Scotland or England; and having some difficulty in 
coming to an issue on the subject, it was proposed to 
decide the question by an appeal to the game itself ; the 
Englishmen agreeing to rest the legitimacy of their 
national pretensions as golfers, together with a large sum 
of money, on the result of a match, to be played with his 
Royal Highness and any Scotsman he could bring forward. 
The Duke, whose great aim at that time was popularity, 
thinking this no bad opportunity for both asserting his 
claims to the character of a Scotsman, and for flattering a 
national prejudice, immediately accepted the challenge ; 
and, in the meantime, caused diligent inquiry to be made 
as to where the most efficient partner could be found, 



62 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

The person recommended to him for this purpose was a 
poor man, named John Patersone, a shoemaker, who was 
not only the best golf-player of his day, but whose 
ancestors had been equally celebrated from time im- 
memorial. On the matter being explained to him, 
Patersone expressed great unwillingness to enter into a 
match of such consequence ; but, on the Duke encourag- 
ing him, he promised to do his best. The match was 
played, in which the Duke and his humble partner were 
of course victorious, and the latter was dismissed with a 
reward corresponding to the importance of his service — 
being an equal share of the stake played for. With this 
money he immediately built a comfortable house in the 
Oanongate, in the wall of which the Duke caused a stone 
to be placed, bearing the arms of the family of Patersone, 
surmounted by a crest and motto, appropriate to the 
distinction which its owner had acquired as a golfer. 

Patersone*s house is No. 77, on the north side of the 
Oanongate. The armorial bearing is placed near the top 
of the building, and consists of three pelicans vulned, on 
a chief three muUets^-crest, a dexter hand grasping a golf 
club — ^motto, " Far and sure." On the front wall of the 
second flat is a tablet, on which the following epigram, by 
Dr. Pitcaime, commemorative of the event, is engraved ; — 



BOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF OOLF. 63 



" Cmn victor ludo, Scotis qui proprius, esset, 
Ter tres yictores post redimitos avos, 
Patersonus, hnmo tunc educebat in altum 
Hanc, quse victores tot tulit una, domum. 



«» 



Undemeath this distich is placed the singular motto of 
— '* I hate no person/* which is found to be an anagram- 
matical transposition of the letters contained in the words 
"lohn Patersone." The Patersons of Dalkeith, of old, 
carried three pelicans feeding their young, or in nests, 
vert, with a chief azure, charged with mullets urgent. A 
commentator on the Latin poems of Dr. Pitcaime (said to 
be Lord Hailes), in the Edinburgh Magazine, remarks, 
that the above epigram seems the least spirited one '' in 
the whole collection." It had the fortune to be recorded 
in gold letters on the house itself, near the foot of the 
Oanongate, almost opposite Queensberry House." 

The following entries, from the note-book of Sir John 
Foulis, Bart, of Eavelston, prove the game to have been a 
fashionable one prior to the Duke of York's visit to Scot- 
land: — 

1672. 
Jan. 13. Lost at golfe with Pittarro and 

Oomissar Munro, - - - £0 13 

Lost at golfe with Lyon and Harry 

Hay, 14 

Feb. 14. Spent at Leithe at golfe, - - 2 



64 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



Feb. 26. Spent at Leithe at golfe, - - 1 9 

March 2. For three golfe balls, - - - 15 
Lost at golfe, at Musselburgh, with 
Gosford, Lyon, etc., - - - 3 5 
April 13. To the boy who carried my clubs, 
when my Lord Eegister and New- 
byth was at the Links, - - 4 

Nov. 19. Lost at golfe with the Ohancellour, 

Lyon, Master of Saltoun, etc., - 5 10 
For golfe balls, - - - - 12 
Nov. 30. Lost at golfe with the Ohancellour, 

Duke Hamilton, etc., - - - 4 15 
Dec. 7. For a golfe club to Archie (his son;, 6 



From these extracts it is evident the game was in high 
repute with the first men in the kingdom. It is hardly, 
perhaps, necessary to mention that the payments are in 
ScotSy not sterling money. 

At this time Bumtsfield Links — ^now a much frequented 
field — does not seem to have been used for golfing. It 
formed part of the Burrowmuir, and perhaps had not been 
cleared. The usual places of recreation were Leith and 
Musselburgh Links — ^the former more especially of the 
Edinburgh golfers. In a poem, entitled " The Goff," by 
Thomas Mathison, at one period a writer in Edinburgh, 
but subsequently minister of Brechin, first published in 
1743, and again by Mr. Peter Hill, in 1793, the locality is 
thus alluded to ; — 



EOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF GOLF. 65 

" North from Edina, eight furlongs and more, 
Lies that famed field on Fortha's sounding shore ; 
Here Caledonian chiefs for health resort — 
Confirm their sinews by the manly sport." 

The author then goes on, in a lively strain, to describe 
some of the chiefs — ^the "cocks o' the green" — at that 
period : — 



ft 



Macdonald and unmatched Dalrymple ply 
Their ponderous weapons, and the green defy ; 
Eattray for skiU, and Corse for strength renowned, 
Stewart and Lesly beat the sandy ground ; 
And Brown and Alston, chiefs well known in fame, 
And numbers more the Muse forbears to name. 
Gigantic Biggar here full oft is seen. 
Like huge Behemoth on an Lidian green ; 
His bulk enormous scarce can 'scape the eyes ; 
Amazed spectators wonder how he plies. 
Yea, here greet Forbes, patron of the just — 
The dread of villains, and the good man*s trust ; 
When spent with toils in serving human kind, 
His body recreates and unbends his mind." 



The oldest golfing associations, or clubs, are the Edin- 
burgh Burgess, and Burntsfield Links Q-olfing Societies, 
instituted in 1735. The Edinburgh Company of Golfers, 
under the patronage of the city, originated in 1744. An 
act was passed by the Town Council, on the 7th of March, 
"appointing their treasurer to cause make a silver club, of 



66 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

£15 value, to be played for on the Links of Leith, the 
first Monday of April annually. The act appoints, that 
the candidates* names be booked some day of the week 
preceding the match, paying 5s. each at booking: that 
they be matched into parties of twos or threes, if their 
number be great, by lot : that the player who shall have 
the greatest number of holes be victor ; and if two or more 
shall have won an equal number, that they play a round 
by themselves, in order to determine the match : that the 
victor be styled Captain of the Goff: that he append a 
piece of gold or silver to the club : that he have the sole 
disposal of the booking money — ^the determination of 
disputes among goffers, with the assistance of two or three 
of the players — and the superintendency of the Links. 
Accordingly, the first match was played, on 2nd April, by 
ten gentlemen, and won by Mr. John Eattray, surgeon in 
Edinburgh." 

Except in the years 1746 and 1747, the club was 
regularly played for ; and as a further encouragement, the 
Society themselves gave two annual prizes — ^the one, a 
silver cup, value ten guineas, on which was engraved the 
winner's name and coat of arms, with a suitable inscrip- 
tion. The other prize was a gold medal, given to the best 
player at golf, and worn on the breast of the conqueror for 



BOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF OOLF. 67 

a year, and as many years after as he might be able to 
maintain his superiority. 

In 1768, about twenty-two members of the Society 
having subscribed £30 each, they built what is called the 
GofP-House, at the south-west comer of Leith Links, 
wherein the Company might hold their meetings, social as 
well as connected with business. The Company not being 
a corporate body, the property, feued from the City of 
Edinburgh, was vested in Mr. St. Clair of Eoslin, Mr. 
Keith of Eavelston, and Mr. W. Hogg, junior, banker, for 
behoof of the whole subscribers. 

In 1800, the Honourable Company of Golfers was in- 
corporated by a charter from the Magistrates ; and, for 
more than twenty years afterwards, the meetings of the 
Club — which could boast of the most illustrious Scotsmen 
of the day amongst its members— continued to be 
regularly held at Leith. The Edinburgh Burgess Society 
obtained a charter at the same time. Latterly, some 
alterations having been made on the Links, and the play- 
ground ceasing to be attractive, the stated meetings of the 
Club were given up about the year 1831; and it was 
ultimately deemed advisable, or rather became necessary, 
from the state of the funds, to dispose of the Goff-House 
and furniture. This was accordingly done ; and it is 
much to be regretted that various pictures of old members 



68 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

and otlier articles connected, it may be said, with the 
history of the Club, were not reserved. These sold for 
trifling snms, and, in many instances, to parties uncon- 
nected with the Society, from whom they cannot now be 
repurchased. About the year 1835, however, through the 
activity of some of the old members, the stated meetings 
were revived on Musselburgh Links ; and a great accession 
of young members having taken place, the Edinburgh 
Golfing Company is once more in a flourishing condition. 

Besides the Societies already noticed, several others 
have temporarily existed. The Thistle Gblf Club, insti- 
tuted in 1815, continued till within these few years, when, 
like the Edinburgh Company of Golfers, they broke up on 
account of the impaired state of the play-ground, the Links 
of Leith. The uniform of this Club consisted of a scarlet 
single-breasted coat, with green collar, and plain gilt 
buttons ; a badge on the left breast, with the device of the 
thistle embroidered with gold upon green cloth ; the 
trousers white. The insignia of the Burgess Club is an 
embroidered star — ^worn on the left breast — containing 
two clubs and two balls, with the motto — ^*Far and sure.'* 
The affairs of these Societies are usually managed by a 
President, or Captain, as he is termed, Secretary, Trea- 
surer, Eecorder of Bets, Medal-holder, and Council. 

The Links, or Commons, being free to all, there are 



ttOYAL SCOTiriSE GAME OF GOLF. 6d 

innmuerable players unconnected with any of the Gblfing 
Societies ; and many who resort to Bomtsfield Links 
occasionally, for amusement and exercise, are accom- 
modated with the loan of clubs by the maker, for a 
trifling remuner&tion. 

In the making of golf clubs and balls no monopoly now 
exists. At Musselburgh they are still manufactured ; and 
they were at Leith until a few years ago. Until Mr. 
D. Gourlay commenced business at the Links in 1792, the 
balls were brought from St. Andrew's, and retailed by the 
tavern-keepers at 6d. painted, and 5d. unpainted — so little 
had they advanced in price from the days of our Sixth 
James, when a ball cost 4s. Scots, ue,, 4d. sterling. The 
price of a club at present is 3s. 6d. ; and of a ball, 2s. At 
St. Andrews about twelve hands are constantly employed 
in making balls ; and besides the quantity required for 
their own locality — ^averaging from three to four thousand 
— ^upwards of eight thousand are annually disposed of in 
other markets. There are two Golfing Clubs belonging to 
St. Andrew's. One of them, instituted in 1754, is com- 
posed of the nobility, gentry, and professors ; the other, of 
a more plebeian order of citizens. The former are distin- 
guished by wearing red coats ; the other, green. 

The bat or club may be described. The handle, which 
is straight, is generally about four feet and a half in 



70 aOLPlANA MISCELLANEA. 



length, and usually made of ash, or hickory, which is 
allowed to be better. The curvature, made of thorn, is 
affixed to the bottom, faced with horn, and backed with 
lead: — 

" Forth rushed Castalio, and his daring foe ; 
Both arm*d with clubs, and eager for the blow. 
Of finest ASH Castalio's shaft was made ; 
Ponderous with lead, and fac'd with hobn the head ; 
The work of Dickson, who in Letka dwells. 
And in the art of making clubs excels." 

The ball is a little one, but exceedingly hard, being 
made of leather (previous to india-rubber), and stuffed 
with feathers. There are generally two players, who have 
each of them his club and ball. It is almost indispensable 
for a player to have at least two clubs, a long one for 
driving, and a short one for putting near the hole ; and on 
Links, such as St. Andrew's, where there are many sand- 
holes, or bunkers, as they are termed, a club with an iron 
head (differing in form from the heads of the wooden 
clubs) is required. Of these iron clubs there are various 
kinds, adapted to the different situations of the green. 
The game consists in driving the ball into certain holes 
made in the ground, which he who achieves in the fewest 
strokes, obtains the victory. The golf lengths, or the 
spaces between the first and last holes, are sometimes 



noTAL 8C0!r!ri8H GAME OP GOLF. 



71 



extended — ^where the ground will permit, such as at St. 
Andrew's, — to the distance of two or three miles; the 
number of intervening holes appears to be optional, but 
the balls must be struck into the holes, and not beyond 
them : when four persons play, two of them are some- 
times partners, and have but one ball, which they strike 
alternately. 

The holes are not limited to any particular number. 
Oh the Links of Leith, which had five, the lengths 
were : — 





FOBMEBLY. 


Feet. 


Yards. 


First hole, . . . 


... • • . 


1242 


414 


Second hole. 


• • • • • • 


1383 


461 


Third hole, ... 


... . • • 


1278 


426 


Fourth hole. 


... ... 


1485 


495 


Fifth hole, ... 


... . • . 


1305 


435 






6693 


2231 




LATTEBLY. 


Feet. 


Yards. 


First hole, . . . 


. • • • . • 


975 


325 


Second hole. 


... ... 


1221 


407 


Third hole, . . . 


... . • . 


1278 


426 


Fourth hole. 


. • • ... 


1485 


495 


Fifth hole, •., 


• • • ... 


1305 


435 






6264 


2088 



It is no unusual thing for a player to have along with 



72 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 



liini eight or ten clubs^ of different forms, adapted for 
striking the ball in whatever position it may be placed. 
By the roles of the game, with certain exceptions, the ball 
mnst be struck where it lies. These are usually carried 
by a boy, denominated a cadie, and the players are 
generally preceded by a runner, or fore-cadie, to observe 
the ball, so that no time may be lost in discovering it. 
The cadies, though generally boys, are in some instances 
men, who continue the occupation in addition to some 
other calling. They are, for the most part, very skilful 
players, having a thorough knowledge of the game, which 
makes their services the more valuable, from the judicious 
advice they are capable of affording the player whose 
clubs they carry. Bets of a novel nature, which set the 
ordinary routine of the game entirely aside, are occasion- 
ally undertaken by the more athletic. An amusing and 
difficxdt feat, sometimes attempted from Bumtsfield Links, 
is that of driving the ball to the top of Arthur's Seat 1 In 
this fatiguing undertaking, being a species of steeple chase 
over hedges and ditches, the parties are usually followe4 
by bottle-holders and other attendants, denoting the erces*- 
sive exertion required. 

This does not appear to have been attempted prior to 
the period when Hugo Arnot wrote his History of Ediri' 
burgh. In a critical note on the Letters of Topham, who 



BOYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF QOLF. 73 

wrote in 1775, Amot remarks that the author " has been 
pleased to make the top of Arthur's Seat, and those of the 
other hills in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, fields for 
the game of golf. This observation is still more unfor- 
tunate than the general train of his remarks. Were a 
person to play a ball from the top of Arthur's Seat, he 
would probably have to walk upwards of half-a-mile 
before he could touch it again; and we will venture to 
say, that the whole art of man could not play the ball hack 
again." This, however, has actually been done. 

In 1798, bets were taken in the Burgess Golfing Society 
that no two members could be found capable of driving a 
ball over the spire of St. Giles's steeple. The late Mr. 
Sceales of Leith, and Mr. Smellie, printer, were selected 
to perform this formidable undertaking. They were 
allowed to use six balls each. The balls passed consider- 
ably higher than the weather-cock, and were found nearly 
opposite the Advocates' Close. The bet was decided early 
in the morning, in case of accident, the parties taking 
their station at the south-east corner of the Parliament 
Square. The feat is described as one of easy performance. 
The required elevation was obtained by a barrel stave, 
suitably fixed ; and the height of the steeple, which is one 
hundred and sixty-one feet, together with the distance 
from the base of the Church, were found to be much less 



74 GOLFIANA MI8GELLANBA. 

than a good stroke of tlie club. Th6 elevation was taken 
by Mr. Laidlaw, teacher of Mathematics in Edinburgh. 
For a bet, a ball was driven, some years ago, by Mr. 
Donald McLean, W.S., over Melville's Monument, in St. 
Andrew Square. 

When confined to its proper limits, the game of golf is 
one of moderate exercise, and excellently calculated for 
healthful recreation. In the West of Scotland it is com- 
paratively unknown. One cause for this may be the want 
of Commons, or Links, suflSciently large for the pastime to 
be pursued to advantage. In Glasgow, a golf club was 
formed some years ago, but we understand the members 
were under the necessity of breaking up, in consequence of 
having been prohibited the use of the Green, part of 
which is preserved with great care for the purposes of 
bleaching. In Stirling, two or three golfers may occasion- 
ally be seen playing in the King's Park, but the game has 
evidently ceased to be popular there. An attempt was 
recently, very injudiciously, made to stop the players by 
the tacksman, but ineffectually. About Edinburgh, 
Musselburgh, Perth, St. Andrew's, and other districts, 
where no restraints exist, golf maintains a decided 
superiority, and seems at the present time to be followed 
with new spirit. Indeed, the game was never more 
popular. In addition to the old Clubs in the district 



ROYAL SCOTTISH GAME OF GOLF. 76 

already mentioned, another has been recently established 
at North Berwick, the meetings of which are numerously 
attended. St. Andrew's, however, has been denominated 
the ''Doncaster" of Golfing. A great many of the 
nobility and gentry of the neighbouring counties are 
members of the Club, which bears the name of the tutelar 
Saint, and the autumn meeting may be said to continue 
for a week, during which the crack players from all 
quarters of the country have an opportunity of pitting 
their strength and skill against each other. On these 
occasions, the Links, crowded with players and spectators, 
present a gay and animated scene. Two medals are 
played for — ^the one belonging to the Club, and the other 
a recent gift of King William the Fourth, which was com- 
peted for at their meeting in 1837, for the first time, and 
attracted a very great assemblage of the best golfers. At 
the ordinaries in the evening, the parties fight their 
battles o'er again, and new matches are entered into. The 
day on which the King's medal was played for terminated 
with a ball, given by the Olub, which was numerously 
and fashionably attended. In London, a Society of 
Golfers still exists, principally composed, we believe, of 
Scotsmen, called the Blackheath Golf Club, which was 
established prior to the year 1745. 



76 GOLFIANA MISCMLLANEA. 



I". 



GOLFIANA: 

OB NICETIES GONNEOTED WITH THE GAME OF GOLF.* 

Dedicated, with respect, to the Members of all Golfing 

Clubs, and to those of St. Andrews and North 

Berwick in particular. 

BY GEOBGE FULLEBTON CABNEGIE. 

Gboegb Fullebton Oabnegie of Pitarrow, author of 
"Qolfiana," was bom at the beginning of this century. 
His father having died early, he had a long minority, and 
consequent accummulation of fortune. At the time of his 
coming of age he was proprietor of Pitarrow, and of 
Charlton in Forfarshire, within two miles of the Links of 
Montrose, affording, with accumulations, fully £5000 a 
year. 

Carnegie no sooner came into possession than he com- 
menced a gay and extravagant life in Edinburgh, and in a 
few years had his estates in the hands of his creditors, 
and was under trust. Before his reverse he married a 
daughter of Sir John Connell. Carnegie was a remark- 
ably clever man, and had a wide range of knowledge and 

• Edinburgh, 1842. 



GOLFIANA. ri 



exact information. He was of a poetic genius, too. His 
'' Golfiana " made a sensation among golfers of the day : it 
hit off so humorously the characteristics of the men he 
introduced in it. Notwithstanding certain peculiarities, 
he was a thorough gentleman in manner; and though 
small; he was manly and hardy, having no spare flesh, and 
his muscles were like whipcord. He had a passion for 
golf, which continued to the last, playing at St. Andrews, 
Montrose, and Musselburgh. Though reduced to a com- 
paratively small income, he enjoyed life to near the end, 
living much with his friends. Boss of Bossie, the late 
Lord Saltoun, and many others, by whom he was much 
appreciated. He died at Montrose in 1843. 



GOLFIANA. 

ADDRESS TO 8T. ANDREWS. 

St. Andrews ! they say that thy glories are gone. 

That thy streets are deserted, thy castles overthrown : 

If thy glories he gone, they are only, methinks, 

As it were, by enchantment, transferr'd to thy Links. 

Though thy streets be not now, as of yore, full of prelates. 

Of abbots and monks, and of hot-headed zealots. 

Let none judge us rashly, or blame us as scoffers. 

When we say that instead th$re are Links full of Golfers, 



78 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



With more of good heart and good feeling among them 
Than the abbots, the monks, and the zealots who sung 

them : 
We have red coats and bonnets, we've putters and clubs ; 
The green has its bunkers, its hazards, and rubs ; 
At the long hole across we have biscuits and beer, 
And the Hebes who sell it give zest to the cheer : 
If this make not up for the pomp and the splendour 
Of mitres, and murders, and mass — ^we'U surrender ; 
If Golfers and cadies be not better neighbours 
Than abbots and soldiers, with crosses and sabres. 
Let such fancies remain with the fool who so thinks. 
While we toast old St. Andrews, its Golfers and Links. 



THE GOLFIAD. 

Arma, virumq, cano, — Vergil, ^n, i. 1. 1. 

Balls, clubs, and men I sing, who, first, methinks. 
Made sport and bustle in North Berwick Links, 
Brought coin and fashion, betting and renown. 
Champagne and claret, to a country town. 
And lords and ladies, knights and squires to ground 
Where washerwomen erst and snobs wer$ found 1 



GOLFIANA. 79 



Had I the pow'rs of him who sung of Troy — 
Gems of the learned, bore of every boy — 
Or him, the bard of Eome, who, later, told 
How great ^neas roam'd and fonght of old — 
I then might shake the gazing world like them : 
For, who denies I have as grand a theme ? 
Time-honoured Golf 1 — I heard it whispered once 
That he who could not play was held a dunce 
On old Olympus, when it teem'd with gods. 
rare ! — ^but it^s a lie — ^111 bet the odds 1 
No doubt these Heathen gods, the very minute 
They knew the game, would have delighted in it ! 
Wars, storms, and thunder — ^all would have been off 1 
Mars, Jove, and Neptune would have studied Golf, 
And swiped — ^like Oliphant and Wood below — 
Smack over Hell* at one immortal go I 
Had Mecca's Prophet known the noble game 
Before he gave his paradise to fame. 
He would have promis'd, in the land of light. 
Golf all the day — and Houris all the night ! 
But this is speculation : we must come. 
And work the subject rather nearer home ; 
Lest in attempting all too high to soar. 
We fall, like Icarus, to rise no more. 

* Hell— a range of broken ^ound on St Andrews Links, 



80 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 



The game is anoient-^manly — ^and employs, 
In its departments, women, men, and boys : 
Men play tlie game, the boys the clubs convey, 
And lovely woman gives the prize away. 
When August brings the great, the medal day I 
Nay, more : tho' some may doubt, and sneer, and scoflF, 
The female muse has sung the game of Golf, 
And trac'd it down, with choicest skill and grace, 
Thro* all its bearings, to the human race ; 
The tee, the start of youth — ^the game, our life— 
The ball when fairly bunkered, man and wife. 

Now, Muse, assist me while I strive to name 
The varied skill and chances of the game. 
Suppose we play a match : if all agree. 
Let Clan and Saddell tackle Baird and me. 
Beader, attend ! and learn to play at Golf ; 
The lord of Saddell and myself strike oflF ! 

< 

He strikes — he's in the ditch — ^this hole is ours ; 
Bang goes my ball — ^it*s bunkered, by the powers. 
But better play succeeds, these blunders past. 
And in six strokes the hole is halved at last. 

hole I tho' small, and scarcely to be seen. 
Till we are close upon thee, on the green ; 



GOLFIANA. 81 



And tho* when seen, save Golfers, few can prize, 

The value^ the delight that in thee lies ; 

Yet, without thee, our tools were useless all — 

The club, the spoon, the putter, and the ball : 

For all is done — each ball arranged on tee. 

Each stroke directed — ^but to enter thee ! 

11 — as each tree, and rock, and cave of old, 

Had its presiding nymph, as we are told — 

Thou hast tky nymph ; I ask for nothing but 

Her aid propitious when I come to putt. 

Now for the second : And here Baird and Clan 

In turn must prove which is the better man : 

Sir David swipes sublime 1 — ^into the quarry 1 

Whiz goes the chief — a sneezer, by Old Harry I 

" Now, lift the stones, but do not touch the ball. 

The hole is lost if it but move at all : 

Well play*d, my cock ! you could not have done more ; 

'Tis bad, but still we may get home at four." 

Now, near the hole Sir David plays the odds ; 

Clan plays the like, and wins it, by the gods I 

" A most disgusting steal ; well, come away, 

They're one ahead, but we have four to play. 

We'll win it yet, if I can cross the ditch : 

They're over, smack I come^ there's another sich'* 



82 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Baird plays a trump — ^we hole at three — ^they stare, 
And miss their putt — so now the match is square. 

And here, who knows but, as old Homer sung. 
The scales of fight on Jove's own finger hung ? 
Here Olan and Saddell ; there swing Baird and I, — 
Our merits, that's to say : for half an eye 
Oould tell, if bodies in the scales were laid. 
Which must descend, and which must rise ahead. 

K Jove were thus engaged, we did not see him, 
But told our boys to clean the balls and tee 'em. 
In this next hole the turf is most uneven ; 
We play like tailors— only in at seven. 
And they at six ; most miserable play I 
But let them laugh who win. Hear Saddell say, 
" Now, by the piper who the pibroch played 
Before old Moses, we are one ahead. 
And only two to play — a special coup I 
Three five-pound notes to one! " *'Done, sir, with you." 
We start again ; and in this dangerous hole 
Full many a stroke is played with heart and soul : 
" Give me the iron 1 " either party cries, 
As in the quarry, track, or sand he lies. 
We reach the green at last, at even strokes ; 



GOLFIANA. 83 



Some cadie chatters, that the chief provokes, 
And makes him miss his putt ; Baird holes the ball ; 
Thus, with but one to play, 'tis even all ! 
*Tis strange, and yet there cannot be a doubt. 
That such a snob should put a chieftain out : 
The noble Hon, thus, in all his pride, 
Stung by the gadfly, roars and starts aside ; 
Clan did not roar — he never makes a noise — 
But said, " They're very troublesome, these boys." 
His partner muttered something not so civil, 
Particulary, " scoundrels " — " at the devil I " 
Now Baird and Clan in turn strike off and play 
Two strokes, the best that have been seen to-day. 
His spoon next Saddell takes, and plays a trump — 
Mine should have been as good but for a bump 
That tum'd it off. Baird plays the odds — it's all 
But in ! — at five yards, good, Olan holes the ball I 
My partner, self, and song — all three are done I 
We lose the match, and all the bets thereon I 
Perhaps you think that, tho' I'm not a winner, 
My muse should stay and celebrate the dinner ; 
The ample joints that travel up the stair. 
To grace the table spread by Mrs. Blair ; 
The wine, the ale, the toasts, the jokes, the songs, 
And all that to such revelry belongs : — 



84 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



It may not be 1 *twere fearful falling off 
To sing such trifles after singing Golf 
In most majestic strain ; let others dwell 
On such, and rack their carnal brains to tell 
A tale of sensuality I — Farewell ! 



THE FmST HOLE AT ST. ANDREWS ON 
A CROWDED DAY. 

Forsan et hcec olim meminisse juvahit — Ms, i. 1. 208, 

'Tis mom ! and m'an awakes, by sleep refreshed, 

To do whatever he has to do with zest ; 

But at St. Andrews, where my scene is laid, 

One only thought can enter every head ; 

The thought of golf, to wit — and that engages 

Men of all sizes, tempers, ranks, and ages ; 

The root^the primum mobile of all. 

The epidemic of the club and ball ; 

The work by day, the source of dreams by night. 

The never-failing fountain of delight ! 

Here, Mr. Philp, club-maker, is as great 

As Philip — as any minister of state ! 

And every cadie as profess'd a hero 

As Captain Cook, or Wellington, or Nero I 

For instance — ^Davie, oldest of the cads, 



GOLFIANA. 85 



Who gives half-one to unsuspicious lads, 

When he might give them two, or even more, 

And win, perhaps, three matches out of four. 

Is just as politic in his affairs 

As Talleyrand or Mettemich in theirs. 

He has the statesman's elements, 'tis plain, 

Cheat, flatter, humbug — anything for gain ; 

And, had he trod the world's wide field, methinks. 

As long as he has trod St. Andrews Links, 

He might have been prime minister, or priest. 

My lord, or plain Sir David at the least. 

Now to the ground of golf my muse shall fly. 
The various men assembled to descry, 
Nine-tenths of whom, throughout the rolling year. 
At the first hole unfailingly appear ; 
Where, "How d'ye do?" "Fine Morning," "Rainy day," 
And "What's the match?" are preludes to the play. 
So full the meeting, that I scarcely can. 
In such a crowd, distinguish man from man. 
We'll take them as they come : — He next the waD, 
Outside, upon the right, is Mr. Small ; 
And weU he plays, though, rising on his toes, 
Whiz round his head his supple club he throws. 
There, Doctor Moodie, turtle-like, displays 



1 



86 GOLFIANA MIS CELL AN JE A. 

His well-filled paunch, and swipes beyond all praise, 

While Outtlehill, of slang and chatter chief, 

Provokes the bile of Captain George Moncrieffe. 

See Colonel Playfair, shaped in form rotund, 

Parade the unrivall'd Falstaff of the ground ; 

He laughs and jokes, plays "what you like," and yet 

You'll rarely find him make a foolish bet. 

Against the sky, displayed in high relief, 

I see the figure of Clanranald's Chief, 

Dress'd most correctly in the fancy style, 

Well-whisker'd face, and radiant with a smile ; 

He bows, shakes hands, and has a word for all — 

So did Beau Nash, as master of the ball I 

Near him is Saddell, dress 'd in blue coat plain. 

With lots of Gourlays, free from spot or stain ; 

He whirls his club to catch the proper swing. 

And freely bets round all the scarlet ring ; 

And swears by Ammon, hell engage to drive 

As long a ball as any man alive I 

That's Major Playfair, man of nerve unshaken. 

He knows a thing or two, or I'm mistaken ; 

And, when he's pressed, can play a tearing game, 

He works for certainty, and not for Fame ! 

There's none — ^I'll back the assertion with a wager — 

Can play the heavy iron like the Major. 



GOLFIAKA, 87 



Next him is Craigie Halkett, one who can 
Swipe ont; for distance, against any man ; 
But in what course the ball so struck may go. 
No looker on — not he himself — can know. 
See Major Holcroft, he's a steady hand, 
Among the best of all the golfing band ; 
He plays a winning game in every part, 
But near the hole displays the greatest art. 
There young Patullo stands, and he, methinks. 
Can drive the longest ball upon the links ; 
And well he plays the spoon and iron, but 
He fails a little when he comes to putt. 
Near Captain Cheape, a sailor by profession 
(But not so good at golf as navigation), 
Is Mr. Peter Glass, who once could play 
A better game than he can do to-day. 
We cannot last for ever 1 and the gout, 
Confirmed, is wondrous apt to put us out. 
There, to the left, I see Mount-Melville stand 
Erect, his driving putter in his hand ; 
It is a club he cannot leave behind. 
It works the balls so well against the wind. 
Sir David Erskine has come into play, 
He has not won the medal yet, but may. 
Dost love the greatest laugher of the lot ?* 



88 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Then play a round with little Mr. Scott ; 

He is a merry cook, and seems to me 

To win or lose with equal ecstasy. 

Here's Mr. Messieux, he's a noble player, 

But something nervous — ^that's a bad affair ; 

It sadly spoils his putting, when he's press d — 

But let him win, and he wiQ beat the best. 

That little man that's seated on the ground 

In red, must be Oamegie, I'll be bound I 

A most conceited dog, not slow to go it 

At golf, or anjrthing — a sort of poet ; 

He talks to Wood, — John Wood, — ^who ranks among 

The tip-top hands that to the Club belong ; 

And Oliphant, the rival of the last. 

Whose play, at times, can scarcely be surpass'd. 

Who's he that's just arrived ? — I know him well ; 

It is the Cupar Provost, John Dalzell : 

When he does hit the ball, he swipes likes blazes — 

It is but seldom, and himself amazes ; 

But, when he winds his horn, and leads the chase, 

The Laird of Lingo's in his proper place. 

It has been said that, at the break of day, 

His golf is better than his evening play : 

That must be scajadal ; for I'm sure that none 

Could think of golf before the rise of sun. 



dOLPlAJfA. 80 



He now is talking to his lady's brother^ 

A man of politics^ Sir Balph Anstrnther : 

Were he bnt once in Parliament, methinks, 

And working there as well as on the Links, 

The boroughs, I'll be bound, would not repent them 

That they had such a man to represent them : 

■ 

There's one thing only, when he's on the roll. 

He must not lose his nerve, as when he's near the hole. 

Upon his right is Major Bob Anstruther ; 

Gobbet's one radical — ^and he's another. 

But when we meet, as here, to play at golf. 
Whig, Badical, and Tory — all are off — 
Off the contested politics I mean — 
And fun and harmony illume the scene. 
We make our matches for the love of playing, 
Without one loathsome feeling but the paying. 
And that is lessened by the thought, we borrow 
Only to-day what we shall win to-morrow. 
Then, here's prosperity to Gk)lf 1 and long 
May those who play be cheerful, fresh, and strong 
When driving ceases, may we still be able 
To play the shorts, putt, and be comfortable ! 
And, to the latest, may we fondly cherish 
The thoughts of GK)lf — so let St. Andrews flourish I 



90 GOLFlAifA MtSCELLANEA. 



ANOTHEE PEEP AT THE LINKS. 

Alter erit turn Typhys, et altera qucs vehat Argo 
DiUctoa heroas — erunt etiam altera heUa. 

Visa. Geobgio. 

i ' 

AwASE; my slninVriiig Muse, and plume thy wing. 
Our former theme — ^the GFame of Golf — ^to sing I 
For, since the subject last inspired my pen, 
Ten years have glided by, or nearly ten. 
Still the old hands at golf delight to play — 
Still new succeed them as they pass away : 
Still ginger-bread and parliament are seen 
Serv'd out by Houris to the peopled green ; 
And stUl the royal game maintains its place. 
And will maintain it through each rising race. 

Still Major Playfair shines, a star at golf ; 
And still the Colonel — though a little off : 
The former, skill'd in many a curious art, 
As chemist, mechanist, can play his part. 
And understands, besides the power of swiping, 
Electro-Talhot and Daguerreotjrping. 
Still Colonel Holcroft steady walks the grass. 
And still his putting nothing can surpass — 



GOLFIANA. 91 



And still he driTee^ ubIobs the weather's rough, 
Not quite so far as once^ btxt far enoo^. 

Still Saddell wbJJsb, superb^ improved in play, 
Though his blue jacket now is tnm'd to grey ; 
Still are his balls as rife and clean as wont — 
Still swears by Ammon, and still bets the blunt — 
Still plays all matches — still is often beat — 
And still, in iced punch, drowns each fresh defeat. 

Still on the green Olanranald's chief appears, 
As gay as ever, as untouched by years ; 
He laughs at Time, and Time, perhaps through whim, 
Bespects his nonchalance, and laughs at him ; 
Just fans him with his wings, but spares his head. 
As loth to lose a subject so well bred. 

Sir Balph returns — he has been absent long — 
No less renown'd in golfing than in song ; 
With continental learning richly stored, 
Teutonic bards translated and explored ; 
A Literaire — a German scholar now. 
With all Griselda's honours on his brow I 

The Links have still the pleasure to behold 
Messieux, complete in matches as of old ; 



92 GOLFIAIfA MiSC^LLANJSA. 

He^ modest, tells you that Ms day's gone by, 

If any think it is so — ^let them try ! 

Still portly William Wood is to be seen, 

As good as ever on the yelvet green. 

The same unfailing trump ; but John, methinks. 

Has taken to the Turf, and shies the Links. 

Whether the Leger and the Derby pay 
As well as Hope Orant, I can scarcely say ; 
But let that be — 'tis better, John, old fellow. 
To pluck the rooks, than rook the violoncello. 

Permit me just a moment to digress— 
Friendship would chide me should I venture lesi 
The poor Chinese, there cannot be a doubt, 
Will shortly be demolished out and out ; 
But — how blest beyond the common line 
Of conquered nations by the Power divine ! — 
Scdtoun to cut their yellow throats, and then 
Hope Chant to play their requiem notes. — ^Amen. 

Still George Moncrieffe appears the crowd before, 
Lieutenant'Colonel — Captain now no more ; 
Improved in ev'rything — in looks and life, 
And, more than all, the husband of a wife ! 



GOLFIANA. 93 



As in tlie olden time^ see Craigie HaJkett — 
Wild strokes and swiping, jest, and fun, and racket ; 
He leaves ns now. Btit,ln three years, I trust. 
He will return, and sport his muzzle dust, 
Play golf again, and patronise all cheer. 
From noble Claret down to Bitter Beer. 

Mount-Melyille still erect as ever stands, 
And plies his dub with energetic hands, 
Plays short and steady, often is a winner — 
A better Gaptain never graced a dinner. 

But where is Oliphant, that artist grand ? 
He scarce appears among the golfing band. 
No doubt he's married ; but, when that befalls. 
Is there an end to putters, clubs, and balls ? 
Not so, methinks : Sir David Baird can play 
With any golfer of the present day ; 
The Laird of Lingo, Major Bob Anstruther — 
Both married, and the one as good's the other. 

Dalgleish and Haig, two better men to play 
Tou scarce will meet upon a summer's day ; 
Alike correct, whatever may befall, 
Swipe, iron, putter, (juarter-strokc; and all. 



d4 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Old Bobert Lindsay plays a decent game, 
Tho' not a Golfer of enormous fame. 
Well can lie fish with minnow as with fly. 
Painty and j^hj farthing'hrag tmeommonly, 
Give jolly dinners, justice courts attend, 
A good companion, and a steady friend. 

But CuttUhiU, that wonderful buffoon. 
We meet him now no more, as wont^ at noon ; 
No more along the green his jokes are heard. 
And some who dared not then, now take the word. 
Farewell ! facetious Jem — too surely gone— 
A loss to us — Joe Miller to Boulogne. 

Poor Peter Glass, a worthy soul and blue. 
Has paid the debt of nature^-'tis too true 1 
Long did his candle flicker with the gout<— 
One pufF, a little stronger, blew U out* 
And good Patullo t he who drove as none. 
Since him, have driven — ^he is also gone ! 
And Oaptain Cheape — ^who does not mourn the day 
That snatoh'd so good, so kind a friend away ? 
One more I name— and only one**-but he 
Was older far, and lower in degree-— 
Great Davie Bobertson, the eldest oad^ 



GOLFIANA. 95 



In whom the good was slsroiiger than the bad ; 
He sleeps in death 1 and with him sleeps a skill 
Which Davie, statesmanlike, could wield at will ! 
Sound be his slumbers I yet, if he should wake 
In worlds where golf is play'd, himself he'd shake. 
And look about, and tell each young beginner, 
'' m gie half-ane— nae mair, as I'm a sinner." 
He leaves a son, and Allan is his name. 
In golfing far beyond his father's fame ; 
Tho' in diplomacy, I shrewdly guess. 
His skill's inferior, and his fame is less. 

Now for the fntM^room^-— old, perchance, or new. 
But whom my former strain did not review : 
I'll name an old one, Paton, Tom of Perth, 
Short, stout, grey-headed, but of sterling worth ; 
A golfer perfect— Hsomething it may be 
The worse for wear, but few so true as he ; 
Good-humour'd when behind as when ahead. 
And drinks like blazes till he goes to bed. 
His friend is Peddie, not an awful swiper. 
But, at the putting, he's a very viper ; 
Give him a man to drive him through the green, 
And he'll be bad to beat^ it will be seen — 



96 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Paton and Peddle— Peddle and Paton, 
Are just the people one should bet upon. 

There Keith with Andrew Wauchope works away. 
And most respectable the game they play ; 
The navy Captain's steadiness and age 
Give him, perhaps, the pull — ^but TU engage, 
Ere some few months, or rather weeks, are fled, 
Yonth and activity will take the lead. 

Bee Qilmour next-— and he can drive a ball 
As far aa any man among them all ; 
In ev'ry hunting field can lead the van, 
And Is throughout a perfect gentleman. 

Next comes a handsome man, with Roman nose 
And whiskers dark — ^Wolfe Murray, I suppose— 
He has begun but lately, still he plays 
A fairish game, and therefore merits praise ; 
Ask him when at his worst, and he will say, 
" *Tis bad — ^but. Lord ! how I play'd yesterday /" 

Another man, with whiskers — stout and strong — 
A golfer too, who swipes his balls along. 
And well he putts, but I should simply say, 
His ovm opinion's better than lus play ; 



aOLFIANA. 97 



Dimdas can sing a song, or glee, or oatoh, 
I think, far better than he makes a match. 

But who is he, whose hairy lips betray 
Hussar or Lancer ? Mnse, oh, kindly say t 
'Tis Captain Feilden. Lord, how hard he hits ! 
'Tis strange he does not knock the ball to bits t 
Sometimes he hits it fair, and makes a stroke 
Whose distance Saddell's envy might provoke. 
But take his common play ; the worst that ever 
Flay'd golf might give him one, and beat him clever. 
Bad tho' he be, the Captain has done more 
Than ever man who play'd at golf before. 
One thund'ring ball he drove — 'twas in despair — 
Wide of the hole indeed, but Hll'd a hare ! 



Ah ! Captain Campbell, old Schehallion, see 1 
Most have play'd longer, few so well as he. 
A sterling Highlander — and that's no trifle ; 
So thinks the Oael — a workman with a rifle ; 
Keeps open house — a very proper thing — 
And, tho* rheumatic, fiddles like a king ! 

Sir Thomas of Moncrieffe — ^I cannot doubt 
Bpt he will be a golfer out and out ; 



98 GOLPIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Tho' now, perhaps, he's o£P, and careless too — 
His misses nnmerons, his hits are few ; 
But he is zealous ; and the time will be 
When few wiU better play the game than he. 
Balbimie and Makgill will both be good — 
Strong, active, lathy fellows ; so they should. 

But for John Grant, a clever fellow too, 
I really fear that golf will never do ! 
'Tis strange, indeed ; for he can paint, and ride. 
And hunt the hounds, and many a thing beside ; 
Amuse his friends with anecdote and fun ; 
But when he takes his club in hand — ^he's done ! 
Stay ! I retract 1 — Since writing the above, 
Tve seen him play a better game, by Jove ; 
So much beyond what one could have believ'd. 
That I confess myself for once deceived ; 
And, t/*he can go on the season through. 
There's still a chance that he may really do. 

I've kept a man in petto, for the last — 
Not an old golfer, but by few surpassed — 
Great Captain Fairlie ! When he drives a ball — 
One pf hi9 h^t — i^t h^ dpn't hit them allf 



GOLFIANJ. 09 



It then requires no common stretch of sight 
To watch its progress, and to see it light. 

« 

One moment — IVe another to define, 
A famous sportsman, and a judge of wine— 
Whom faithful Memory offers to my view ; 
He made the game a study, it is true. 
Still many play as well — but, ior position, 
John Buckle fairly be^^iars competition ! 

And now farewell ! I am the worse for wear — 
Orey is my jacket, growing grey my hair ! 
And, though my play is pretty much the same. 
Mine is, at best, a despicable game. 
But still I like it— still delight to sing 
Clubs, players, cadies, balls, and everything. 
But all that's bright must fade I and we who play. 
Like those before us, soon must pass away ; 
Tet it requires no prophet's skill to trace 
The royal game thro' each succeeding race ; 
While on the tide of generations flows. 
It still shall bloom, a never-fading rose ; 
And still St. Andrews Links, with flags unfurl'd, 
Shall peerless reign, and challenge all the world 1 



06240B 



100 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



THE EULES OF THE GAME OF GOLF. 

AS PLATED BY THE BOYAL AND ANCIENT GOLF CLUB 

OF BT. ANDBEWS. 

/. — Mode and Order of Playing the Game. 

1. The Game of Golf is generally played by two sides. 
Each side may consist either of one person or of two, who 
play alternately. It may also be played by three or more 
sides, each playing its own ball. 

2. The game commences by each side playing off a 
ball from a place called the "teeing ground,** near the 
first hole. In a match with two on a side, the partners 
shall strike off alternately from the tee ; and the players 
opposed to each other shall be named at starting, and 
shall continue in the same order during the match. The 
player entitled to play off first shall be named by the 
parties themselves, and his side shall continue to lead off, 
till they lose a hole ; and although the courtesy of start- 
ing is generally granted to captains of the Club and old 
members, it may be settled by lot or toss of a coin. 

8. The hole is won by the side holing at fewest 
strokes ; and the reckoning of the strokes is made by the 
terms odds mi like, two more, three more, one off two, etg. 



!tME UtlLE8 OP TtiB GAiiB OP QOLP. lol 

4. The side gaming a hole shall lead at the next 
(except at the commencement of a new match^ in which 
case the winner of the preyioos match is to lead), and is 
entitled to claim his privilege and recall his opponent's 
stroke should he play out of order. This privilege is 
called the ''honour.*' 

5. One round of the Links is reckoned a match, unless 
otherwise stipulated. The match is won by the side 
which wins one, or more holes, in excess of the number of 
holes remaining to be played. 

6. If , in a double match, a player shall play when his 
partner should have done so, his side loses the hole. 

Note to Bulb I. — 6 (a). When the Telegraph Board is 
placed at the first teeing ground, a person wiU be in 
charge of it, to note the order of starting. It will be 
sufficient for any one player in a match to put his 
name down, but when their turn comes to play off, 
all the players must be ready to start or else they 
lose their turn, and go to the bottom of the list of 
names down at the time. 

//. — Place of Teeing and Playing through the Oreen. 

7. The ball must be teed within the marks laid down 
by the Oonservator of the Links, which shall be con- 
sidered the ''Teeing Ground." The balls shall not be 
teed in advance of such marks, nor more than two club 
lengths behind them. 



102 dOLPlAJtfA MlSdMLtAlfSA. 

8. A ball played in contraT6ttti<»i of this rale may be 
recalled by the opposite side. 

9. After tbe balls are strtick off, the ball farthest from 
the hole to which the parties are playing most be played 
first. No player shall play his teed ball till the party in 
front have played their second strokes ; nor play on to the 
Putting-Green till the party in front of him has holed 
oat. 

NoTB TO Bulb n. — 9 (a). It is reqaested that when a 
party is waiting to approach the hole, the party that 
has ''holed oat '' will not caase delay by tiying their 
patts oyer again. 

///. — Changing the Balls. 

10. The balls strack off from the tee mast not be 
changed, toached, or moved, before the hole is played oat 
(except in striking, and the cases provided for by Bales 
lY., v., vn., ym., ix., xm., and xvn.) ; and if the sides 
are at a loss to know one ball from the other, neither 
shall be toached withoat the consent of both. 

IV. — Lifting of Break-Clubs. 

11. All loose impediments within a clnb-length of the 
ball may be removed, anless the ball lies within a banker ; 
on sand ; on a molehill ; on a road ; or other hazard ; or 
teaching a growing whin. (Bales vi., ix., and xn.) 



^SS BtXLES 0# ^hH GAkE Of GOLF. 103 

12. When a ball lies in a bunker, sand, or any other 
hazard, there shall be no impression made by the club 
whilst addressing the ball, nor sand nor other obstacle 
removed "before striking at the ball." 

13. On no occasion is it allowable to press down any 
irregularities of surface, to improve the lie of the baU. 

14. A ball lying on sand, sprinkled on grass on the 
course for the preservation of the Links, shall be treated 
as if it lay on grass. 

15. When a ball lies near a washing-tub, or imple- 
ments used in the up-keep of the Links, they may be 
removed, and when on clothes, the ball may be Hfted and 
dropped behind them, without a penalty. 

F. — Entitled to see the Ball, 

16. When a ball is completely covered by fog, bent, 
whins, etc., only so much thereof shall be set aside as 
that the player shall have a view of his ball before he 
plays, whether in a line with the hole or otherwise. 

17. Nothing that is growing, may be bent, broken, nor 
removed, except in the act of striking at the ball, or in 
the special occasion provided for in par. 16. 

18. A ball stuck fast in wet ground or sand may be 
taken out and replaced loosely in the hole it has made. 



l04 GOLFlAtTA MlSCtSLLAirsA. 

VL — Clearing the Putting-Oreen. 

19. All loose impediments of whatever Hnd^ may be 
lifted when the baU is on the Patting-Qreen, and no 
hazards intervene between the ball and the hole^ excepting 
as is declared in Bnle iv. 

20. The term '' Putting-Gfreen " shall be considered to 
mean those portions of the links devoid of hazards within 
20 yards of a hole. 

Note to Bule VL — ^20 (a). When ice or snow lies on the 
Putting-Ghreens^ parties are recommended to make 
their own arrangements as to its removal or not, 
before commencing their match. 

VIL— Lifting BcdU. 

21. When the balls lie within six inches of each other, 
in any sitnation, the ball nearer the hole to which the 
parties are playing must be lifted till the other is played, 
and then placed as nearly as possible in its original 
position. Should the ball furthest from the hole be 
accidentally moved in so doing, it must be replaced with- 
out a penalty. The six inches to be measured from the 
nearest surfaces of the balls. 

22. In a three or more ball match, a ball in any degree 
lying between the player and the hole must be lifted as 
above, or, if on the Putting-Gfreen, holed out. 



THE BULE8 OF TEE GAME OF GOLF. 105 

VIIL—Ball in Water. 

23. If the ball lie in water^ the player may take it out, 
change it if he pleases, drop it, and play from behind the 
hazard, losing a stroke. 

24. If the ball lie in any position in the Swilcan Bum, 
whether in water or not, the player may take it out, drop 
it on the line where it entered the bum, on the opposite 
side to the hole to which he is playing, and lose a stroke, 
or he may play it where it lies without a penalty. 

25. Should a ball be driven into the water of the Eden 
at the high hole, or into the Sea at the first hole, the ball 
must be teed a club length in front of either river or sea, 
the player or side losing a stroke. 

IX. — Rubs of the Green and Penalties. 

26. Whatever happens to a ball by accident, such as 
being moved or stopped by any person not engaged in the 
match, or by the fore caddie, must be reckoned a "Eub on 
the Green," and submitted to. 

27.^ If, however, a player's ball strike his opponent or 
his opponent's caddie or club, or is moved by them, the 
opponent loses the hole. 

28. If the ball strike himself or his partner, or either of 
their caddies or clubs, or is stopped by them, or if, while 



106 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

in the act of playing^ he strikes the ball twice, the player 
loses the hole. 

29. If the player, or his partner, touch their ball with 
the foot, or any part of the body (except as provided for 
in Bales iv., y., yn., and vm.), or with anything except 
the club, his side loses a stroke. 

30. If the player, whilst addressing himself to the ball 
on any occasion, except at the tee, touch it so as to cause 
it to move, or if his hand, foot or club touch a bent, stick, 
or anything which causes the ball to move, or if the 
player's caddie move the ball, he loses a stroke. 

81. A ball is considered to have been moyed if it leayes 
its original position in the least degree, or stops in 
another ; but if a player touches his ball so as to make it 
merely oscillate and not leave its original position, it is 
not considered to have been moved. 

32. If a player or his caddie strike the opponent's ball 
in any manner, that side loses the hole ; but if he plays it 
inadvertently, thinking it is his own, and the opponent 
also plays the wrong ball, it is then too late to claim the 
penalty, and the hole must be played out with the balls 
thus changed. If, however, the mistake occurs from 
wrong information given by one party to the other, the 
penalty cannot be claimed, and the mistake, if discovered 



THB BULJE8 OF THE GAME OF GOLF. lOT 

before the other party has played, must be rectified by re- 
placing the ball as nearly as possible where it lay. 

33. If a player s ball be played away by mistake, or be 
lifted by any agency ontside the match, then the player 
must drop it, or another ball, as near the spot as possible, 
without any penalty. Should this occur on the Putting- 
Green, the ball may be replaced by hand* 

X. — Ball Lost, 

34. In match playing, a ball lost entails the loss of the 
hole. Should the ball not be found within ten minutes, 
the opposite side can claim the hole. 

Note to Bulb X. — 34 (a). A ball getting into the enclo- 
sure (between the Boad and the Dyke holes), called 
the " Station-Master's Garden," shall be treated as a 
lost ball. 

XL — ClvJf Breeding. 

35. If, in striking, the club breaks, it is nevertheless to 
be counted a stroke, if the part of the club remaining in 
the player's hand either strike the ground, or pass the 
balL 

XIL — Holing out the BalL 

36. In holing, no mark shall be placed, or line drawn, 
to indicate the line to the hole ; the ball must be played 
fairly and honestly for the hole, and not on the opponent's 



108 QOLVJANA MI8CELLANHA. 

ball, not being in the way to the hole ; nor, although 
lying in the way to the hole, is the player entitled to play 
with any strength upon it, that might injure his 
opponent's position, or greater than is necessary honestly 
to send his own ball the distance of the hole. 

37. Either player, when it is his turn to play, may 
remoye, but not press down, sand, or worm heaps, lying 
around the hole, or on the line of his " put ; " but this 
must be done lightly by the player or his caddie, with 
the hand only. Except as aboye mentioned, or when the 
player is in the act of addressing himself to his ball, the 
putting line must not be touched by club, hand, nor foot. 
K the player desires the "line to the hole," it may be 
pointed out by a club shaft only, 

88. If, in holding out, the ball rest upon the flag-stick 
in the hole, the player shall be entitled to haye the stick 
remoyed, and if the ball fall in, it shall be considered as 
holed out ; but either party is entitled to haye the flag- 
stick remoyed when approaching the hole. When a 
player's ball rests on the lip of the hole, his opponent, 
after holing in the "odd" or the "like," shall be 
entitled to strike away the ball which is at the lip of the 
hole, claiming the hole if he shall haye holed in the 
"like;" and the "half" if he shall haye holed in the 



THE BULBS OF THE GAME OF GOLF. 109 

" odd." Bat no player shall be entitled to play, until Ids 
opponent's ball shall have ceased rolling. 

XIIL— Unplayable Balls. 

39. In Match playing every ball must be played 
wherever it lies, or the hole be giving up, excepting where 
otherwise provided for— (Eule rv. and vm.) 

40. If a ball lies in any of the holes made for golfing, 
or on ground under repair by the conservator of the 
Links, it may be lifted, dropped behind the hazard, and 
played without losing a stroke. 

41. In all cases where a ball is to be dropped, the 
party doing so shall front the hole to which he is playing, 
standing close behind the hazard, within two club 
lengths, and dropping the ball behind him from his head. 

Note to Bulb XIH. — 41 (a). Ground under repair will 
be marked by stakes. 

XIV. — Asking Advice. 

42. A player must not ask advice about the game by 
word, look, or gesture from any one except his own 
caddie, his partner's caddie, or his partner. 

XV. — Disputes. 

43. Any dispute respecting the play shall be deter- 
mined by the captain, or senior member present ; or, if 



no OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

none of the members are present, it shall be settled by a 
committee appointed by the parties interested ; or by the 
captain and his annual council for the time, at their first 
meeting. 

XVL — Parties pamng each other . 

44. Any party haying lost a ball, and incurring delay 
by seeking for it, may be passed by any other party 
coming up. 

45. On all occasions a two-hall match may pass a party 
playing three or more balls. 

46. Parties having caddies may pass those carrying 
their own clubs. 

47. Parties turning before going the whole round must 
let any two-ball match that has done so pass them. 

XVIL— Balls Splitting. 

48. If a ball splits into two or more pieces, a fresh ball 
shall be put down where the largest portion of the ball 
lies ; and if a ball is cracked the player may change it on 
intimating his intention of doing so to his opponent. 

XVIIL— Breach of Rules. 

49. Where no penalty for the infringement of a rule is 
specially mentioned, the loss of the hole shall be under- 
stood to be the penalty. 



THE BULBS OF THE GAME OF GOLF. lU 

XIX. — Medal Days — Special Rules. 

50. All competitions for the Medals of the Olub will be 
decided by playing one round of the Links of 18 holes *•— 
the competitor doing it in fewest strokes shall be the 
winner. If the lowest score shonld be made by two or 
more^ the ties will be decided. by the parties playing 
another round, either that day or the following, as the 
Captain, or, in his absence, the Secretary, may direct. 

51. On the morning of the Medal day new holes will 
be made, and any member playing at them before he 
competes will be disqualified. 

52. Before starting each competitor must obtain from 
the Secretary a scoring card, and in the absence of a 
special marker, the players will note each other's score. 
They must satisfy themselves at the finish of each hole 
that their strokes have been accurately marked ; and on 
completion of the round hand the card to the Secretary or 
his deputy. 

58. The order of starting will be balloted for the 
prerious evening. Any couple not at the teeing ground 
when their number is called must go the bottom of the 



* Excepting the "Glennie Medal," which is awarded to the player 
whose combined scores at the Spring and Autnnm competitions of the 
Glnb are the lowest. The Medal to be presented at the Autumn 
nwttinggt 






112 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

list. A party starting from the first tee must allow the 
party in front of them to cross the bum before striking 
oS. 

54. All balls must be holed out, and when on the 
Putting-Qreen, the flag must be removed, and the player 
whose ball is nearest the hole has the option of holing out 
first. Either player can have another player's ball lifted 
if he finds that it interferes with his stroke. The ball 
that has been lifted must be carefully replaced. 

55. If a ball be lost, the player returns to the spot, as 
near as possible, where the ball was struck, tees another 
ball, and loses a stroke. If the lost ball be found, before 
he has struck the other ball, the first ball shall continue 
the one to be played. 

56. A ball driven into the water of the Eden or Sea 
may be treated as a lost ball. A player striking his 
caddie, or himself, or his clubs with his ball, or who, 
in the act of playing, strikes the ball twice, shall lose on& 
stroke only as the penalty. A ball may, under a penalty 
of two strokes, be lifted out of a difficulty of any descrip- 
tion and teed behind the same. 

57. No Competitor may play with a Professional. 

58. All private matches must be delayed till the last 
competitors have finished the first hole. 

59. The ordinary Bules of Golf; so far as they aro not 



THE RULES OF THE GAME OF GOLF. 113 

at yariance with these special roles, shall also be 
applicable on medal days. 

These Rules were approved of, and adapted at a General 
Meeting of the Royal and Ancient Oolf Clvb, held on 
the 2nd May, 1882. 

HANDLE JACKSON, 

Captain of the Royal and^ Ancient 
Golf Club. 

Slst May, 1882. 



114 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT.* 

THE MODEBK OAME. 

TmB game of Golf, as it is played now-a-days, is, we sus- 
pect, a very different affair from the primitiye pastime of 
some htmdreds of years ago. We suspect; for, as has been 
deplored in our previous chapter, there are no Golfing 
annals to search for curious information — ^no quaint tome, 
blazoned with monkish delineations of the sport, to refer 
to ; and how the game was played in detail, who were its 
patrons, who the lights of its science, are points of interest 
now entirely lost to us. 

But centuries, it is almost needless to say, have not 
denied, in their lapse, to Gt^lf, the improvements which 
have been vouchsafed to almost every other art and 
amusement in the world. No ; centuries have passed over 
the rugged heath and reclauned sand-bank, and have 
smoothed them to velvet carpets for the sport ; centuries, 
by destroying with the knowledge they evoked, these old 
fallacies of amusement, the card, the dice-box, the loath- 
some hell, and the nightly debauch carried into the noon- 

* From the QiiUfeft'a Manual. By H. B. Farnie. 1867. 



THJB GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 115 



day, which our forefathers delighted to honour ; and by 
replacing their enervating excitements with the manly 
ont-door pastimes of the present day, have bronght wealth, 
numbers, and the patronage of the great, to bear upon the 
advancement and improvement of Ck>lf . 

Within the last few years a remarkable difference has 
been produced in the number of Golfers, by the discovery 
of Ghitta Percha> and the branch discovery that it was 
excellently well fitted for the manufacture of Qolf balls. 
Before that ever-memorable era in the history of the 
game, the Scottish Links did not present the same ani- 
mated appearance they do now ; nor were the votaries of 
the pastime composed so variously of all classes. There 
was a sufficient reason for this in the expense of requisites. 
The universal, because unavoidable, use of feather-balls is 
quite within the recollection of every one who has reached 
his third lustrum as a Golfer. These are awful days to 
look back on I Feather balls were constructed with great 
trouble to the maker, and at a corresponding expense to 
the player ; their manufacture, indeed, constituted a dis- 
tinct trade in Golfing communities. They were formed 
by stuffing boiled soft feathers, in quantities that would 
seem to many apocryphal, by means of a kind of awl, into 
a stout leather case, sewed into the similitude of a sphere ; 
a little opening being left for the insertion of the feathers. 



116 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



This hole was then finally stitched np; the case ham- 
mered round and painted ; and the ball was ready for use. 
But alas I its duration was brief indeed : one or two rounds 
of a moderate-sized LinJks were quite sufficient to put it 
horS'de'Combat ; and its wheezing flight through the 
welkin was but too symptomatic that it was done for^ to 
all the higher intents and purposes of Golfing. But it 
was destined to renew its youth, like an old courtier with 
his rouge and his patches. Agam it was under the hands 
of the mskker, who smoothed its ruffled surface and coated 
its gaping seams with paint, — then retailed it to embryo 
Golfers at a cost in keeping with " sere and yellow leaf." 

This was the career of a Golf ball antecedent to the 
introduction of Giitta Percha, which caused a total revolu- 
tion in the history of ball-making, The first flight of 
''Guttas" was hailed with a burst of joy financial by 
every one except the old monopolists of the feather manu- 
facture. They saw no reason to rejoice ; their occupation 
was, like Othello's, gone, at least in all seemiQg ; and day 
after day the demand for feathers dwindled, and gutta 
percha was the order of the time. A few prejudiced 
oldsters, indeed, remained staunch liegemen of the old 
system ; but only for a time, and at last the ball-makers 
themselves, who had firmly nailed their colours to the 
mast, surrendered before the increasing volleys of guttas. 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT. U7 

We are^ moreoyer^ liappy to state that the ball-inakers^ so 
far from losing by the advent of gutta percha, have had 
eyentnally ample reason to rejoice thereat ; for, the only 
drawback to the enjoyment of the delightful pastime, its 
expense, being removed, the increase of players and their 
ability to invest in a number of balls at the same rate that 
formerly was the value of a couple, gives them ample and 
remunerative employment. 

We may remark here that gutta percha balls, when pro- 
perly made and hammered, or otherwise compressed so as 
to unite their particles firmly, fly quite as well as feathers 
through the air; and, like the King, they "never die;" for 
a judicious softening and re-hammering, with a coat or 
two of white paint, are all the preparation required to 
make them bound away as merrily and as handsome as 
when first they left the original mould. 

The game of Golf has at the present day peculiar facili- 
ties for being properly played in Scotland, where, from the 
splendid tracts of sand which royal grants or the provident 
munificence of private bodies long ago set sacredly apart 
for its practice, the head-quarters of the sport are situated. 
Were Nature at the back of man he could scarcely lay out 
better links than those of St. Andrews, Perth, Mussel- 
burgh, Monifieth, Montrose, Prestwick, and many other 
places. The habitues of these several golfing grounds 



118 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

have formed themselves into associations as well for the 
better protecting of the gronnd as golfing links, as for the 
development of the game by plajdng for medals ; holding 
stated meets for the latter purpose. Of late years the 
inflnz of English families for the summer in Scotland has 
been steadily on the increase, and Golf in consequence 
numbers many keen votaries among the Southerns. Links, 
we believe, have been staked out in various parts of Eng- 
land ; and these infant Gblfing Olubs, aided and abetted 
by the Scotch residents, who, in their ubiquitous character, 
are sure to be found '' quite handy," are doing as well as 
could be expected. In sultry India, too, the game is not 
unknown, where it is preferable to cricket as an out-door 
amusement for obvious reasons ; and this fact is as good 
as a medical certificate of its virtues. This wide-spread 
estimation in which the sport is held has occasioned em- 
ployment to a distinct set of artizans in golfing communi- 
ties— clubmakers, ballmakers, caddies, etc. — thus giving a 
substantial aad business-Hke air to the game, which speaks 
much for its steady popularity. 

Before entering in our succeeding chapters upon a 
technical consideration of our subject, we shall give a 
slight general sketch of its nature. 

The Qt)lfing course is arbitrary in form; sometimes 
circulari sometimes oblong, but more generally stretching 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAY IT. 119 

irregularly in a winding direction. The best site for a 
6k>lfing ground is by the sea-shore, and we find nearly all 
of the Scottish Links so situated. A sandy soil does not 
encourage the thick and luxuriant growth of grass, an 
earthy one does ; thus the turf is easily trodden down to 
velvety smoothness merely by the pressure of the player's 
feet. At intervals of time nomadic flocks of sheep aid in 
keeping the herbage down ; so that the course is alwa3r8 
fit for the niceties of the game without any special 
attention. Still the theatre of our scientific pastime is by 
no means a Bowling-green; the course-proper alone has 
this trim appearance. On each side bristle all kinds of 
furzy horrors, — ^whins, thick-tufted heather, and many 
other situations of distress for a wandering ball. The 
course on a good Links is not wider, on an average, than 
thirty to sixty yards ; nor is golfing, even on this cleared 
space, altogether plain sailing. The surface is dotted over 
at frequent intervals with sandy holes, technically called 
bunkers, from two to six feet deep, of irregular forms and 
sizes; whilst here and there a whin is left in a likely 
place to intercept the unwary stroke. Then the 
inequalities of the ground — a hiQock here, an abrupt rift 
there— vary the play, and call up all the skill of the 
performer to avoid ScyUa, and yet not tumble into 
Chary bdis. 



120 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Some Links again baye more the appearance of parks : 
tte whins (tough old bushes too) have ceased to mark 
with their yellow bloom the heathery margin of the 
course ; the bunkers have degenerated from sti£P golfing 
hazards into a resort for holiday children with wheel- 
barrows^ spades, and agricxdtural propensities ; and grow- 
ing in consequence exaggerated, have lost their rugged 
outline, and are worn into gentle hollows on the plain. 
To complete the taming of such a Links, the reader has 
only to picture to himself the daily inroads of the kine 
appertaining unto some economic milkman — a score or 
two of nurserymaids — a few rinks of quoits — and, 
sprinkling the scene with washerwomen, he will easily see 
that in such a region the royal and ancient game of Golf 
is in inmiinent danger of dying a natural death, or at all 
events, of being deprived of its most delightful perils. 

Over the course, at distances from each other varying 
from eighty to four hundred yards, are bored small circu- 
lar holes, about four inches in diameter. These holes are 
placed on especially smooth tables of turf called putting 
greens, for there, as the reader will shortly learn, the 
nicer strokes of the game are played. When they have 
been played to some little time, these holes are shifted a 
few yards, as well to preserve the green from too much 
rubbing, as to vary the play by changing the lie of the 



TB£ GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 121 

ground in the short game. When the course is circular 
in form, the players go round till they reach the starting 
point; if oblong or irregular, they play to the further 
end, then returning, play the same holes backwards till 
they reach the point they set out from. The object of 
the golfer is to propel a small hard ball by means of clubs 
(which it were needless to describe minutely here,) from 
one hole to another, and at last to hole it in a fewer 
number of strokes than his- antagonist, who plays a 
separate balL Until the hole is ''lost and won," the ball 
is never touched by the hand, except in certain situations 
set forth in the code of Golfing Laws annexed to this 
little work. When the course has been thus accom- 
plished, whoever has gained the greater number of holes 
is victor; but a match may be ended before the entire 
ground has been traversed, if one party has, at any stage 
of the game, already gained more holes than remain to be 
played, when, of course, his adversary, although winning 
all the rest, could not retrieve the fortune of the match. 

We would advise our uninitiated reader to peruse, as 
supplemental to, and explanatory of, this brief description 
of Uie sport, the excellent code of golfing laws we^have 
referred to. There he will find every detail of tne game 
given, which he will be thoroughly able to jromprehend 
with the aid of our glossary of teohnicali^s. It would 

H 



122 GOLFIANA MISGELLANEA. 

be superfluous for us, witli sucli a concise account, and 
full explanation of the various predicaments of the game 
given in these rules, to write even a resume of the leading 
points here ; and in our future chapters we shall consider 
the reader as being conversant with the general features 
of the pastime as therein described. 

OLASSinOATION OF CLT7BS. 

The flrst thing that strikes the novice with wonder is 
the variety and number of clubs used by the more expert 
players in the game of Golf. Unacquainted as the ijco 
necessarily must be with its mysteries, and having only a 
very vague idea how it is played, their number strikes 
him as being useless, — at all events unnecessary, and 
their variety as the result of whim. Nevertheless, they 
have each of them a shade of use different from that of 
the others ; and this fact will show the novice inferentially 
to what a degree of nicety the game has been brought ; — 
how every possible mishap is countermet by a skilfully 
adapted tool ; and, in a word, that at Qolf on the 
lengthening plain, as on the miniature ''green'-' of the 
billiard table, a degree of perfection is attainable, astonish- 
ing to the uninitiated, and at once rebutting the ultra- 
philosophical view which sneers at the sport as childish 
and unmeaning. 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 123 

A complete set of Gblfing Olubs may be diyided into 

four classes, contra-distingoislied by technical names, 

viz. : — 

Drtvebs; 
Spoons ; 
Ibons; and 

PUTTEEd. 

Tbese kinds again each embrace several clubs, having 
slight specific differences. 

Dbivebs. — ^Drivers, so called from being the clubs used 
to "drive" "swipe" or propel the ball a long distance, 
are distinguished by their long, tapering, and flexible 
shafts, their small raking heads, and the powerful feel 
they have when handled. There are two members of this 
class ; the play club, and the grassed driver. The first is 
employed, as a rule, to play over safe ground where no 
hazards lie exposed to the stroke ; as the play club, from 
the peculiarity of its make, explained at length in a suc- 
ceeding chapter, does not shy the ball much, which would 
only have the effect of spending its velocity in the air 
while it shortened the actual distance accomplished. 
This, as the reader will at once perceive, is therefore the 
best club to drive those tremendous strokes which make 
the striker an hero of oral tradition amongst golfers for 
many an after year. The grassed driver is also used to 



lU aOLflANA MISCELLANEA. 

effect distance when the ball happens to lie in one of three 
situations ; when it is among soft grass ; or on the down- 
ward slope of a hillock ; or when a hazard looms 
dangerously in front of the stroke. The peculiarity of 
this club is, that in addition to sending the ball well away, 
it raises it considerably in the air. Were the play-club 
used in any of the three predicaments we have enum- 
erated, the ball would, in the first case, be propelled 
through the grass and instantly stopped ; in the second, 
would not be elevated above the inequalities of the 
course ; and in the last, would, in all probability, be 
comfortably lodged in the hazard ahead. 

Spoons. — Spoons derive their very suggestive name 
from the great slope in the face of the club head, which 
gives them the power of skying the ball to almost any 
height, being the same property, only in a much greater 
degree, which is the characteristic of the grassed driver. 
They are most useful fellows, doing much of the sapper 
and miner work of the game, are four in number, and, as 
their names impart, are of various lengths, viz. :— 

LoNa Spoon ; 
Middle Spoon ; 
Shoet Spoon ; 
and Baffinq Spoon ; 

which last is also the least of all. 



THE GAME AND BOW TO FLAY IT. 125 

The long and middle spoons are often pressed into 
doing duty for a grassed driver, from their ability to 
" loft " the ball ; but besides this, from their tougher 
build, they are admirably fitted to jerk it out of a grassy 
rut — or a yielding whin — or, indeed, out of the thousand 
and one bad lies which the best directed stroke will get 
into, and which would very likely shiver the more slender 
shaft of the grassed play-club. The short spoon, besides 
assisting in the rougher work of its elder brethren, is used 
for those beautiful and difficult half strokes on to the 
putting green over a hazard, when the ball lies sufficiently 
clear for the stroke. The Baffing Spoon, although the 
smallest in stature, is by no means the least in usefulness 
of this family. Why it is called by either this soubriquet, 
or by its other title "the cutty," we leave speculative 
readers to determine ; although its more common appella- 
tion '* baffing " is most probably descriptive of the thump 
produced in making the stroke. It is employed only for 
skying a ball over a hazard on to the putting ground, 
when the stroke is too short for any of the other spoons. 
As will be seen, in an after chapter, on Points of the 
Qa.me, the Iron (a club we have not yet come to describe) 
is employed by many players for effecting the same stroke, 
thus superseding the use of this spoon altogether. 

Before quitting the subject of spoons, we shall notice an 



126 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

antiquated connection of the family^ now seldom to be 
naet with, unless as a supernumerary in the pack of an 
oldster. It is called a N3LIOE ; has a tough yet effective 
driving shaft ; and an exceedingly small head well-spooned 
back. Its use is, or rather was, to drive a ball out of a 
rut or cap large enough to admit the '* diminished head " 
— and very effective strokes we have seen made with it. 
But it is exceedingly difficult to play with ; and the pre- 
cise lie it is intended for so seldom occurs, that even an 
experienced hand is rather nervous at using it, the chances 
being in favour of a total miss. Besides, either a spoon 
or an iron answers the same purpose well enough. 

Ibons. — ^Irons, so named from their heads being formed 
from that metal, are obviously intended to achieve the 
roughest of the golfing in trying ground. They are three 
in number — ^the bunker iron ; the driving iron ; and the 
cleek or click. The first of these clubs is especially at 
home in a bunker — ^in a thickset whin — amongst the 
stones of a road — or, in fact, in any scrape where a 
wooden-headed tool would be useless. Its iron head 
cleaves through every obstacle, and jerks the ball out of 
grief where every other club would fail. The driving-iron 
nearly resembles him of the bunker, in everything but 
weight ; it is used amongst difficulties also, but only when 
the ball is intended to be, and admits of being, sent some 



TEE GAME AND EOW TO FLAY IT 127 

distance. There are also finer uses to which this club is 
occasionally put ; which, however, will be more fittingly 
treated of in our Chapter on Points of the Game. The 
cleek or click, deriving its name either from an old Scotch 
word signifying " hook," or from the sharp clicking sound 
produced in making the stroke, is also an iron club, but 
lighter than either of the others. It is used chiefly for 
driving the ball out of rough ground when elevation is not 
so much an object, aud when no impediments surround 
and obstruct the lie which would demand an heavier club. 
Sometimes again, it takes the sterner duties of the iron off 
its shoulders, and drives the ball out of a desperate 
hazard, when it happens to lie favourably for the stroke. 

PtJTTEBS. — Our last genus is that of putters, the most 
important clubs perhaps in the set, but concerning which 
little may be said in this chapter. They are two in num- 
ber : the green-putter and the driving-putter. The first 
is used on the putting-green, when the player is near 
enough to calculate with some certainty on the resistance 
of the grass, the length of the stroke, and the lie of the 
ground he intends his ball to pass over. Sometimes an 
iron-headed putter is used for the short game, instead of 
the more common kind ; but, as will be readily seen, when 
we come to describe its nature, does not prove at all a de- 
sirable substitute. Driving-putters are most fre(juently 



128 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

used in the place of short or baffing spoons, to drive the 
ball up to the putting-green, when no hazard or awkward 
inequality of ground intervenes to prevent the roll of the 
ball. They are also u^ed occasionally in very boisterous 
weather to drive a ball in the wind's eye over safe ground, 
and often answer this somewhat illegitimate use, even 
better than a play club. 

We have now gone through a complete set of clubs, and 
have classed and distrnguisted them by their different 
uses. There are many players who carry particular clubs 
in duplicate, and others who have some fashioned with 
slight deviations from the usual make ; but these peculia- 
rities do not, of course, affect in any wise our classification. 

The few remarks we have to make on the subject of 
balls will come more appositely in another part of this 
work. 



GOLFINa MANNEBIKQS. 

Eegabdikg the practice of no other sport, perhaps on the 
face of the earth, is there so much difference of opinion as 
in that of Golf. The confusion and multiplicity of styles 
that prevail amongst players are proof enough of this ; 
each no doubt thinking his own, not only the more cor- 
rect, but by far the superior, way of manipulating. The 



TEE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 129 



same independenoe of opinion is observable in their selec- 
tion of clubs. One prefers a certain stiffness of shaft — 
considers heavy heads decidedly the thing — swears by 
short tools — and looks down on his neighbour as a 
" Giaour " to the true Golfing creed, because, it may hap- 
pen, he is diametrically opposed to one and all of these 
views. Were it not that Golfers are in a manner at the 
mercy of club-makers, we doubt not that the profession of 
these gentlemen would be as fluctuating a business as that 
of a fashionable milliner. This being the case, the ques- 
tion naturally arises, whether the art of Golf may not be 
equally well acquired in a variety of ways ? "We answer, 
by no means. We never yet saw really good scientific 
players differ materially in style ; and those Golfers who 
are conspicuous for mannerisms, are in fact authors of 
some new system of play followed only by themselves; 
and rarely do such ever become stars even of the lesser 
magnitude in the Gt)lfing firmament. 

We account for this waat of unanimity in the general 
practice of the game by the careless way in which almost 
invariably beginners set out to acquire their rudiments. 
The novice having purchased imto himself some clubs and 
a brace of balls, commenceth his golfing career, as a rule, 
with another beginner for his adversary. In fact he rather 
shies the ordeal of making his debut in the awe-inspiring 



130 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

company of an old hand. Away then^ the two aspirants 
to golfing laurels blunder, in the most awful style, over 
the turf; — hacking and tearing as fancy dictates. This 
goes on day after day. They seldom receive proper in- 
struction from the *' professionals " who carry their clubs, 
who know full well how hard and thankless a task it is to 
impart even the first maxims of the science, in the brief 
period of their services. Consequently the verbal law 
occasionally promulgated by these club-carrying satellites 
for the benefit of their respective masters, is generally 
couched in the following edifying though perhaps ambigu- 
ous strain: — "Noo, sir, just tak* yer play-club, an' pit 
plenty o' strength intil't ; " or " Ye'd jest better tak yer 
iron, ye can drive graun' wi* it, an' he's playin' twa mair; " 
and so on ; whilst shortcomings in the putting only elicit 
the palliating remarks from the philosophic caddie, '^ just 
wants legs to be in ; " *' owre muckle poother, but awfu' 
straucht, raaly a gran' direction." Should the novice, 
however, make a chance approximation to a good stroke, 
Irish hyberbole vanishes into common-place compared 
with the gratulations it is hailed with on the golfing links : 
'' There she wanders," cries the delighted bearer of clubs, 
'' a bonnie lick as ever was played ; ye did it that time, 
sir." Now, considering this only happens once a round 
the laudations are excusable; but it may be reasonably 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 131 



doubted whether this miming fire of commendation and 
advice, whatever effect it may have on the fate of the 
match in hand, will ever make the tyro a player in the true 
sense of the word. In course of time, our hero begins to 
hit his ball more frequently than the turf ; and forthwith 
lays the flattering unction to his soul that he is now out 
of training ; marvels at the expeditious manner in which 
he has taught himself the art; and, as he views the 
lengthening couples of experimental golfers blundering 
away, thinks complacently that he bids fair to be one of 
the " fliers of his year." 

Now this sketch is not over-drawn, or true only of the 
few ; nor can it be fairly wondered at when we reflect that 
there have been at no time any written details of the prac- 
tice of the game ; no golfing dicta^ saying, this shalt thou 
do, that thou mayest not ; nor even a salutary injunction 
in the lack of positive information, that the tyro should 
commence his golfing studies under a master of the art. 
If, in this treatise, we so delineate the game as to give the 
uninitiated an idea of its true nature, of its difficulties, 
and of its capabilities of affording scientific amusement ; 
and if we convince such readers that they ought to begun 
the pastime either with a little theory in their heads, or 
under the eye of a veteran, then do we hope and believe 
that a new era in the history of golf will dawn. 



132 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



The peculiarities in the make of clubs, adverted to in 
the preamble to this chapter as being delighted in by 
players, owe their origin to the careless acquisition of 
style we have just deprecated. Both these impediments 
to an unanimous system in the practice of the game could 
be easily overcome ; but another difficulty arises of a very 
different character, and which threatens the attempt to 
sketch out a theory with a complete defeat. Were 
Golfing confined entirely to active, lithe persons, with 
limbs untrammelled by flesh, and their muscular system 
never fettered by bodily ailments, then indeed it were no 
difficult matter to lay down a code of €k>lfing laws and 
maxims for the guidance of such '' a glorious company." 
But this is not exactly the case : the craftsmen of the 
Links are a more motley body. It is the blessed 
characteristic of the game that old and young, the healthy 
and the weak, the rotund and the spare, all may, and all 
do, share its invigorating influences. Now it is perfectly 
obvious that the invalid, his limbs cramped and attenuated 
by the couch of illness, cannot use his club with the same 
freedom as his healthier neighbour ; nor is it convenient, 
albeit it may border on the impossible, that a Golfer 
whose personale resembles that assigned by popular 
superstition to the civic dignitaries of London, should 
sweep his club round his shoulder with the same far- 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 133 

circling swing as his lither opponent. These differences 
must, to a certain extent, necessitate a variety in style, 
which, being conapelled by natural causes, no system can 
wholly overcome. Bnt we assert that this variety is 
merely a difference in degree and not in kind ; that is to 
say, that the same directions are to be followed, the same 
dicta observed, in the acquisition of style in Golfing by 
each and all, as far as their bodily organisation will allow. 
In ord^ to make this clearer to our readers, we shall 
refer players in all to two great classes — first. Golfer's 
Agile ; and second, Golfer's Non-agile ; terms which shall 
denote the natural differences we have been commenting 
on as existing amongst votaries of the sport. 

When any points of separate or peculiar interest to one 
of these classes occur, we shall give special information 
concerning such ; but the reader will bear in mind, that 
in general we shall treat our subject, whether it be the 
clubs to be used, the manner of wielding them, or a 
consideration of points of the game, in a broad manner 
which shall cause our remarks to be applicable to, and 
appliable by, all players. 

One other point we have to comment on before closing 
this preliminary and somewhat discursive chapter, which 
is, that difference of stature affects neither a choice of 
clubs nor style of play» The same qualities ought to exist 



134 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

in the tools irrespectiye of length ; and the same principles 
are involved in the manner they should be used. 



CHOICE OF CLT7BS. 

The selection of clubs is a very important step, more 
especially for the beginner to take ; as in the latter case, 
the tools the novice chooses and plays with for the first 
time must inevitably influence his after game. We shall, 
therefore, take the clubs seriatim in this chapter, and 
explain, in each case, what constitutes a good stick, by 
describing the requisite qualities ; giving some advice 
negatively, by showing, inter alia, the bad effects arising 
from the adoption of clubs other than those we shall 
recommend. 

Dbivebs. — The shaft of the play club should taper well 
towards the head ; if the wood be properly seasoned this 
ihinness wiU not impair its strength. Thus a powerful 
spring is obtained in the lower end, just above the whip- 
ping, whilst the upper part of the shaft remains stiff. 
This is the true driving shaft, and none other. K a 
spring is allowed to creep into a shaft all the way up, the 
head from its great comparative weight, must twist about 
when the club is rapidly brought down for the stroke ; 
and the chances are, in such a case, that the ball is hit 



THU GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 135 

obliquely and driven in an erratic manner off the course. 
Again^ a perfectly stiff shaft possesses little driying power. 
It is a favourite vanity of some Golfers to cultivate an 
arched back to their driving shaft, so that it has the 
appearance of being weighed down by the head. This is 
a grand mistake ; for in making the swing, the head is 
certain to be influenced by this crook, and is very liable to 
come down obliquely, as in the case of a supple handle. 
If this bend is meant to flatten the lie of the club, the 
same result could be obtained at the club-maker's, without 
the necessity of spoiling the shaft. 

The head of the play club should neither be very deep 
in the face nor too broad across the back. It is very 
common to see clubs with the flrst peculiarity : many 
indeed, flrmly believe it the easiest, and assuredly the 
safest, club to drive with. Undoubtedly the tyro will at 
first hit his ball more certainly with a head of this des- 
cription ; just as at Billiards a muff can effect strokes 
with a mace which he would likely miss altogether were 
he to use the tapering cue ; yet no one, in the latter case, 
will ever assert that he can become a good player with 
such an instrument. In order to strike a ball with a 
deep-faced play club, so as to raise it a little in the air, 
(the only safe way to drive,) the performer must of 
necessity haff the stroke, as it is descriptively called ; that 



136 GOLPIAIfA MISCELLANEA. 

is to aaj, mast force Ha club-head ea close to the ground 
that the momeutom acquired hy the swing is cheeked 
and greatly lessened ; whereas a thin faced bead, better 
adapted to catch the ball below the centre, skies it without 
the same danger of hitting the torf heavily in the process. 
Thos we prefer a thin faee for scientific driving. Then 
i£ the head be over broad-backed, the Golfer loses the 
chance of many a full swipe out of rutty ground, or from 
ofE the declivity of a hillock, and mast have recovurae to 
hie grassed driver or his spoons. 

The weight of a play-club, and, mdeed, of any driving 
club, should depend entirely on the nature of the shaft, 
being heavy or light in proportion to its stiffness or flexi- 
bility. As a maxim, however, the Qolfer Agile should not 
use much lead ; it imparts Uttle additional impetus to a 
ball when hit cleanly with a correctly executed awing, and 
is apt, moreover, to strain the shaft, and destroy the ac- 
curacy of his aim. 

Regarding the lie of a club intended for effecting dis- 
tance, whether it should be flat or upright, little can be 
said which would determine a choice in every case, as it 
altogether depends on the stature of a player, and conse- 
quently on the length of his cinb ; the role being, the 
longer the club, the flatter the lie. Aa will appear in our 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 137 

after remarks on style^ a rather flat-headed play-club is 
preferable for long driying. 

Finally^ and this caution applies to almost every tool in 
the set, the leather grasp on the shaft should not be 
thick, but raised very little above the wood. Thus a won- 
derful command is obtained over the club, which is in a 
manner lost when the golfer has to compass an unwieldy 
bundle of rind, more resembling in shape the handle of a 
cricket-bat than of a slim and graceful play-club. • 

The grassed driver differs but little in make from the 
play-club. Its head should be somewhat heavier, and the 
shaft stouter in proportion than in the case of the other ; 
and the face deeper, else in the soft grass, which is the 
peculiar province of this club, the head is apt to pass 
XLnder the ball altogether. 

These are the general qualities which ought to charac- 
terize this important class of clubs. We shall now require 
to make some remarks on those in general use amongst 
Oolfers Non-agile. 

To judge from their usual turn-out, gentlemen of this 
-class do not at all assent to the view we have taken of 
driving clubs. Their play-clubs in general are remarkable 
for very long shafts, which are either very stiff, or — ^no 
Jtiste milieu — very supple ; in fact, as the golfing vulgate 
hath it, " perfect tangles ; " and, independence being the 



138 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

mode, the head is invariably large and ponderous. We 
never could satisfactorily account for this perversity of 
choice, putting sheer whimsicality out of the question; 
and we shrewdly suspect that the proprietors themselves 
of those gigantic tools could give no sufficing reason why 
they used them at all, except perhaps that they consider 
them as supplying the force their style of play is minus of. 
We have, in speculative moments, been inclined to attri- 
bute it all to the club-makers themselves ; and have (per- 
haps unjustly), likened their sales unto the manner a smart 
linen draper does business, when an antiquity comes in 
"from the coimtry" to invest in the fashions, and is talked 
into the triumphant possession of unsaleable enormities. 
Now, supposing this guess to be correct, we do not blame 
the club-makers ; for, independently of exhibiting every 
desire to please their customer, they always aim at turning 
out good "sticks ;" and, indeed, it is no object for them to 
keep any other. They know, however, better than any- 
body, the eccentric tastes of Golfers Non-agile ; and when 
such a customer presents himself for a driver, the presiding 
genius of the dub-emporium instantly "takes his measure," 
and produces accordingly some amazing tools with the 
peculiarities aforesaid. Our Golfer, who of course is keen 
for the game, flourishes the reconmiended weapon scienti- 
fically in the air ; looks critically at the shaft ; ventures 



THJS GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 139 



an objection for the appearance of the thing which^ of a 
certainty, is instantly over-ruled by the vendor ; and, rather 
inclined into the belief, from his enthusiastic faith in every- 
body and everything connected with his favourite pastime, 
that it is " just the fit " the manufacturer asserts it to be, 
forthwith completes the transfer by adding it to his set, 
and in due time, has to invent a new style of play to suit 
his purchase. 

If there must be a difference in the clubs appertaining 
unto Golfers Non-agile, a necessity which, however, we by 
no means admit, let it be simply a difference of degree. 
Let their play-clubs be a little heavier, if they will, than 
those recommended to our other class of Golfers, but in 
such case let the shafts be made of corresponding stoutness 
to counteract the twisting influence of the extra lead. 
Their driving clubs may be also grassed more than is cus- 
tomary, to ensure elevation to a stroke, when little velocity 
is acquired in consequence of an imperfect swing. Thus 
the functions of play-club and grassed driver will be in a 
manner merged ; and in the practice of many players of 
this class, we find such to be the case. As for the ap- 
parent necessity of having extra sized clubs, the idea is 
xmreasonable and totally useless in practice. 

We have made those strictures on the predilections of 
Golfers Non-agile, with special reference to driving-clubs, 



140 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

as a moment's reflection will show that none other of the 
set are capable of, or are, indeed, ever subjected to, ma- 
terial alteration of any kind. Spoons are necessarily, from 
their application, tough heavy tools ; and nothing would 
be gained in any instance by departing in the slightest 
from their established make ; on the contrary their peculiar 
usefulness would be materially affected. The irons are 
obviously of an unchangeable character, and so simple in 
form, that it would puzzle the most theorizing enthusiast 
to invent another, or at all events, a better mould. Lastly, 
on the putting green, all players are on the same footing 
in respect of clubs ; strength and a lithe organization are 
no longer of superior avail, and thus the same tools are 
common to all. Our succeeding remarks in this chapter 
will be considered, therefore, as applicable to the case of 
every player. 

Spooks. — ^Long spoons are not unlike the grassed driver 
in their general appearance. They are, however, more 
stoutly made ; the shaft rather shorter and not tapering 
80 finely ; and the head larger and heavier. The stiffer 
and tougher the shaft is, the better it is adapted lor jerking 
a ball out of bad ground (a favourite use of the long spoon 
which will be afterwards duly explained), without fear of 
being snapped in the process. The spoon or slope in the 
face of the head should be greater than that of the grassed 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 141 



driver^ as elevation of the ball is of primary importance in 
a spoon shot. 

The same remarks we have made on the lie of a play- 
dub are applicable to the long spoon, the style of play 
being, as will afterwards appear, nearly identical in the 
use of both. 

Middle, short, and bafiSng spoons should have even 
broader heads than their elder brother ; and a little addi- 
tional lead is not objectionable, care being taken that no 
spring is allowed in consequence to influence the shaft, 
especially in the case of the last two. The lie of these 
spoons should be rather upright, as the player, on account 
of their stunted size, has necessarily to stand much closer 
to his ball than usuaL The slope of the face of these 
clubs should be in the same degree from point to heel ; 
thus the ball, even if not struck exactly with the centre, 
will receive the benefit of the spoon all the same, and will 
be sent in the right direction. 

There are no further peculiarities which demand special 
notice in the spoon family. 

Irons. — The shafts only of iron clubs, as may be in- 
ferred from their name, are made by the club-makers, the 
heads being fashioned by the blacksmith. We may remark 
here that this latter artizan, if he be at all an expert hand, 
will copy an approved iron-head very closely, and thus 



142 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



exactly fulfil the taste of the player who has foond a 
model which suits him. The shafts of the bunker and 
driving-irons should be tough, with little or no taper in 
them, spring being anything but a desirable quality. The 
head should be deep in the face, more so at the point than 
the heel, as the former is the more powerful hitting part ; 
it should also be well spooned, curving a little in the 
centre. For reasons which will appear in our Chapter on 
Style, we prefer the head of the iron not to be much 
rounded at the heel. Qt)lfers generally like the lie of their 
heavy iron to be upright, as in a number of cases they 
have to stand over, or very close to, their ball — situations 
which would render a fiat lie peculiarly inefficient. 

Some bunker irons of the old make are round bottomed, 
the idea being that they could thus cut better into a small 
cup or rut ; but for general work such a tool is dangerous, 
the chances being that the ball is not hit exactly with the 
centre of the head, in which case it must inevitably be 
topped by the point or heel passing over it, and either 
burying it deeper than ever in the ground or effecting its 
extrication at the price of a severe cut. Besides, we shall 
show in our Chapter on Style how the ordinary level 
bottomed iron may be used to eject a ball from a rut or 
deep cut with quite as much precision as the antiquated 
*' round-head." 



THE GAMS AND HOW TO PLAY IT. 143 

The driving-iron resembles the bunker tool in its deep 
f ace^ but it is a lighter clnb ; and being used to drive the 
ball out of grief some distance^ should be rather flat in its 
lie. The slope of its face should be but little curved, so 
that hits off the point may be effective and straight-. 

The cleek again is still more lightly shafted^ and, per- 
haps, should be a little longer than either of the other two 
irons, as it is frequently the only club to be depended on 
in making a drive out of a hazard or broken ground. The 
head should be very little sloped back, and without a 
curve from heel to point ; if too much spooned it is apt to 
sky the ball overmuch when distance is wanted, and if 
curved the hitting is rendered timid and uncertain. The 
lie of the cleek is decidedly flat ; the more so if the shaft 
is prolonged for driving, according to the maxim before 
stated. If an extra cleek, of ordinary iron length, is kept 
to go through the rougher work allotted to this club, a 
little spring may be allowed to a long driving cleek, 
although the less the better when used among " sticks and 
stones." 

PuTTEBS. — ^We now come to a consideration of the best 
card in the pack, the pet weakness of the true golfer, his 
putter ; and nothing is more difficult than to define posi- 
tively what a good putter is. This hesitation is not to be 
wondered at, when we reflect on the strange contortions 



144 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

which, under cloak of the name of ''putters," figure as suck 
on the scientific green. Some, like drawing-room mon- 
strosities of green china, appear only valuable for their 
surpassing ugliness ; some have a strange afiSuiity to the 
gnarled root of a primeval tree ; some are certainly heir- 
looms of a century's respectability ; whilst others are alone 
their own parallel totally unlike as they are to any existing 
thing in this earth beneath, and, for ought we know to the 
contrary, in the waters under the earth. All of them, 
however, have a peculiar excellence inherent in, and 
inseparable from, their ugliness aforesaid — some redeem- 
ing quality which retains them, not as pensioners, but as 
efficient soldiers, on the player's staff ; and not a few of 
their number are archived in the legendary charter-house 
of golfing tradition by the memory of some wonderful 
stroke. When, indeed, a peculiarly rugged and disreput- 
able putter makes its appearance on the turf, we instantly 
have a strong impression, almost amounting to certainty, 
that " thereby hangs a tale ;" and before two or three 
holes are accomplished, a successful "steal" generally 
gives the fortunate proprietor an opportunity of demon- 
strating by an incredible narration that our presentiment 
was prophetically correct. 

There are, nevertheless, certain qualities which reflec- 
tion shows, and general consent evidences, to be the 



TEE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 145 

requisites of a good tool. For the short game, properly so 
called^ we would recommend a slim, tapering, but perfectly- 
stiff, shaft ; no spring should vitiate, no flexibility give 
the lie to, the player's nice calculation. The curving back 
we deprecated in the case of driving-shafts, we strenuously 
advocate in the putter ; the grasp of the handle in close 
putting should be light and free from nervous influence, 
and as this class of clubs is made exceedingly upright, this 
delicate manipulation can only be accomplished without 
disturbing the lie of the head, by having the shaft well 
crooked. It will then come naturally, so to speak, into 
the hand without the golfer's influence over the club being 
affected in the slightest. 

The putter head we prefer to be narrower than the 
common make authorises, for then a number of strokes on 
a rutty putting green may be played which would be 
impracticable were the head broad. In the face it should 
be deep and perfectly perpendicular — that is to say, at 
right angles with the turf when laid flat on it, and with- 
out the slightest curve from heel to point ; it ought also to> 
be well loaded with lead to avoid the necessity of exerting 
over much wrist-power, which might destroy and render 
uncertain the player's calculation. 

Some golfers affect an iron green putter, fashioned much 
in the same way as any of the iron clubs, but having the 



146 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

f aoe, as in tlie case of a wooden tool, perfectly upriglit and 
without a curve. We most decidedly counsel against their 
use ; they are most dangerous inventions to play with, be- 
ing liable to catch in the grass or soft soil, and have no 
counterbalancing merit. 

The driving putter is a longer club, should be toughly 
shafted, and flatter in the lie than the others of this class. 
In other respects the two putters sufficiently resemble ^ach 
other as to preclude the necessity of separate detaiL 

We shall close this chapter with some remarks, which 
may be found useful, on the woods employed in club mak- 
ing. 

The timber best adapted for driving shafts of all descrip- 
tions is red hickory. This wood is peculiarly tough, yet 
at the same time possesses a powerful spring without the 
drawback of too great flexibility ; qualities which give it 
an infinite superiority over ash, which is generally too 
supple, and not nearly so strong as hickory. Putters re- 
quire a different kind of wood for shafting ; and a very 
hard and close grained foreign wood, called by club makers 
''green-heart," is used for the purpose. It is very inflex- 
ible and admirably fitted for those clubs. Sometimes again 
lancewood is used for putting shafts, and even for the 
handles of driving clubs ; in the latter case it is very apt 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 147 

to splinter, and can never be nsed to jerk a ball, nor indadd 
ever be depended on in trjring ground. 

The woods used for club beads are apple-tree, thorn, 
beech, and others of the toughest nature. The first two 
we have mentioned are, however, by far the most prefer- 
able being exceedingly tough and capable of resisting the 
hardest usage without splitting. Beech is more commonly 
used perhaps, in the manufacture of club-heads, than ai^ 
other timber whatever; not so much on account of its 
superior qualities, but from the scarcity of the other woods 
we have mentioned as suited for this purpose. 

A full sized play club shaft, according to the maker's 
standard, is about forty-one inches ; and a putter, thirty- 
six inches in length. With these data, and bearing in 
mind the relative distinctions we have shown between the 
various clubs, the novice can easily approximate lengths to 
the rest of the set. 



ON STYLE OP PLAT. 

OuB previous chapters have been merely preliminary to 
the exposition of the art of Golfing — dealing only with 
the accessories and means employed in carrying out its 
principles, which we shall now treat of under the general 
heading of style. 



148 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

In the practice of GoH as in Billiards, a good style or 
mode of playing is almost everything. How often do we 
see the beginner blundering away by himself at both these 
amusements without chart or compass^-day after day re- 
peating and confirming his errors, so as almost certainly 
to preclude the possibility for the future of his ever be- 
coming a player. Again (but how seldom this I), we see a 
muff getting his first lessons from an M.A. of the sport, 
handling his club with the aplomb of the redoubtable 
"Allan" himself — ^and in a few weeks completely dis- 
tancing a beginner of our other sort of two or three years 
standing. Most earnestly do we desire, in this preamble 
to our dissertation on style, to impress the fact on the un- 
initiated reader, that mere animal strength never yet made 
a Golfer ; that knack, as science is cantly phrased, and not 
force alone sends the reeling ball on its lengthening flight 
— extricates it from the tufted grass or thickest whin — 
and directs its devious but unerring course over the 
undulating putting green to the goal ; and that the weakest- 
arm, nerved with a knowledgejjf the art, is more than a 
match for thews and sinews, however stalwart, minus the 
first principles of the gentle craft. 

As a familiar illustration (just as the philosopher 
learned swimming from the motions of a frog) we ask the 
novice to look at, and reflect on the style of play exhibited 



THU GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 149 

by little ragged urcliiiis (those Arabs of the Lmks), who^ 
their tiny arms of some six or seven years growth, with 
stunted abortions of clubs which might have been Heaven 
knows what in their palmy days, execute the most mira- 
culous strokes. Watch the astonishing ease and skill 
which grace every movement, and no doubt will be after- 
wards entertained, but that Golfing is an art, wholly an 
art, and nothing but an art. Again, if a further analysis 
be necessary, let our tyro examine the styles affected by 
players of maturer years, who, from a careless acquisition 
of their first rudiments, or from natural causes, rely on 
main strength, pecuHarly shaped dubs, and a gracious 
Providence, for any success that may attend them. He 
will find that their style of play is made up of segments 
of parabolic curves — angular sweeps — ^horizontal, perpen- 
dicular, and erratically curving strokes — exciting from 
their very incongruity some reasonable doubts as to their 
efficaciousness. Attentively considering the results ob- 
tained by these extravagances, our novice will find that 
they are experimental failures, and that they are not so 
easily accomplished as the simple style of play we shall 
shortly set forth. Again, therefore, we assert in reference 
to the use of the clubs by non-agiles, what we laid down 
before in treatiDg of the clubs themselves — that no differ- 
ence in kind is necessitated by the division of GoKers into 



150 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

two great classes^ oontra-distiDgaislied as players agile and 
non-agile. Tliere may be a slight difference of degree; 
for instance, in the length of the swing or the rapidity of 
its execution; but these are so perfectly obvious as to 
require no special comment. Therefore, we premise that 
our remarks in this chapter must be held as applicable to 
both classes of players. 

DarviNa. — Long driving, if it be not the most deadly, is 
certainly the most dashing and fascinating part of the 
game; and of all others the principal difficulty of the 
Golfer to acquire, and his chief delight when he can 
manage it. We trust, therefore, that our succeeding hints 
wiU be closely considered aad followed by the beginner ; 
as in such event he may rely upon being soon able to send 
the ball on its soaring flight with certainty and ease. 

Our remarks on driving as applicable to the use of the 
play-club, the grassed driver, ai^d to the long and middle 
spoons, may be divided into three parts ; viz. : — 

1. Position; 

2. Geasp of Club; and 

3. Swing. 

(1) The player should take up his position strictly in 
the following manner : — His feet should be moderately 
apart, but not so much so as to compel him to stand on 
tiptoe with his left foot when swinging the club ; to obvi- 



THJS GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 151 

ate this difficulty effectually tHe left foot should be turned 
slightly inwards^ thus imparting a firmness to the position } 
and the ball should be nearly opposite the left foot at a 
distance proportionate to the length of the club used^ a 
good medium being from two and a half to three feet. It 
is better to err in standing too far from^ than too near to^ 
the ball, as a greater freedom of sweep may be indulged 
in. The true relative position of the player to his ball 
will be best illustrated by a slight diagram — ^thus 

At OO 



D* "C 

Let the points B and represent the position of the 
feet, and let A B be at right angles to B ; then the 
point D is the true relative position of the ball to the 
Golfer, nearly opposite his left foot B. 

The advantages of this posture will be demonstrated 
when we come to the swing. 

The muscles of the shoulders, arms, and legs should be 
allowed to play loosely before being knitted in the sweep 
of the club, and the knees should be relaxed and slightly 
bent. 



152 QOLFIANA MI8GELLANEA. 



(2.) A correct manner of holding the club is of the last 
importance for a scientific style, and is most difficult to in- 
culcate. The accomplished Golfer depends quite as much 
on the flexibility of his wrist as the sweep of his arm ; both, 
indeed, being essential for long driving. It, therefore, 
follows that the club ought to be so held as to allow the 
free play of the wrists without effort. The practical result 
will be foimd to be that the left hand must impart the 
motive power, the right hand direct it. Tha club, there- 
fore, should be grasped firmly by the top in the left hand, 
thumb upwards, and the back of 'hand to the stroke, and 
laid across, taking care that the club-head lies with its 
natural slant on the grass, since, this hand keeping it from 
the slightest variation during the stroke, the club returns 
to the ball in the downward sweep exactly in the same 
position as when it was grasped. There is but little diffi- 
culty about the management of the club with this hand. 

The right, which directs the club, and applies the force 
given by the left hand, takes hold of the" shaft very loosely 
close to the upper hand and nails upwards, so that the club 
handle lies along the middle joints of the fingers with the 
thumb laid gently across, but no pressing the shaft. Let 
the Golfer, having his club grasped strictly in this manner, 
then try an experimental swing, allowing the shaft to 
play loosely through the right hand, acquiring its notion 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 163 

principally from the left, and he will find that the club is 
permitted full latitude of sweep without any strain on his 
wrists ; that he has complete power over its movements ; 
and that the club-head does not^ in returning to the ground . 
after the swing, alter its position. 

That he may thoroughly understand the advantage of 
this mode of grasping his driver, let the novice hold it 
tightly with both hands (a very common error indeed), 
and then try a swing ; his wrists will be strained ; and the 
dub-head will return to meet the baU as fate directs, as 
he will be compelled in the swing to relax his right hand 
and allow it to accommodate itself to the motion of the club. 
Again, let him lay his thumbs along the shaft, and he will 
find his swing awkward, uneven, and consequently power- 
less. These difficulties are all of them obviated by adopt- 
ing the style we have above recommended. 
. (3) So far the path has been smoothed for the scientific 
swing, which marks the Golfer's attainments in the art as 
surely as demivolte and caracole in the tourney used to 
establish the equestrian fame of the chevalier **8(ms peur 
et sans reproche.'* 

The GoKer having placed himself in proper position, 
and having got his driver correctly in rest, proceeds to 
take the aim at the ball preliminary to the swing. This 



154 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

is accomplislied by one or two gentle oscillations of the 
club to and fro^ off the wrist only^ to ascertain the exact 
lie of the ball, and get the hands in working order. Some* 
times these oscillations are performed over the ball^ some-* 
times behind and on a level with it ; the latter mode we 
prefer. Taking aim will be learnt in a single minute from 
seeing a crack player going through the preliminary flourish, 
but cannot be very lucidly explained here ; we may remark, 
however, that some Golfers overdo it altogether, aiming 
for minutes consecutively before sweeping for the stroke, 
a custom neither useful nor ornamental. 

The perfection of a driving swing lies in its approxima- 
tion to three-fourths of the circumference of a circle, the 
same circuit being performed by the club in its upward 
motion as in its descent. This latter point is an advantage 
easily appreciated without practical experiment, as it is 
sufficiently obvious that in the double movement of a 
sweep, where the motion is continuous, the club is brought 
down in a circular direction more naturally when it has 
been swung upwards immediately previous in the same 
way, than if the club had been raised in an abrupt 
diagonal or other irregular manner, Again, that a circtdar 
is the best descending course for the club, when combined 
with the position we have before inculcated, will immedi- 
ately appear from a consideration of this diagram : 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAY IT. 156 




Let ABO represent the circular course taken by the 
downward sweep of tlie driving club ; and let 1 be a ball 
placed opposite the rigbt foot of the player; 2 another 
placed equidistant from each foot^ and 3 a ball placed 
nearly opposite the left foot^ as we have advised in our 
remarks on position. Then it will appear that No. 1 will 
be struck before the club has acquired the full momentum 
of the swings and will besides either be topped and buried 
in the turf^ or driven feebly, the grass being cut in the 
process. Ball No. 2 will be hit somewhat better, but still 
not cleanly, and receiving no elevating impetus, will be 
driven low along the course. This position, we may re- 
mark, is a favourite one among Golfers Non-agile, and 
necessitates the frequent use of the grassed driver we have 
abeady commented on, that the ball may be lofted in the 
stroke. But ball No. 3 will be struck by the club when 



156 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



begiiming to ascend, and consequently at the instant of its 
having acquired its greatest momentum ; this ball there- 
fore receives not only a powerful blow, but also from the 
club face turning slightly upwards, receives an ascending 
motion, without the slightest danger of the turf being 
lacerated in the process. 

Having demonstrated thus far the advantages of this 
swing, we shall now show how it is to be accomplished. 

The arms should be held loosely, out from the body, 
and slightly squared. The legs and the body generally 
should follow, as it were, the club ; that is to say, should 
yield gently to its motion. The left foot especially should 
not be fixed immoveably on the turf, but should lift 
slightly to the swing, so as not to strain the leg. The eye, 
from the moment of taking aim till the stroke is accom- 
plished, should never be taken off the ball. This last 
point is the chief maxim in golfing. Let the eye wander 
never so slightly during the swing, and down comes the 
erring club aimless on the turf, or in some equally false 
direction. 

The club is then swung in a wide circle back from the 
ball and round the shoulder as far as the left arm can 
stretch, without, however, causing the shaft to touch the 
back. This upward stroke must be done in a deliberate 
manner. Then, without the slightest check in the swing. 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 157 

the club must be returned with increasing velocity in its 
downward circuit, the palm of the right hand pressing the 
handle to accelerate the motion. Care should be taken not 
to diminish the rapidity of the swing on striking the ball ; 
at first, indeed, the right hand should relinquish its grasp 
of the club rather than check the force of the stroke. 

Struck in this manner a ball must receive the greatest 
momentum, with ease and certainty to the player. We 
would again impress upon the beginner the great impor- 
tance of a correctly executed swing. This once acquired, 
golfing becomes truly delightful ; for as we said before, 
long driving is the fascinating part of the game. At first, 
the novice may practise the swing without a ball, by aiming 
at a particular spot on the turf ; the sharp chirrup of the 
grass will at once tell the accuracy of his stroke ; and thus 
his wrist will be rendered flexible and strong, whilst a 

m 

correct style will be more rapidly acquired. 

The grassed driver, long, and middle spoons, as before 
stately being used for effecting considerable distance, are 
played with much in the same style. If less distance be 
required in handling any of these tools than could be ac- 
complished by the same club if necessary, it is swung in 
either of two ways ; with a full swing of diminished velo- 
city, or with a quick half sweep which is performed al- 
most entirely off the wrist. These uses will come quite 



158 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

naturally to tlie beginner^ after a very short practical ex- 
perience. 

Although it is very desirable to strike the ball cleanly 
for any stroke, and with any club, still it may happen that 
the lie of the ball will not allow such a correct style of 
stroke. It very often occurs that a ball gets hidden or 
partially imbedded in heather, a tuft of grass, a yielding 
rut, cup, or young whin — situations of distress which 
would intercept and destroy the swing of a regular driving 
swipe, and very probably splinter the shaft. These pre- 
dicaments have occasioned a certain style of play, techni- 
cally called "Jerking." This can only be done with 
tough-shafted clubs, such as the grassed driver, long or 
middle spoons. A jerking stroke is managed by hitting the 
obstacle as close behind the ball as possible, and well below 
its centre, with a quick half swing, a good deal off the 
wrist. The player must allow his stroke to be stopped 
immediately on strikiag the intercepting grass, whin, or 
whatever obstacle it may be ; should he attempt to make 
his club follow through it, as on open ground, the probable 
consequence would be that the shaft would be shivered, 
while no additional impetus is given to the ball. This 
jerking game is exceedingly effective when swiping in the 
wind's eye, but must only be attempted with a strong and 
rather heavy headed tool. Some Golfers jerk every 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAY IT. 159 

stroke throagli the green^ indifferent whetlier their ball 
lies in a cnp or on a beautiful pUxteau; but we need scarcely 
say tbat sucli a system is quite illegitimate, and very de- 
structive to the green. 

We shall now consider the style of handling those re- 
maining clubs of the set which not being primarily in- 
tended for long distances, are not wielded with a driving 
swing. 

The short spoon is played a great deal off the wrist, 
with a quick half or three quarter swing, and is so nearly 
allied in its uses to the middle spoon that we need not 
further particularize. The swing of the bafiSng spoon, 
however, differs still more materially from what we have 
described as adapted for driving, a difference resulting 
from the peculiar province of this club, viz., to sky a ball 
without causing it to go any distance. The Golfer must, 
on account of its shortness, stoop considerably to the 
stroke, which is done by a short, quick, half sweep entirely 
off the wrist. The ball must not be hit clean ; the club« 
head, on the contrary, must hit or haff the ground imme« 
diately behind the ball, thus causing elevation without any 
fear of distance. If the player take up his position pro- 
perly the grass is not injured by a baffing stroke, being 
struck with the flat of the head, not with the bone. 

Irons are not quite the unscientific tools they are sup- 



160 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

posed to be by those who do. daily detriment to the course 
with them ; with regard to their uses also^ we repeat that 
1^11 is of far more avail than strength ; in fact the latter 
quality is only specially useful in a peculiarly obdurate 
whin or in the bottomless pit of a bunker. In these two 
.predicaments the heavy iron must be used unavoidably in 
manner of a pick-axe ; the mere extrication of the ball;> 
and not distance, being the object in view. This iron in 
such cases is grasped firmly with both hands, swung dia- 
gonally upwards, and brought down straight in the same 
direction, heel first, close behind the ball, but not touching 
it. This kind of stroke, especially in the elastic sand of a 
bunker, will make the ball fly up vertically in the air, and 
if neatly executed, wiQ overcome abrupt faces, which 
otherwise would inevitably kill all chances of the hole. 
This jerking style of using the heavy iron, bringing it 
down heel first behind the ball, is also very useful when 
the ball chances to lie in a rut or small cup, where a 
^oon stroke could not extricate it. 

. The driving iron, when used for distance, is handled 
«nd swung exactly as a short spoon, with a quick half 
swing principally off the wrist. Some players shun the 
use df this iron in many cases where it would be specially 
useful, on the plea of its difficulty to play with ; but it 
will be found that such Golfers have invariably a bad 



TBE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT. 161 

style of using this tool, the general mistake being a full 
swing, which on account of the weight of the head and its 
sharp edge renders the hitting feeble and uncertain. When 
this iron is used in very rough groimd^ our remarks on the 
9tyle of play with the heavy iron apply equally to it. 

The cleek or click is ubiquitously useful^ and for aknosi 
every kind of stroke. It is therefore difficult, and, indeed, 
almost unnecessary to detail the various modes in which 
it should be handled ; it is enough to refer the reader to 
our previous remarks on this class of clubs. Before quit- 
ing the subject of irons, one circumstance is deserving of 
attention. If the player wish to decrease the ratio of 
elevation when using any one of the iron family, he ha& 
merely to stand with the ball towards his right foot rather 
than towards his left ; a position which neutralizes the 
effect of the spoon in the face of the club. This, however, 
should only be attempted by the novice when the use of 
an iron, swung off the wrist, has become somewhat 
familiar to him, and when he can rely sufficiently on the . 
steadiness of his play to experimentalize. The danger of 
such a stroke, as the reader will perceive from a consider- 
ation of our last diagram, arises from its jerking nature,, 
which makes the iron head liable to catch in the turf. We 
would suggest deferentially, from our wish to preserve the 
golfing ground from unnecessary harm, that the beginner 



162 GOLFIANA MI80ELLANEA. 

wishing to acquire tHs peoaliar nse of the iron Bhoald do 
so when hia ball is off the course. 

PrmNa. — We now take the pntter in hand, — the dead- 
liest weapon in the gentle fra^. On the patting green the 
position of the hands is the same as in driving, with this 
reservation, that the pntter is grasped very delicately : the 
position of the ball with respect to the player is, on the 
contraiy, entirely different. The Golfer should stand with 
his ball opposite the right foot, his knees well bent to suit 
the length of the shaft, the toes of his left foot turned oat, 
and his weight resting on his side. His face, in this 
poetnre, being half tamed towards the hole, he has, even 
in the act of striking, a view of the line of his put, and a 
certain facility is besides gained in the caloolation of dis* 
tanoe. 

Pntting shoold be done entirely off the wrist ; the left 
hand merely holding the dnb and giving it the pendulum- 
Uke motion reqtiirod — the right directing it. To put with 
the arms, as if they were part and parcel of the clab (a 
style we have nevertheless heard enlogised and defended), 
is an awkward and faltering system. A pntting stroke 
should be accomplished with a sharp, decided hit, not witb 
s slovenly, hesitating shove. Beyond slightly pressing ^e 
behind the ball to ascertain its exact lie, Uiere 



THE GAME AND BOW TO PLAT IT. les 



should be no aim taten with the putter, as it is wholly 
mmecessary. 

With respect to the driving putter, when used to drive 
up the quarter shot to the hole, the same remarks apply. 
The position may he strengthened when a good deal of 
impetus is required, by the Golfer standing to his ball 
placed equidistant from either foot. This lessens the 
diance of missing the ball or lacerating the turf which the 
additional force of the half swing might occasion were the 
ball opposite the right foot. When employed to drive 
against the wind, a use we noticed in a former chapter, 
the driving putter is used much in the same way as in 
sending a half stroke up the green. 

These hints on the ways and means of handling a set of 
clubs are all that are required to put the novice on the 
right track to compass the mysteries of the art. Details 
and special points we have in general avoided as embar- 
rassing to the initiated, and will treat of them in our next 
chapter, which, in the main, is supposed to be read after 
the beginner has had some little experience. In conclu- 
sion, we would reiterate, cultivate style— play correctly 
and boldly — ^if you do, success is certain. 

POIKTS OF THB GAMB. 

In order to enjoy the game with a relish unalloyed by 



164 <3^0LFIANA MISOELLANEA. 

any incidental misliaps or vexation^ the Golfer most attend 
to a number of little points in his Golfing accoutrements 
"besides carefully selecting a set of clubs. For instance, 
the novice will find that he cannot get along very well in 
ordinary walking shoes or boots, that he is perpetually 
slipping down the glassy slopes, and has awkward tendencies 
to sommersalting as a finale to a vigorously played stroke. 
Then again he will soon find out that his hands, which he 
has unwittingly bared for action, unaccustomed to the 
friction of the clulnshaft, begin to be troublesome ; the 
skin gets ruffled and teased into little blisters, which pro- 
Tokingly enough compel him to forego the course for some 
days, and betake himself to the lesser pleasures of short 
holes. 

Moreover, it may be, on a sultry day in August, when it 
is pouring down white heat, our beginner setteth forth with 
his full complement of apparel, strapped and buckled and 
collared and cravatted as for a horticultural promenade. 
Alas ! the agonies he must endure before the battle's lost 
and wonl Now all such petty annoyances, which are 
merely the natural consequences of inexperience, may be 
easily avoided. Let the novice invest in a pair of stout 
shoes (boots constrain the ankles too much), roughed with 
small nails or sprigs, and he will march comfortably and 
flSkfely over the most slippery ground that can be turned 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAT IT. 165 

out by a meridian stm in the dog-days. Then to saye hid 
Tmaocostomed flesh from mortification, let him carefully 
preserve his white kid gloves, and republish them on the 
links. We prefer snch a glove to any other, because it is 
exceeding soft, does not embarrass the hand^ and keeps the 
club excellently well from slipping. 

In the matter of dress, we can only give some negative 
advice. The old Scottish club-dress, specimens of which 
in various states of preservation, still *' flout the pale blue 
sky" on medal days, is about the most uncomfortable 
garment the Gk>lf er could indue, and furnishes an admir* 
able antithesis to a comfortable rig. Not to say anything 
about the fashion in which these primaeval vestments are 
commonly made, or their ponderous weight, the staring 
red colour alone is enough to give one a fever on a hot 
day. The original idea was to make the Qolf er as con* 
spicuous as possible, for the preservation of non-players ; 
but it is wholly unnecessary, on the score of danger, to 
convert a Golfer into a sign post. Let the dress of the 
player be light and adapted for absorbing perspiration ; 
let him eschew stiff-necked abominations, and have his 
apparel made loose ; then only will he be prepared to do 
justice to himself and to the game. 

Having disposed of these preliminary difficulties, let us 
set forth upon an experimental match. The first poixit is 



166 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

that placing of the ball, preparatory to strikmg off, which 
is technically called teeing. This \a done by taking a pinch 
of sand from the adjacent hole, placing it, with a pat to 
firm it, on the groimd (taking care that the Golfer will 
not haye to st^nd below the level of his ball), and finally 
poising the ball thereupon. We would caution the be- 
ginner against an excess of tee for two reasons; first, 
because it is apt to cause too great an elevation to the 
stroke ; and, secondly, because the long driving through 
the rest of the hole must be done without a tee, thus 
making him diffident in his striking. A tee, generally 
speaking, should be used only when the wind is in the 
striker's favour ; if, on the other hand, he is driving in the 
wind's eye, not only do we recommend him not to use a 
tee at all, but even to strike his first ball from off a 
gentle declivity. This last stroke we have seen performed 
systematically by only some two or three players; but 
they were masters of the art, and played those long skim- 
ming shots with the wind ahead, as easily as they could 
have elevated the ball from off a tee were the breeze in 
their favour. 

By all means let the novice accustom himself to playing 
on a system, adapting his striking to the direction of the 
wind and the state of the ground. Regarding this latter ' 
point, if the ground be marshy or soaked with rain, the 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAY IT. 167 



swiping should Have eleyation, as the ball would not run 
were it played low ; again, if the course be hardened by 
frost, the skimming shots tell better, and make longer 
running than if propelled high in the air. 

To return to our match. We are now fairly started, — 
the tee stroke played, the ball well away, and, what is 
more important still, safe on the course. Away we go 
after it ; softly and quietly, however, for let not the player 
excite himself bodily or mentally. Still there is a *' juste 
milieu" in golf as in many things else, and we do not 
coimsel tedious delay either in walking or making a stroke. 
There is a certain coolness and method required to play 
the game consistently and well. 

The beginner will be very much puzzled for the first 
month or so of his novitiate to tell what particular club he 
should use in making a stroke where there seems to be a 
choice of instrument. On coming up, for instance, to play 
his second stroke, he sees, on taking an observation ahead, 
that a hazard looms rather dangerously in front, where- 
fore, albeit his ball lies well for a swipe, he inclineth to 
his long spoon ; then, suddenly recollecting the existence 
of a grassed driver, he dismisses the long spoon and weighs 
the chances of his play-club before adopting the grassed 
driver aforesaid. Again, for example, his ball tumbles 
into a grass grown bunker, and the beginner debateth 



168 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



witliin liimself tlie possible risk attending an experimental 
use of tis short spoon ; wavering, he thinks the cleek a 
good medium between his spoon and an iron ; but on 
feeling the lie of the ball his courage- falters, and eventu- 
ally he puts his trust in his bunker iron. The stubborn 
branch of a whin, too, severely tries his philosophy, by 
breaking the direct line of his advance ; and he doubts 
whether to play back (which to his inexperience seems as 
bad as a retreat in actual warfare), or to drive his baU 
through fate and whins too. 

' Now all this hesitation is natural enough, and can only 
be overcome by a habit of cool calculation and reflection, 
backed by some theoretical knowledge, such as in this 
treatise we have attempted to give. Let it be the standing 
maxim of the novice, however, never to sacrifice the 
chance of making a brilliant stroke when a fair probability 
offers ; such caution is not prudence but undue timidity^ 
and will greatly retard his progress as one of the "*fliers of 
his year.'* 

In the course of his experience, again, he will see old 
hands putting up to the edge of formidable hazard, rather 
than risk playing across it ; spooning a stroke gently on to 
a table of smooth turf, when a longer shot would probably 
land them in grief ; and playing backwards and sidewards 
out of a hazard in preference to a *'tum a-head." This ia 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT, 169 

iihe finesse of tlie game ; and a consideration of these re- 
currences will temper any rashness our novice may be 
prone to ; but will not, we trust, incline his play into the 
opposite extreme. 

Eespecting open swiping through the long green we 
have few remarks to offer, other than those already made 
in former pages. It may be, however, that the golfer 
finds some difficulty in keeping his ball on the course ; 
that, stand as he will, play ever so coolly, one stroke shoots 
to the left, another to the right, in the most unaccountable 
fashion. He may safely conclude there is something 
rotten in the state of his play. Nothing happens more 
frequently, even to an experienced hand, than this wild 
driving, technically called, according to the direction of 
the stroke, "drawing," and "hitting off the heel." The 
first is the more serious evil, and consists in sending the 
ball in a curving orbit away to the left of the striker. A 
ball may be drawn by one or more of three causes ; first, 
by not standing squarely to the ball ; secondly, by twisting 
the head of the club inwards in making the stroke ; or 
thirdly, by drawing the arms in towards the body in 
making the downward sweep, instead of allowing them to 
swing outwards in a natural manner after the club. ,The 
novice will easily discover to which of these three causes 

he is to attribute the tendency to draw his ball. 

L 



170 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Hitting off the very heel of the club, which is the oppo- 
site fault, results generally from the player standing too 
far from his ball, thus causing him to indulge in a far 
wider swing than is actually needed, and is therefore 
easily amended. Hanging balls are very common through 
the long course, especially where the soil ib earthy. 
These are caused by a little rise of the ground close be- 
hind the ball, from whatever cause — a mole-heap, tuft of 
fog, or inequality of surface. As a rule, hanging balls 
should be jerked ; since it is nearly impossible, even with 
spoons, to hit cleanly, and at the same time ensure eleva- 
tion. 

The other points of the long game are sufficiently 
obvious, excepting perhaps a choice of tools when the ball 
is in trying ground, and even then the various names of 
the clubs are guide enough to show when they should be 
used. When he nears the putting green, however, the 
real difficulties of the golfer commence, and the game gets 
complicated in its details. The chief terror of the young 
player is the quarter stroke — most difficult but most beau- 
tiful of all others. The baffing-spoon is, as our readers 
will remember, the club specially fitted for this stroke ; 
another, however, is used, and defended in the use, by 
many players in effecting this stroke. This club is the 
light iron ; and it has certainly many points to recom- 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAT IT. 171 

mend it. The baflSng-spoon, from its make, and the man- 
ner in which it is wielded, is an excessively pnzzling club 
to use properly; and for sometime, it is impossible to 
calculate with anything like certainty, where and how far 
the ball is going. The iron, on the other hand, not strik- 
ing the earth at all, and swung short off the wrist with- 
out stooping, may be depended on as affording great 
accuracy in the calculation of distance, if the striker does 
happen to hit the ball cleanly. Here is the trouble ; 
should the iron catch ever so slightly in the turf — ^a con- 
tingency very likely to happen when a quick wrist-turn is 
required-^the ball is sent hopping into the very hazard 
intended to be cleared. 

Nevertheless, this light iron, although dangerous at the 
distance of a quarter stroke, is most useful for negotiating 
a bunker or other hazard, when the ball is in close proxi- 
mity to the putting ground. This stroke is done by tak- 
ing a short grasp of the iron, lapng the head well back, 
and hitting the ball clean with an upward turn of the 
wrist. Some players do not lay the iron head back, but 
allow it to do its own work ; this is a pretty mode of 
handling it, but not so easy, we think, as that above re- 
commended. Little hillocks and other impediments in 
putting may be overcome in the same .manner with very 
little practice. But the most delicate use of the same 



172 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

iron is in playing a stimy. This particular stroke occnrs 
on the patting green, when a player finds his antagonist's 
ball is so exactly in the line of his put, whether that line, 
from inequalities of the ground, be curving or straight, as 
to preclude possibility of playbig at the hole in an ordin- 
ary manner. As will be seen from the golfing law in that 
behalf, the ball stimying may be lifted if within six 
inches of that of the player, until the stroke is done ; the 
idea being, reasonably enough, that when the balls lie so 
close it would necessitate sleight of hand and not legiti- 
mate golfing skill to avoid collision. 

There are two ways of playing this stroke ; with an iron 
and with an ordinary wooden putter. The light iron or 
cleek is used when the balls lie so close together that to 
play by the side of the ball stimying, however closely, 
would throw the put wide of the hole. These clubs are 
handled for stimy-playing on the same principle we have 
already noted for playing very short strokes over a hazard 
on to the putting green, the stimy, of course, being still 
more delicately executed. The thinner the face and the 
greater the slope of the iron, the more easily will the 
stroke be lofted over the intercepting ball. Should the 
distance to be traversed after the stimy is surmounted be 
very short, for instance, some eight or ten inches, the 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT. 173 

player should practise lofting his ball directly into the 
hole without causing it to roll at all after alighting. 

There is a curious way of playing stimies with an iron 
club, which is generally considered illegitimate, although 
it is a moot point whether or not it is against any golfing 
law. The player stoops rather further than the length of 
the iron to be used, m front of his ball and facing it. He 
then extends his club, grasped by the right hand only, 
horizontally on the ground in the line of his put, fitting 
the slope of the head behind his ball. Thus, upon his 
jerking the iron towards him, the ball is made to hop with 
the utmost certainty over the stimy. Extra elevation is 
easily given by raising the hand whilst the head remains 
on the ground. This is a stroke, at all events, worth try- 
ing for experiment's sake. 

Wooden putters are used to play stimies when the inter- 
cepting ball is at some distance from that of the player. 
A curving-in motion is imparted to the ball, causing it to 
pass the stimy and work in to the straight course again. 
This twist is acquired in making the stroke by drawing 
the putter from heel to point in towards the body with a 
quick motion, never allowing it, during the operation, to 
quit the ball. As will be seen, this stroke is only avail- 
able when the lie of the ground allows of the stimy being 
played on the right hand side. A twisting motion im- 



174 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

parted to a ball on a rugged green Has a tendency to keep 
it straiglit, e£Pectually preventing its being thrown off by 
a ridge or hollow. However, we cannot assert that it is 
very efficacious in the case of stimies^ being only possible 
on the smoothest putting greens, or where the inclination 
of the ground assists the curving course of the ball. We 
therefore recommend the iron in almost every position of 
the stimy. 

In long putting, the player should make it a point 
always to be up ; even should he overshoot the mark, his 
ball has a chance of holing, which it could not have were 
it played short. Some few golfers put almost exclusively 
with a metal club, an iron or cleek, to wit ; and on a 
Links where the short game is over very rough greens, a 
knowledge of this use of the iron or cleek is very de- 
sirable. As a rule, nevertheless, let not the player for- 
sake the honest wooden tool ; its heavy head and stiff 
shaft forbid the fear of a miss, and yet do not preclude the 
delicate touch, which is the chief feature in the handling 
of an iron. In short putting the player must consult 
principally the policy of the match on hand : if he have 
the advantage of a stroke or two over his opponent, it 
were madness to rush his baU at the hole, as a miss would 
at once destroy the hard-earned superiority of the long 
game; rather, on the contrary, let him put softly and 



THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT. 175 



cautionsly, that his ball may lie dead for the next stroke. 
On the other hand, when the golfer is a couple of strokes 
or more behind, his only chance lies in a bold put — a 
rapid gobble over level ground — or a scientific curve 
through a cup or rut when such occasion offers. Should 
his antagonist's ball lie a little to one side of the line of 
his put, it becomes what is technically called a " guide," 
and the golfer should take advantage of it by playing his 
own ball past it. This ensures a straight run to the hole, 
and should he touch the guide, there is no harm done, as 
the kiss will set his ball on the right course again. 

On some links there is a portion of ground of unequal 
surface, but smoothly turfed, devoted to short holes. 
These are designed exclusively for the purpose of putting, 
and are situate .from each other at limited distances, 
varying from ten to twenty feet ; hence their name. The 
novice will find them useful in acquiring a knowledge of 
his putter, but on no other account. They are wholly un- 
like the putting-greens on the regular course, and are 
generally held by some trick of the ground — some run or 
particular inclination — which, once ascertained, precludes 
the possibility of any merit in the play. We would there- 
fore advise the young golfer to be cautious in playing too 
much at the short holes, as it might render his putting on 
the course timid and erring. 



176 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



Some golfers are over-solicitous about the state of their 
clubs. An unfortunate miss, an erratic draw, a skimming 
shot or too lofty swipe, or an indifferent put, are solemnly 
traced to some failing in the club employed, and the delin« 
quent club is forthwith filed and refiled, made heavier or 
lighter, shorter or longer, thicker or thinner in the grasp, 
as the case may be, to suit the passing fancy of the owner. 
Let not our novice lay his shortcomings to the charge of 
his club, and let him be chary of alterations. When his 
putter-face becomes too smooth or too rough for playing 
delicate strokes, filing is an allowable remedy, aided, if 
necessary, by a little judicious chalking ; or if his driving 
clubs begin to crack or get very soft in the face, or other- 
wise inefficient, a leather face is a good substitute when 
filing would be unavailing. These, however, should be 
necessary cures of really existing evils, and not the result 
of caprice. Some few golfers, we may notice, prefer a 
leather face for driving ; it certainly is a capital elastic 
substance, so long as the weather is dry, but when the 
grass is damp, or when it rains, the virtue of a leather face 
is for the time gone. 

The proper weight of balls is the subject of a good deal 
of difference of opinion amongst players. We would re- 
commend the Golfer, however, to be provided with both 
light and heavy balls to play with, or against the wind* 



THE GAME AND HOW TO FLAY IT. 177 

It is a carious fact tliat if a light ball be struck particu- 
larly fairly, it will scarcely be touched or affected by an 
adverse wind ; it is, however, safest to be provided as we 
have counselled. A medium sized ball is, according to 
the ball-maker's scale. No. 28 ; above this number, balls 

are considered heavy ; below, light. The larger a ball is, 

• 

the more easily will it be putted with ; for this reason, 
heavy balls are preferred by those players whose chief ex- 
cellence lies in a short game. In the winter season, if the 
player be enthusiastic enough to brave the slippery ice and 
wreaths of snow, he will find red paint a very desirable 
coating for his balls. In particularly inclement winters, 
when the snow is too deep on the course, golfing is some- 
times indulged in over a sandy shore. Playing on such a 
course requires no comment. 



178 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



SOME OF 



THE OLDEB GOLFING CLUBS. 



The very large increase of late years in the number of 
golfing clubs throughout the country, shows that the in- 
terest in this healthful and invigorating pastime is by no 
means on the decline, but quite the reverse. Within a 
comparatively short time the number of golfing assoda- 
tions has increased by leaps and bounds, so to speak. 
About thirty years ago, there were only about thirty clubs 
in all, but now there are over a hundred, that is an in- 
crease of about two hundred per cent, in thirty years. Of 
the hundred clubs, Scolland has by far the larger propor- 
tion, no fewer than about eighty-five of those having their 
location north of the border, England apparently having 
as yet only about fifteen, a number, let us hope, which 
may ere long be largely augmented. As regards locality, 
Edinburgh takes the van, having no fewer than ten clubs ; 
St. Andrews comes next with five ; Aberdeen, Dumfries, 
GiiUane, Leven, Montrose, and Perth, having each three or 
more. The oldest and most noteworthy clubs now exist- 
ing are The Honourable the Edinburgh Company of 



y 



SOME OF THE OLDER GOLFING CLUBS. 179 

Golfers; The Boyal and Ancient Golf Club of St. 
Andrews ; The Musselburgh Golf Club ; The Bruntsfield 
Links Golf Club; The Edinburgh Burghers Golfii^ 
Society ; The Blackheath Golf Olub ; and the Orail Golfing 
Society— each of these was formed prior to 1790, and all 
but the last-named have been in existence considerably 
over one hundred years. A few lines regarding the origin 
and history of the more noteworthy may be given. The 
BoYAii ASD Ancient Golf Club of St. Andbbws. — This 
club, as everybody knows, is the most distinguished of all 
the golfing societies. The following is an extract from a 
sketch of the history of this club, given by B. Clark, Esq., 
in his superb volume entitled Golf: An Ancient and Boyal 
Game: — "The St. Andrews Golf Club was instituted in 
1754, the Silver Club having been played for in the be- 
ginning of that year, and gained by Bailie William 
Landale, merchant in St. Andrews. The Honourable 
Company of Golfers, then called the Gentlemen Golfers of 
Leith, joined in the Competition. In the year 1766 the 
members met once a fortnight at eleven o'clock, played a 
round of the links, and afterwards dined in the house of 
Bailie Glass, each paying a shilling for his dinner — ^the 
absent as well as the present. In October, 1786, a ball 
was given for the first time. In 1827 the funds were at 
so low an ebb that, in that year, the Club discontinued 



180 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

the allowance of two guineas to the Leith clubmaker for 
attending the annual general meeting. In 1834 His late 
Majesty, King William the Fourth, was graciously pleased 
to become Patron of the Club, and to approve of its being 
in future styled The Eoyal and Ancient Golf Club of St. 
Andrews ; and in 1837 he presented a magnificent Gold 
Medal, 'which His Majesty wished should be challenged 
and played for annually.' In 1838 Her Majesty the 
Queen Dowager, Duchess of St. Andrews, became 
Patroness of the Club, and presented a handsome Gold 
Medal — ' The Royal Adelaide * — as a mark of her appro- 
bation ; with a request that it should be worn by the 
Oaptain, as president, on all public occasions. In 1834 
the Union Club and the Boyal and Ancient Golf Club of 
St. Andrews were amalgamated — ^members of the latter 
being declared also members of the Union ; and since that 
time all entering members are made free of both Clubs. 
In June, 1863, His Boyal Highness the Prince of Wales 
became Patron of the Club, and in the following Septem- 
ber was elected Captain by acclamation." For further 
particulars regarding the history of the club, and interest- 
ing extracts from the minute books, see Mr. Clark's work. 
Without going further into the history, reference may be 
made in a few words to the prizes associated with this 
Club. In earlier times the Society owned two prizes. 



SOME OF THE OLDEB GOLFING CLUBS. 181 

namely, a Silver Olnb first played for in 1754, and a Gold 
Medal first played for in 1771. This gold medal up to 
1886 formed tlie chief prize, after which date it became 
the second prize of the autumn meeting — ^the gift from 
King William taking precedence of it and becoming the 
highest object of competition. King William had become 
a patron of the club in 1834, and three years afterwards 
His Majesty evinced his interest in its prosperity by gift- 
ing a splendid gold medal to be played for annually. 
And ever since the time of this highly appreciated event, 
the medal has been played for yearly, with greatly vary- 
ing success as regards the number of strokes, a list of the 
successful competitors is here given. Included in this 
list, it is interesting to find the names of so many who 
have been distinguished also in other respects, and held 
high social position. 

With regard to the chief prize of the spring meeting — 
in 1836 Colonel J. Murray Belshes of Buttergask, at that 
time Captain of the club, being impressed with the idea 
that the objects of competition in connection with the 
club were too few in number, and that an increase thereof 
would be beneficial in its influence, presented the society 
with a Silver Cross of St. Andrew, to be competed for 
yearly. The club unanimously accepted of the very 
handsome gift, and recorded in the minute book their 



182 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



sense of indebtedness to the Colonel for this manifestation 

of bis interest in tbe society. 

Around tbese two prizes encircles tbe interest of almost 

tbe entire golfing world. Tbe Antnmn Meeting is tbe 

most important event in tbat respect, and to carry off its 

first prize may be termed tbe bigbest ambition of all 
golfers. And only second to tbe foregoing, is esteemed 

tbe Silver Cross of tbe Spring Meeting. And no bonour 

to be won anywhere else at golf, can be held comparable 

to either. 

WINNEES OF THE GK)LD MEDAL GIVEN BY THE 

CLUB. 

Fbom 1806 to 1836. 

During which period this Medal was the only one Com-^ 

petedfor. 

Year. Strokes. 

1806 Walter Cook, W.S., . . .100 

1807 Do., Do., . . .101 

1808 William Oliphant, . . .102 

1809 Do., Do., .... 103 

1810 Dr. Jas. Hunter, United College, St. Andrews, 111 

1811 Do., Do., Do., 116 

1812 E. Pattullo, Balbouffie, . . .109 

1813 Do. Do., . . .114 

1814 Do., Do., . . . 118 

1815 Dr. Jas. Hunter, United College, St. Andrews, 101 

1816 David Moncrieffe, yr., of Moncrieffe, . Ill 

1817 Walter Cook, W.S., . . .113 

1818 Captain H. L. Playfair, . . .111 

1819 Sir D. Moncrieffe, Bart., . . .102 

1820 Edward D'Oyley, . . . .108 

1821 Henry M. Low, W.S., . . .108 



SOMB OF THE OLDEE GOLFING CLUES. 183 


1822 Chaxles Shaw, Leith, . . .109 


1823 Henry M. Low, W.S., 






120 


1824 Do., Do., 






110 


1S25 Samuel Messieux, 






105 


1826 Eobert Pattullo, jun., 






104 


1827 Samuel Messieux, . 






111 


1828 Bobert PattuUo, jun.. 






106 


1829 Major Holcroft, E.A., 






109 


1830 Do., Do., 






111 


1831 D. Duncan, Eosemount, 






111 


1832 John H. Wood, Leith, 






104 


1833 Major Holcroft, E.A., 






103 


1834 E. Oliphant, yr., Eossie, . 






97 


1835 Do., Do., 






105 


1836 Major WilHam Wemyss, 






104 



FIEST PEIZE FOE AUTUMN MEETING. 

WiNNEBS OF Gold Medal. 

Presented by His Late Majesty King William the Fourth. 
First competed for in 1837. 



1837 J. Stuart Oliphant, 


104 


1838 Oapt. J. Hope Grant, 


100 


1839 J. H. Wood, Leith, 


99 


1840 Major H. L. Playfair, 


105 


1841 Sir David Baird, Bart., . 


100 


1842 James Gondie, . . . . 


103 


1843 W. M. Goddard, Leith, 


103 


1844 J. Hamilton Dundas, 


111 


1845 James Calvert, . . • . 


100 


1846 Do., . . . , 


111 


1847 N. J. Ferguson Blair, 


105 


1848 George Gondie, Perth, 


104 


1849 W. M. Goddard, . . . , 


105 


1850 Sir David Baird, Bart., . 


100 


1851 O'Brien B. Peter, . . . . 


105 


1852 Eobert Hay, . . . . 


99 


1853 John G. Stewart, . 


90 


1854 W. Archibald, Hamilton, . 


97 



/C- 



184 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



1855 George Glennie, .... 88 


1856 Oapt. W. H. M. Dougall, 


> < 




97 


1857 Ja-mes Ogilvie Fairlie, 






101 


1858 Patrick Alexander, 






96 


1859 Thomas D. M'Whaimell, 






96 


1860 William 0. Thomson, 






104 


1861 Thomas D. M'Whannell, . 






98 


1862 James Ogilvie Fairlie, 






99 


1863 Oapt. W. H. M. Dougall, , 






95 


1864 Robert Olark, 






94 


1865 Oapt. W. H. M. DougaU, 






92 


1866 Thomas Hodge, . 






97 


1867 Thomas Hodge, . 






99 


1868 Oharles Anderson, 






95 


1869 Thomas Hodge, . 






89 


1870 Gilbert Mitchell Innes, 






89 


1871 Thomas Mackay, . 




i 


91 


1872 Sir Eobert Hay, Bart., 






94 


1873 Henry A. Lamb, . 






92 


1874 Samuel Mure Fergusson, . 






91 


1875 LesUe M. Balfour, 






93 


1876 Leslie M. Balfour, 






91 


1877 Leslie M. Balfour, 






89 


1878 Henry A. Lamb, . 






90 


1879 Oharles Anderson, 






88 


1880 Alex. Stuart, 






89 


1881 Samuel Mure Fergusson, , 






90 


1882 Alex. Stuart, 






88 


1883 LesUe M. Balfour, 






88 


1884 Horace Hutchinson, West\v 


ard Hor 


ise. 


87 



WINNERS OF THE ORIGINAL GOLD MEDAL GIVEN 
BY THE OLUB, AFTER IT BEOAME THE SE- 
OOND PRIZE. 

Feom 1837. 

When the Medal became the Second Prize at the Autumn 

General Meeting. 

1837 James Oondie, Perth, . . .103 

1838 Robert Haig, . . . .112 



SOME OF THE OLDER GOLFING CLUBS. 185 



1839 Andrew Stirling, . . . . 


99 


1840 William Wood, . 


105 


1841 Captain A. 0. Dalgleish, . 


109 


1842 Major H. L. Playfair, 


108 


1843 WiUiam Buist, 


103 


1844 James Skelton, 


112 


1845 N. J. Ferguson Blair, 


102 


1846 Willi am Buist, . . . . 


112 


1847 James Oalvert, 


106 


1848 Captain David Campbell, . 


105 


1849 Sir David Baird, Bart., . 


107 


1850 George Condie, 


100 


1851 Robert Hay, 


110 


1852 Thomas Peter, KirUand, . 


101 


1853 James Balfour, Edinburgh, 


93 


1854 Patrick Alexander, 


100 


1855 William C. Thomson, 


93 


1856 Captain Eobert T. Boothby, 


94 


1857 James Balfour, Edinburgh, 


101 


1858 E. MitcheU, St. Andrews, . 


98 


1859 Captain W. H. M. Dougall, 


97 


1860 Captain W. H. M. Dougall, 


112 


1861 James Balfour, Edinburgh, 


102 


1862 T. D. M'Whannell, 


101 


1863 Eobert Clark, Edinburgh, . 


98 


1864 Captain W. H. M. Dougall, 


99 


1865 Dr. Argyle Eobertson, 


97 


1866 David L Lamb, . 


97 


1867 Dr. Duncan M'Cuaig, 


96 


1868 Captain J. C. Stewart, of Fasnacloich, 


97 


1869 Dr Duncan M'Cuaig, 


94 


1870 Dr Douglas A. Eobertson, 


89 


1871 Do., Do., 


97 


1872 Do., Do., 


97 


1873 Do., Do., 


93 


1874 Leslie Melville Balfour, . 


97 


1875 Major Eobert T. Boothby, 


93 


1876 Alexander Stuart, 


92 


1877 Samuel Mure Ferguson, 


94 


1878 Charles Anderson, 


90 



M 



186 



aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



1879 David I. Lamb, . 


89 


1880 Leslie K Balfour, 


91 


1881 Do., 


91 


1882 Thomas Mackay, . 


88 


1883 0. E. S. CTia-mbers, 


94 


1884 Hemy Johnstone, . 


91 



FIEST PEIZE FOR MAY MEETING. 

Winners of Silveb Oboss. 

Presented by J. Murray Belshes, of Buttergask, 



1836 James Oondie, Perth, 


• « 




110 


1837 John H.Wood, Leith, 


• « 




100 


1838 0. Robertson, 


• 4 




108 


1839 Do., 


• 




104 


1840 Samuel Messieux, 


• 




109 


1841 Robert Haig, 


• i 




104 


1842 Do., 


m t 




104 


1843 Captain David Campbell, 


• 




103 


1844 Robert Haig, 


• 




111 


1845 Captain A. 0. Dalgleish, 


• 




99 


1846 Robert Lindsay, . 


• 




110 


1847 Captain David Campbell, 


• 




104 


1848 Robert Hay, 


• 




101 


1849 J. 0. Fairlie, 


• i 




100 


1850 George Condie, Perth, 


• 




96 


1851 George Glennie, 


• 




99 


1852 Captain W. H. Maitland 


Dougall, S 


Jcotscrai 


g, 96 


1853 Henry Jelf Sharpe, 


• 




96 


1854 J. 0. Fairlie, 


• 




95 


1855 Captain W. H. Maitland 


Dougall, 




98 


1856 William Playfair, . 


• 




102 


1857 W. C. Thomson, . 


• 




96 


1858 Sir Thomas Moncrieffe, of Moncrieffe, Bari 


b., 95 


1859 James C. Lindsay, Broughty -Ferry, 


101 


1860 James Ogilvie Fairlie, of Coodham, 


99 


1861 Thomas Hodge, . 


• • 


92 


1862 Henry Mackechnie, 


• • 


94 


1863 Gilbert MitcheU Lmes, 


• 


. 


97 



SOME OF THE OLDER GOLFING CLUBS. 187 



1864 William 0. Thomson, 


95 


1865 Gilbert Mitchell Innes, 


98 


1866 William 0. Thomson, 


92 


1867 Robert Clark, 


92 


1868 Major Robert T. Boothby, . 


92 


1869 Robert Clark, . . . . 


92 


1870 Robert Clark, . ... 


92 


1871 Henry Lamb, . . . . 


93 


1872 Ross W. Ochterlony, 


98 


1873 Henry A. Tiamb, . . . . 


99 


1874 William J. Mure, 


90 


1375 Captain Alex. Dingwall Fordyce, . 


92 


1876 Major Robert T. Boothby, . 


92 


1878 A. Frank Simpson, 


89 


1879 Willia.Tn J. Mure, 


86 


1880 Charles Anderson, 


87 


1881 E. S. Balfour, . . . . 


88 


1882 Alexander Stuart, . . . . 


88 


1883 Alexander Stuart, . . . . 


83 


1884. W. S. Wilson, . . . , 


91 



SECOND PRIZE FOR MAY MEETING. 



Winners of the Silveb Medal. 

Presented by the Golfing Society of Bombay. 

petedfor in 1846. 

1846 WilHam Buist, . 

1847 George Dempster, 

1848 J. 0. FairUe, 

1849 J. Campbell, Glensaddel, 

1850 Captain Heriot Maitland, 

1851 Do., Do., 

1852 J. Campbell, Glensaddel, 

1853 J. 0. FairHe, 

1854 Captain W. H. M. Dougall, 

1855 James Oondie, 

1856 Captain W. H. M. Dougall, 

1857 Do., Do., 

1858 Alexander Bethune of Blebo, 



First corn- 



Ill 

111 

104 

101 

101 

103 

98 

96 

98 

98 

105 

94 

99 



188 GOLFIANA MiaCELLANEA. 



1859 W. C. Thomson, Dundee, . 


102 


1860 Captain W. H. Maitland Dougall, . 


98 


1861 Major E. T. Bootliby, 


101 


1862 Thomas Hodge, . . . . 


97 


1863 Eobert Clark, Edinburgh, 


100 


1864 Gilbert MitcheU Innes, . 


101 


1865 Eobert Clark, . . . , 


94 


1866 Thomas D. M'Whannel, . 


95 


1867 Dr. D. A. Eobertson, 


94 


1868 Charles Anderson, 


95 


1869 Captain W. H. Maitland Dougall, . 


93 


1870 David I. Tiamb, . 


95 


1871 Dr D. A. Eobertson, 


93 


1872 William C. Thomson, 


98 


1873 Thomas Hodge, . . . . 


99 


1874 Gilbert Mitchell Innes, . 


90 


1875 William J. Mure, . . . , 


97 


1876 Leslie M. Balfour, 


98 


1877 George M. Cox, . 


97 


1878 Charles Anderson, 


93 


1879 Leslie M. Balfour, 


94 


1880 Do., Do., . 


87 


1881 J. Hay Blackwell, jun.. 


89 


1882 David L Tiamb, . . . . 


88 


1883 Leslie M. Balfour, 


85 


1884 Horace Hutchinson, 


91 



THE HONOUBABLE THE EDINBUBGH OOMPANY OF GOLFEBS. 



The origin of this club goes further back than there is 
any written record of, but the first regular series of 
minutes begins in 1744. In that year the Magistrates of 
Edinburgh presented to the Society a silver club, to be 
played for annually, and with the exception of a few years 
in last century, as also a few years in the present century. 



80MJ3 OF THE OLDEB GOLFING CLUBS. 189 

this club has been played for regularly^ and been competed 
for by many distinguished gentlemen. Until 1831 the 
clnb played on the Leith Links, and after a cession of a 
few years, renewed its existence at Musselburgh in 1836, 
and continues in a highly flourishing condition. 

In the middle of last century, many very noted gentle- 
men were members, and contended enthusiastically for the 
honours it had in store, including noblemen, lords of 
session, lawyers, clergjrmen, and others. The first winner 
of the Silver Olub in 1744 was Mr. John Eattray, surgeon 
in Edinburgh, and again in the following year, 1745, the 
same gentleman was the successful competitor. Among 
other well-known members of the society in last century 
may be mentioned President Forbes ; William St. Glair of 
Boslin; David Allan, the famous Scotch painter; the 
Hon. Henry Erskine, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates ; 
Lord DaLymple; Henry Baebum; Sir James Stirling, 
Bart. ; Thomas Stoddart ; etc. 

In 1790, as a spur to Golfing, the clnb originated 
another prize— a Gold Medal — ^to be played for annually, 
and held in possession for the year by the winner, whose 
name, as also the year, in each case were engraved upon it. 
In 1808 a novel match took place, namely, between the 
married men and the bachelors, for a claret dinner, the 



190 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

bachelors winning by six holes. The club has a very 
large membership^ numbering over three hundred names. 

THE BTTBNTSinELD LINKS GOLF CLUB. 

This club was instituted about the year 1760, and con- 
tinues in a vigorous condition, though, as in other 
instances, considerable changes have taken place as 
regards locality, their original golf course having got 
marred through building encroachments. The Society's 
headquarters are now situated at Musselburgh, although 
they also play to a considerable extent at other places. 
Four annual competitions are held, after each of which the 
members dine in the Club-house ; several medals are con- 
nected with the society, one of which is '' for annual com- 
petition between the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society 
and the Burntsfield Links Golfing Club," first played for 
in 1854. The club has had an interesting career, dealing 
much in competition among the members and with rival 
institutions, and having apparently an unusual amount 
of social intercourse among themselves. 

THE EDINBX7BGH BTJBOESS GOLFING SOCIETY. 

This Society appears to have been founded about the 
year 1735, and for about a century played on the Bumts- 



80MJE OF THE OLDER GOLFING CLUBS. 191 

field Links, but now has its course at Musselburgh, where 
the Society has erected a spacious and commodious Club- 
house. The minute-books of the Club are in existence 
continuously from 1773, and contain many interesting and 
amusing references to golfing competitions and convivial 
gatherings. There are two medals, played for annually, 
and though venerable in age, the Society remains youth- 
ful in spirit, and has a large membership. 



192 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



THE GOLFEB'S GAELAND. 

COMPOSED FOB THE BLAOKHEATH OOLF OLUB. 

Of rural diversioiis too long has the Ghace 
All the honours nsurp'd, and assum'd the chief place ; 
But truth bids the Muse from henceforward proclaim^ 
That GoFF, first of sports, should stand foremost in fame. 

O'er the Heath, see our heroes in uniform clad, 

In parties well match'd how they gracefully spread ; 

While with long strokes and short strokes they tend to the 

goal, 
And with putt well directed plump into the hole. 

At Goff we contend without rancour or spleen. 
And bloodless the laurels we reap on the green ; 
From vigorous exertions our raptures arise. 
And to crown our delights, no. poor fugitiye dies. 

From exercise keen, from strength active and bold. 
We'll traverse the green, and forget we grow old ; 
Blue Devils, diseases, dull sorrow, and care, 
Enock'd down by our Balls as they whiz25 thro* the air. 



THE LINKS 0' INNEBLEVEN. 193 

Healthy happiness, harmony, friendship, and fame. 
Are the fruits and rewards of our favourite game. 
A sport so distinguished the Fair must approve : 
Then to Goff give the day, and the ev'ning to love. 

Our first standing toast we'll to Goffing assign. 
No other amusement's so truly divine ; 
It has charms for the aged, as well as the young. 
Then as first of field sports let its praises be sung. 

The next we shall drink to our friends far and near, 

And the mem'ry of those who no longer appear ; 

Who have play'd their last round, and pass'd over that 

bourne 
From which the best Goffer can never return. 



THE LINKS 0' INNEBLEVEN. 
By William Gbaham, LL.D. 

Wha wad be free from doctors' bills — 
From trash o' powders and o* pills — 
Will find a cure for a' his ills 
On the Links o' Innerleven. 



194 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

For there wliar lasses bleach their claes^ 
And baimies toddle doon the braes, 
The merry Golfer daily plays 
On the Links o' Innerleven. 

Sae hie ye to the Golfers' ha. 
And there, arranged alang the wa', 
0' presses ye will see a raw, 

At the Club o' Innerleven. 
There from some friendly box yell draw 
A clnb and second-handed ba', — 
A Gonrlay pill's the best o' a' 

For health at Innerleven. 

And though the Golfer's sport be keen, 
Yet oft upon the putting-green 
He'll rest to gaze upon the scene 

That lies round Innerleven — 
To trace the steamboat's crumpled way 
Through Largo's loch-like silvery bay, 
Or to hear the hushing breakers play 

On the beach o' Innerleven. 

When in the evening of my days, 
I wish I could a cottage raise 



THE LINKS 0' TNNERLEVEN, 195 

Beneath the snugly-sheltering braes 

Overhanging Innerleven. 
There in the plot before the door 
I'd raise my vegetable store, 
Or tug for supper at the oar 

In the bay near Innerleven. 



But daily on thy matchless ground 
I and my cadie would be found, 
Describing still another round 

On thy Links, sweet Innerleven I 
Would I care then for fortune's rubs. 
And a' their Kirk and State hubbubs. 
While I could stump and swing my clubs 

On the Links o' Innerleven. 



And when the evening grey sat doun, 

I'd cast aside my tacket shoon. 

And crack o' putter, cleek, and spoon, 

Wi' a friend at Innerleven. 
Syne o'er a glass o' Cameron Brig, 
A nightcap we would doucely swig, 
Laughing at Conservative and Whig, 

By the Links o' Innerleven. 



196 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



A GOLFING SONG 



By James Ballantine. 



Ant — "Let Haughty OauL 



a 



CoMi; leave your dingy desks and shops, 

Te sons of ancient Beekie, 
And by green fields and sunny slopes, 

For healthy pastimes seek ye. 
Don't bounce about your "dogs of war" 

Nor at our shinties scoff, boys. 
But learn our motto, " Sure and Far" 

Then come and play at golf, boys. 

Chorus — Three rounds of Bruntsfield Links will chase 
All murky vapours off, boys ; 
And nothing can your sinews brace 
Like the glorious game of golf, boys. 

Above our head the clear blue sky, 

We bound the gowan'd sward o'er, 
And as our balls fly far and high, 

Our bosoms glow with ardour. 



A GOLFING SONG, 197 



While dear Edina, Scotland's Queen, 

Her misty cap lifts off, boys, 
And smiles serenely on the Green, 
Graced by the game of golf, boys. 

Chorus — Three rounds, etc. 

We putt, we drive, we laugh, we chat. 

Our strokes and jokes aye clinking. 
We banish all extraneous fat. 

And all extraneous thinking. 
Well cure you of a summer cold. 

Or of a winter cough, boys. 
We'll make you young, even when you're old, 

So come and play at golf, boys. 

Chorus — Three rounds, etc. 

When in the dumps with muUigrubs, 

Or doyte with barley bree, boys. 
Go get you off the green three rubs, 

'Twill set you on the " Tee" boys. 
There's no disease we cannot cure. 

No care we cannot doff, boys ; 
Our aim is ever *'far and sure " — 

So come and play at golf, boys. 

Chorus — Three rounds, etc. 



198 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

blessings on pure cauler air. 
And every healthy sport, boys, 
. That makes sweet Nature seem more fair. 
And makes long life seem short, boys 
That warms your heart with genial glow. 

And make you halve your loaf, boys, 
With every needy child of woe— 
So bless the game of golf, boys. 

Ctiorus — Three rounds, etc. 

Then don your brilliant scarlet coats. 

With your bright blue velvet caps, boys. 
And some shall play the rocket shots, 

And some the putting paps, boys. 
No son of. Scotland, man or boy. 

Shall e'er become an oaf, boys. 
Who gathers friendship, health and joy. 

In playing at the golf, boys. 

Chorus — Three rounds, etc. 



MEDAL DAY AT ST. ANDREWS. 199 



MEDAL DAY AT ST. ANDEEWS.* 

This is the season of Congresses, and many have been in 
session lately, but few, we venture to think, have excited 
more enthusiasm among those who attended them than 
one that met last week at St. Andrews — we suppose we 
must hardly say in session. On the last day of September 
the " Eoyal and Ancient Golf Club " of that Eoyal and 
ancient burgh assembled by the shores of their sad-resoun- 
ding sea, in the weather-beaten district known as the 
"East Nuik of Fife," to hold their annual autumnal 
meeting. Students of Scottish history remember the de- 
caying city of the Scottish patron saint as the seat of an 
archiepiscopal see whose metropolitans played a conspicu- 
ous part in the religious troubles that convulsed the king- 
dom. Archaeologists may have made pilgrimages to the 
ruins of its venerable shrines, or to the fragments of the 
famous castle that witnessed the burning of Wishart, the 
murder of the Cardinal who martyred him, and the fervid 
ministrations of the Scottish Apostle when the Eeformers 



From the Tiines, October 5, 1874. 



200 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

were being blockaded by the avengers of blood. But we 
fear that modem Scotchmen set but small store by those 
stirring memories, ecclesiastical or political. In Scotland 
St. Andrews is best known as the capital and head-quar- 
ters of Golf, and golf is pre-eminently the national game. 
Curling alone can pretend to vie with it in popularity, but 
curling depends on the caprices of the weather. It can 
only be enjoyed in an iron frost, whereas you may indulge 
in golf any day or all days ; and in point of antiquity even 
the venerable St. Andrews itself, with its musty memories, 
need not be ashamed of its profitable foster child. 

Golf has been played by the Scots literally from time 
immemorial, and we have little doubt that there were golf 
holes to be filled on the North Inch of Perth on the 
memorable day when the ground was cleared for the jaom- 
bat between the Clan Chattan and the Clan Quhele. We 
know, at all events, that his Majesty James 11., nephew of 
that Earl of Eothsay who perished miserably in the tower 
of Falkland, found himself constrained to promulgate a 
statute against the game, setting forth that its too univer- 
sal popularity interfered with the training for the national 
defence. The Scots of our time are more peaceably dis- 
posed than their ancestors ; but we venture to say that 
even a Liberal Ministry that advocated any such measure 



MEDAL DAY AT 8T. ANDBEW8. 201 

now-a-days would have small chance in Scotch constituen- 
cies when they sent down candidates to contest the seats. 

There are districts and burghs where every second in- 
habitant is a golfer. It is the game of the country gentry, 
of the busy professional men, of the bourgeoisie of 
flourishing centres of trade, of many of the artizans, and 
even of the tag-rag and bobtail. People who never took a 
golf club in their hands have a high regard for it as a 
game which is eminently respectable. It is the one 
amusement which any ''douce'* man may pursue, irres- 
pective of his calling, and risk neither respect nor social 
consideration. Bead the list of the champions who paired 
off for the round of the course at last Thursday's contest, 
and we believe you will actually find gentlemen in Orders 
— and those Scottish Orders — ^figuring among them. The 
fact speaks volumes to those who are familiar with local 
prejudices, for it is an unwritten canon of the Church that 
the consecrated cast of the Levites should avoid giving 
even a shadow of offence. This we know, that rising 
young barristers may take rank as golfers without resign- 
ing the hope of briefs, while they might as well sign a 
self-denying ordinance as go out fox-hunting even once in 
a way, or be detected indulging in the frivolity of dancing. 
On the other hand, the most ardent fox-hunters, salmon- 
fishers, deer-stalkers, — the men who are most devoted to 

N 



202 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

the sports which make the pulses throb with the most 
irrepressible excitement, are among the very keenest 
patrons of the game. Once a golfer you are always a 
golfer ; you find besides that hon chien chasae de race and 
the hereditary taste will break out in successiye genera- 
tions. 

Wherever the golfer settles, or wherever he colonises, 
he prospects the neighbourhood with both eyes wide open. 
One he naturally rivets on the main chance— on the farm- 
ing, grazing, mining, or whatever may be his special 
object ; but with the other he glances at the capabilities of 
the ground for his favourite game. We hear of golf in 
Canada, in Australia, in New Zealand, in all the colonies 
that are most affected by Scotchmen. There are towns in 
France where the Scotch settlers have inoculated the 
natives with the love of it ; while in England it has been 
acclimatised from the bleak coasts of Northumberland to 
the sunny shores of Devon, and reports of matches are 
regularly forwarded to our sporting contemporaries from 
Crookham and Wimbledom, Blackheath and Westward 
Ho. 

We own that at first sight it is difficult for the unini- 
tiated looker-on to sympathise with the evident enthusiasm 
of the players. There does not seem to be anything very 
stimulating in grinding round a barren stretch of ground. 



MEDAL DAY AT ST. ANDBBWS. 203 

impelling a guttarpercha ball before you, striving to land 
it in a succession of small holes in fewer strokes than your 
companion and opponent. But as to the reality of the 
excitement, you are soon compelled to take that for 
granted. You see gentlemen of all ages, often of the most 
self-indulgent or sedentary habits, turning out every kind 
of weather, persevering to the dusk of a winter day, in spite 
of bitter wind and driving showera ; or dragging about their 
cumbrous weight of flesh in hot defiance of the most sultry 
summer temperature. The truth is that, appearances not- 
withstanding, experience proves it to be one of the most 
fascinating of pursuits ; nor can there be any question that 
it is among the most invigorating. You play it on some 
stretch of ground by the sea, generally sheltered more or 
less by rows of hummocky sand-hills which break the 
force of the breeze without intercepting its freshness. You 
keep moving for the most part, although there is no need 
for moving faster than is necessary to set the blood in 
healthy circulation. In a tournament like that which 
ended on Wednesday at St. Andrews, you select your own 
partner. The deep-chested, strapping young fellows in 
their prime, with the reach of arm and strength of 
shoulder that make their swing so tremendous in driving 
the ball, pair off together. The obese and elderly gentle- 
men, touched in the wind by time, and doubtful subjects 



204 GOLflAItA Ml SCE LL A K JSA. 

for insurance offices, may jog along placidly at their own 
pace. When the players are fairly handicapped, as they 
ought to be, the excitement lasts from the beginning to 
the finish of the game— each separate stroke has its visible 
result; ill-luck may balk you when you least expect it, 
and a triyial mistake may land you in some fatal difficulty. 
Strength will tell no doubt, but it is skill that lands the 
winner. Be cautious as you will, even when playing over 
the flat, it is seldom that your ball will be lying on the 
level, leaving you nothing to do but to take a free sweep 
at it with a sharp eye and a steady wrist. The variety of 
the clubs that your "cadie" staggers under behind you is 
eloquent of the extreme niceties of the play. The club 
proper or the driver is a long shaft of seasoned hickory, 
tapering to a tough and narrow neck, before it swells into 
the broad flattened head, faced with horn or loaded with 
lead, which is intended to come in contact with the ball. 
But you have the shafts of others shortened to a variety of 
lengths, and the heads scooped out and bevelled away at 
all conceivable angles. This one is to be used when the 
ball lies embedded in a tuft of grass ; that other when the 
ball must be ''skied,*' or lifted over some swell of the 
ground that looms awkwardly full in front of you. Then, 
again, there are clubs headed with iron instead of wood, 
with which you may lay on with less fear of breakages, 



MEDAL DAY AT ST. ANDREWS. 205 

when the ball has to be excavated by knack and force from 
some ugly pitfall it has chosen to settle into. Finally, 
there are the putting clubs, and in their judicious use is 
embodied the perfection of golfing science. It is compara- 
tively easy getting your ball near the hole ; a combination 
of fair luck with average skill will carry most people over 
the long distances at a reasonable pace. But it is quite 
another thing succeeding in '^ holing yourself." Around 
each of the small circular orifices is a tolerably smooth bit 
of turf, termed the putting green, and once landed on the 
green or near to it, you settle down to a sort of lawn 
billiards. It is then the cool and wary old players have 
the advantage over their more athletic adversaries. It is 
then that nervousness will come out if you are in any way 
given to it, and many a fine player will show himself 
flurried when a ring of scientific amateurs with money on 
the match are closing round and watching him breath- 
lessly. He singles out the short stiff club he is to strike 
with, draws back and stoops to let his eye travel over the 
bit of ground that lies between his ball and the hole. AU 
may look pretty level in a bird*s-eye view, but there are 
endless minute inequalities and obstacles ; the stump of a 
green blade may divert the ball at the moderate pace at 
which he must set it rolling. Nothing but long experi- 
ence and cool reflection will indicate the line the ball 



206 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

should be directed by, or train bim to regulate the precise 
strength of his stroke. Let him lay on his hands half an 
ounce too heavily, and he sees the ball glide past the edge. 
Let him rest then a feather weight too lightly, and as it 
trickles down the imperceptible slope, it takes a faint bias 
to the side, and balances itself tremblingly upon the lip, 
instead of tumbUng over the edge. There is exhilaration 
in the brisk walk round the Links in the fresh sea air, but 
it is the culminating excitement of the critical moments on 
the putting greens which gives the national game its 
universal zest. 

Not that you may not have had excitement in plenty, 
and in the way of play too, in the course of that same 
brisk round. The Links, as we said, are stretches of short 
sandy grass by the sea shore, although occasionally they 
rise into steep downs, or sometimes, as with the Inches at 
Perth, are meadows on the banks of a river. Flat they 
are, and ought to be, in their general character, but if they 
were level like a lawn over all their surface, half the plea- 
sures of Golf would be gone. The charm of the "going " 
game lies in the excitement of the ''hazards" — a variety 
of malignant natural obstacles which are set like so many 
traps for the ball. Often skill may be trusted to clear 
these; sometimes skill will avail nothing, as when a 
sudden gust of wind curls your ball aside; not unfre- 



MEDAL BAT AT ST. ANDREWS. 207 

qnently a somewhat indifferent stroke will meet with 
punishment beyond its demerits. You meant to send your 
ball up the straight course, full in front of you, clearing 
the Scylla of a furze thicket on the one side, the Gharybdis 
of a yawning sand-pit on the other. Tour ball has made 
a turn to the right hand or to the left. In the former case 
it has fallen among the furze roots, and extrication is pro- 
bably hopeless. You may as well lift it at once, and 
submit to the penalty. In the latter you betake yourself 
to the most weighty of your irons, and labour to disengage 
yourself with more or less success. But hazards of the 
kind, though disagreeable, are indispensable, and on their 
quantity and character depend the merits of a golf ground. 
Thus the most famous gathering-places in Scotland, St. 
Andrews — ^which claims precedence oyer all — and North 
Berwick, Prestwick, and Gullane, come very nearly to per- 
fection in their several ways. But there are others nearly 
as good, although less notorious. Often, however, the 
hazards are wanting in a country where there is plenty of 
elbow-room with other conditions in your favour, and it is 
to that fact, coupled with ignorance, that we may attribute 
the comparatively circumscribed popularity of Golf. It 
certainly has the merit of being one of the healthiest, 
cheapest, and most innocent of recreations, and considering 
the titnqtdty of Scotchmen who have delighted in it in 



208 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA, 

their boyhood, it is a marvel that it has not been more 
generally acclimated all over the world. 



AMONG THE ST. ANDREWS OOLFEES. 209 



AMONG THE ST. ANDEEWS GOLFEES * 

My friend Mr. Eeginald Potts — ^indeed I may say my res- 
pected nephew Mr. Eeginald Potts — one of the best known 
of its inhabitants, has at last prevailed on me to visit St. 
Andrews. The railway from Edinburgh to St. Andrews 
for worry and delays is an indescribable abomination ; and 
I had finished one or two after-dinner cigars, and had dis- 
posed of a bottle of Mr. Potts' OhHteau Margaux, before 
my sweeping adjectives for the torment of the ride ceased 
to flow, and ere my habitual calm stole over my ruffled 
nervous system. It was then I realised that I was in a 
city I had not seen for thirty years, and that as the proba- 
bilities were against my return to it, it was only proper I 
should make the most of my present sojourn. I remem- 
bered the place had no woods to wander in — ^had not even 
a decent tree to show — and though of illustrious historical 
descent and full of interesting ruins, was, apart from the 
''melancholy ocean,'' not dowered with objects for the 
tourist to spend much time over. I enquired of Mr. 

« From the GUugow Newa^ September 21, 1874. 



210 aOLFIANA MI80ELLANEA. 

Potts his designs for the morrow? He began about a 
Club he wished me to see, and talked in a lively manner 
about a ^'foursome" at golf he had arranged for me. 
"Your happiness/' said he, ''will be complete, if, so long, 
dear uncle, as you are here, you only be passive." I 
suspect that is the key to more happiness than can be 
scraped up in St. Andrews, capable as it is, now that I 
have seen its Club and its Links, of furnishing it in no 
stinted measure. 

In the bright morning sunlight I found the Club-house 
come up to my expectations. It has no architectural pre- 
tensions to speak of, and clearly was built for comfort 
rather than display. It has a bow- window looking west — 
the window of a large room used for luncheon, for the 
weed, and the annual dinners. This is flanked by a 
billiard and a reading room, and is covered in the rear by 
lavatories and the steward's apartments. I don't know 
what is above, for I never go upstairs if I can help it, and 
there was no pressure of necessity in this instance. In- 
numerable names stare at you from the inside walls of the 
rooms and corridors, and on inquiry you are told that they 
are those of members who, inside the framework of wood 
below, have their clubs locked and their variegated togcB 
enclosed. The togoe are made up of shoes and boots, new 
and old, with hobnails, and of coats of all fashions, and 



AMONG THE ST, ANDREWS GOLFEBS. 211 

ages, and colours, which, when worn on the Links, as is 
the custom, gives that picturesqueness to golf which no 
other pastime can rival. The lavatories abound with this 
kind of gear. You are just on the eve of thinking you are 
in an old clothes-shop when you realise that these coats 
would not easily be made saleable, and that next door are 
the plentiful evidences of wealthy abandon. One little 
snuggery to the right of the entrance-door displays in a 
glass case the disused implements of the game, and they 
look like the monitory flintlocks in curious armouries, 
which tell of new devices. A step or two further on, and 
you are at the kindly steward's bar, in the principal hall, 
where, as in all club-houses, you get what you want, and 
sometimes more than is good for you. Overlooking this 
scene of luxury and leisure are two oil portraits — one that 
of the courtly Mr. Whyte-Melville (convener of the county 
of Fife, and absolutely the oldest member of this charming 
institution), by Sir Francis Grant, the other that of Sir 
Hugh Playfair. As you master the details and accessories 
of the building, the numbers and rank in life of those who 
frequent it, you conclude that if ever the existing political 
representation is to be changed, the Eoyal and Ancient 
Golf Olub of St. Andrews — ^that, if I remember, is the 
title of it — ^must in all fairness have the right by itself to 
return a member to the Collective Wisdom. I frankly said 



212 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

so to Mr. Potts, who, using lawful familiarities, clapped 
me on the shoulder with the remark, " Dear old Jonathan, 
you will never drop your old-fashioned sentiments ; " and 
sapng so he produced a not unwelcome flask of cognac 
and fresh cigars. 

But I am soon made conscious that I am in the com- 
pany of famed literati and men of note, no less than of 
golfers. That man, for instance, who has just entered, 
with the comely face and the frank bearing, is Principal 
Tulloch, whose studious ways and thousand pre-occupations 
are not, I happen to know, incompatible with the most 
genial hospitality. That cigar over there which escapes 
from under the scoop of a shepherd tartan bonnet, set awry 
on the head, is ministering balms to the editor of Black- 
wood, who is fresh from the revised proofs of the Septem- 
ber Ebony, and the unconcerned-looking inheritor of some 
of the brightest of Scotch literary traditions. Down the 
steps in front of the building, and towards the breezy 
bents, with a bundle of books under his arm, walks a 
fragile man, with a meek white face, who is interesting 
with the interest of distinguished authorship — and he is 
Professor Flint. Coming the other way, you notice a 
taller figure, but equally far from portly, with also a ten- 
dency to stoop: he is Principal Shairp — ^the vigilant 
authority on Ossian, the tender poet, the subtle essajrist, 



AMOKG THE ST. ANDREWS G0LFEE8. 213 

and the staunch Oonservatiye. To hear him read Michael 
Brace's " Ode to the Cuckoo " is to be made acquainted 
with the music of the human voice when burdened with 
sympathetic emotion, while the mind's eye has a sight of 
things which are far away. My interlocutor with the fine 
forehead is Patrick Proctor Alexander, the loving bio- 
grapher of Alexander Smith, and the biting critic of the 
late Stuart Mill. There goes Dr. Spencer Baynes, ener- 
getically after a brisk "constitutional," seeking variety 
and relief in the white autumn day from the bad manu- 
scripts of the new " Encyclopdedia "he is editing for the 
Messrs. Black. K you will step into the reading-room you 
will see, partly concealed behind the open pages of the 
Pall Mall Gazette, the anxious features of the *' Country 
Parson," and the demigod of many readers of Fraser, 
when, as "A. K. H. B.," he writes "concerning" some- 
thing or another in the most piquant and elegant English. 
Over at the other hearthstone is a mighty Senior Wrangler, 
who has just suppressed me in a conversation in which I 
had joined for gratitude's sake. I was gently praising Mr. 
Alfred Wallace's history of Spiritualism in The Fortnightly 
Review, when, with delightful holiday dogmatism, I was 
put down with the remark, " Tuts 1 a parcel of lunatics 
altogether!" But, nevertheless, he is an eminent man 
who uttered these thoughtless words. That venerable 



214 GOlFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

form, which the long iron-grey hair, who enters our clouds 
of smoke, is the pet of the Senatus for the years he has to 
carry and the *' infant treble " of his social ways ; and he 
fulfils in the professorial economy here the function of 
telling the end of all merely intellectual activity. Arm- 
in-arm go seawards two other erudite divinities of the 
place — namely, Drs. Orombie and Eoberts — ^whose pre- 
sence, stalking across this classical ^scene, suggests the 
reflection that St. Andrews University has a singular 
wealth of means for setting up as a theological school. 
Nor is this group of literati unusual here, or even just now 
at its best. Into it occasionally walks ''Shirley," freed 
from the commonplaces of Supervision in Edinburgh ; and 
mightier than the mightiest of her sex, there is just about 
this time of the year to be seen hereabouts the biographer 
of Irving and the Chronicler of Oarlingford. How unpar- 
donable it would be were I to omit noticing that that man 
on the gravel-path outside, with the agile gait and the 
inquiring features, is the author of "The Gladiators," 
"Queen's Maries," and "Bones and I" — ^Whyte-Melville, 
to wit, the best rider to hounds, and the best teller of how 
it is done, of any man I know ! He is in the company of 
his estimable father, though which looks oldest I do not 
undertake to say, and the St. Andrews people, I am told, 
decline to decide. Of both the city is honestly and garru- 



AMONG THE ST. ANDBEW8 OOLFEBS. 215 

louslj proud. It was away along that expanse of grass 
and whin westwards where the remarkable author of the 
"Book of Days," Dr. Eobert Chambers, sought to make 
his declining hours happy with the champagne of the 
breezy downs, the good cheer of genial human intercourse, 
and the innocent pastimes and frolics of laughing youths 
and dutiful men, and where it is still believed he found 
what he so gently sought. But luncheon is set, and " tuck- 
ing into " some hot potatoes and cold beef, you observe an 
individual of an easy, reserved presence, and with great 
glistening eyes. He is in golfing deshabille, like all the 
rest of them, with a brown towering wideawake. That is 
the Lord Justice-General of Scotland, who has just had his 
forenoon's round, and is now coaxing the inner man to 
have another. How well the ease in this inn becomes the 
character of a judge so distinguished, and the leisure of an 
orator who has shone in the past in the strife of public life ! 
Entering towards us is a man with wistful features, a nasal 
twang, and a stoop from the shoulders. He clamantly 
wants to be drilled. He is Sir George Campbell of Eden- 
wood, just home from India, where, as Lieutenant- 
Governor of Bengal, he has been making a page or two 
bright in the thronging history of that great British 
possession. 



216 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

It was at this point in the day's conversations and 
inquiries that Mr. Potts informed me that the hour for the 
foursome was come ; and so behold me on the Links of 
St. Andrews in a tawny scarlet coat and a bonnet which 
crowned, I may say, the figure of a guy 1 It were super- 
fluous to tell what the origin of golf is. I have just time 
before striking off to state that what of it is not lost in the 
mists of antiquity came over with William the Conqueror. 
That is what my cadie tells me, and he is no less an 
authority than Tom Morris, who was bom in the purple of 
equable temper and courteous habits. Well, I began my 
game by missing what is called "the globe" altogether, 
and (to anticipate events just a litttle), I finished it by 
breaking a club. I early acquired an inexplicable, unde- 
finable, interest in my ball ; I heeled it and topped it ; I 
went under it and over it ; I stood behind it and stood in 
advance of it ; and in my multifarious endeavours, I ex- 
hausted the entire armoury of Tom's implements. Play- 
club and spoon, niblick and cleek, putter and heavy iron, 
were in constant requisition in order to get that ball to go. 
I followed it into the Swilcan Bum ; I thrashed it out of 
numerous sandy bunkers ; I fought with it in whinny co- 
vers ; I drove it forth from grassy tufts with a zeal which, 
I was constantly told, was beyond all praise. At what is 
called ''the hole across" I was extremely warm, and no 



AMONG THE 8T. ANDREWS GOLFERS. 217 

doubt looked far from myself ; whereupon Tom offered the 
polite remark — "Ye wid be nane the waur o* a black strap, 
sirl" "Certainly, Tom," I rejoined; "my performances 
are so miserable that I feel you cannot chastise me enough 
with any sort of strap." " You mistake me, sir," respon- 
ded Tom ; " I didnn't mean that ; I mean, ye wad be nane 
the waur o' a pint o' porter. As when the acid joins 
the soda there instantly arises the effervescence, so 
at this juncture, at "the hole across," I exploded with 
laughter. It only wanted Tom's calling porter by the 
name of " black strap ' to fill in, to myself, the comicality 
of the scene in which I was the central figure ; and so 
casting myself on the ground, I struck work like any 
miner. But it was of no use. I was compelled to resume, 
with the ultimate result of the club breaking, as aforesaid, 
and with the intimation that we had won the foursome ! 
It seems that odds were allowed to me, a half or a whole 
or something — I never inquired what, seeing the issue was 
obtained through a conspiracy of flatterers. This conclu- 
tion was deepened in my mind at dinner — a meal in St. 
Andrews at which the day's games are gone over again, 
hole by hole and stroke by stroke. Mr. Potts let fall a 
sentence or two then which showed me that his main ob- 
ject was to egg me on to that degree of fascination with 
the game when all self-restraint is lost, and when the en« 



218 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

thralled noyice becomes, in the choice between work and 
golf, qmte[^iinable to resist golf when there is a doubt ex- 
citing. My nephew has so far succeeded that I haye had 
three more rounds since ; and as the October Meeting is 
coming — ^to the dinner of the members of which I have 
received a courteous invitation — ^I am resolved at this 
writing to practise away. 

The Links themselves for a walk are most enjoyable. 
You play, as it were, in a path of beautiful greensward, 
which in form is like a shepherd's crook, with the stem 
notched and twisted, on whose becks of heather the bees 
are hmmning, and above which the song-birds are gyra- 
ting among the flight of balls. Than my present situation 
nothing could be more agreeable or desirable ; and then 
Mr. Potts has given me quite a ministiy of useful introduc- 
tions besides that to the game of golf. Among these I highly 
rank my introductions to the Provost and Magistrates of 
the city, whose privilege it is to rule in so famous a place. 
I have been shown by the Provost the keys of the city, 
with his expressions of regret that they cannot be formally 
presented, and I have nothing to regret at our pleasing in- 
tercourse save that he has just beaten me at billiards. I 
do not know whether I shall ever fulfil the expectations Mr. 
Potts has formed of me as a golfer — ^most likely not, even 
short of the grace of the St. Andrews ''swing;" but I can 



AMOM THE 8!t. ANDREWS GOLFEItS. 219 

most sincerely say that I liaye unbounded deHgHt in being 
among-^in having formed the acquaintance of many of 
— ^the St. Andrews players. 

JONATHAN OLDBUOK 



220 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



MEDAL DAY AT BLAOKHEATH.* 

"Tis an ill wind that blows nobody good. The grey skies 
and east winds of yesterday were bad for Ascot ; but they 
were appropriate enough over the bleak and sandy undula- 
tions of Blackheath, where the golfers had come to com- 
pete for their summer medal. Many of the hardy Scotch- 
men who came out in their scarlet jackets and white 
breeches must have fancied they were at home again — 
that they were playing on the famous links of St. An- 
drews, or by the Fair City of Perth, or within sight of 
Salisbury Orags. Might they not, with a little imagina- 
tion, have changed the scene, taking the distant slopes of 
Shooter' s-hill for a sort of reduced Arthur's Seat, the 
windings of the Thames at Greenwich for the windings of 
the Forth^ and recognising all around that prevailing mist 
that comes in from the sea to tone down the colours of 
Scotland's capital? But perhaps in the excitement of 

"teeing" they 

Forgot the clouded Forth, 
The gloom that saddens Heaven and Earth, 

The bitter east, and misty summer, 
And grey metropolis of the North, 

♦ From the Daili/ News, June 1874. 



MEDAL DAY AT BLAC^HEATH. 221 

and proceeded with their accustomed ardour to show their 
southern rivals how to go safely and boldly round a 
" course/* It was possible^ indeed, in many cases to ap- 
portion the nationality of the combatants, even though no 
explanatory music heralded their approach. 

Here, for example, are two players who have just come 
on to the green plain of the Heath from the Dover road — 
that Dover road on which, we have been informed by 
good authority, mile-stones are to be found. One is a man 
of sixty-five or so, six feet in height, broad-shouldered, with 
a majestic white beard and keen grey eyes looking out from 
under shaggy eyebrows. Those eyes, one may well ima- 
gine, have watched for the first appearance of the red deer 
as dawn broke over the mists of the Jura mountains, and 
then woe to the first stag that came along the rocks in ad- 
vance of the herd I In addition to the scarlet jacket, and 
instead of the orthodox white trousers, he wears rough and 
serviceable knickerbockers : they may have brushed the 
heather on the moorlands of Boss or in the moist valleys 
of the far island of Lewis. The other is a handsome young 
man of a thoroughly English type, slender in make and soft 
in feature, with fair hair, light grey eyes, and sun-tanned 
face. They are preceded by a scout, who carries a red 
flag. The scout is not a tall and stalwart gillie in kilts, 
a short, stout^ in-kneed youth^ who seems to have just 



222 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

left Ills barrow round the comer, and who would probably 
prove an ugly customer in a rush along the Strand on a 
Lord Mayor's Day. They are attended by two other 
persons, also apparently oostermongers out of work, each 
of whom carries an armful of the implements used in the 
game, and who is supposed to hand the necessary club, 
spoon, or putter when his master requires it. There are 
few people on the Heath. The spectators are chiefly boys, 
who take their position at critical points, and soon get to 
acquire a sufficient knowledge of this occult game to calcu- 
late the chances of the players, although they might not 
be able to estimate accurately the value of '' one off three.'' 
For the rest, there is little picturesqueness about the scene 
-—except for these bits of scarlet colour scattered over the 
dull green of the Heath. It is a sombre day. The houses 
and trees about shut out the grey river and its masts. 
Shooter's-hill looks distant in the thin fog ; there is not a 
break in the low-toned sky ; and the gallant goKer is not 
the less inclined to consider himself back in Scotland again 
when he overhears his companion suddenly say to a dila- 
tory attendant, " Whut the deevil ur ye daein' here ? Get 
on, man ! " It is thus that they sing the songs of Zion in 
a strange land. 

Now at the beginning of the game a little law is 
allowed ; and if the player chooses he may place the small 



MEDAL DAT AT BLACKREATH, 223 

white ball on a tiny heap of sand in order to deliver the 
first blow more effectnally. Shall we calculate the chances 
of the new comers by this "teeing?" MacOallam-Mhor, 
having carefully placed the ball, kicks aside a twig here or 
there to clear the way, grasps his club, straightens up his 
shoulders, and has a look across the broad and shallow 
sand-pit near him, on the farther side of which stands the 
scout with his red flag. The younger man also carefully 
places his ball ; he too measures his distance, and delivers 
a heavy blow — ^but, somehow, the ball flies off at an angle, 
it drops short of the opposite crest, and comes rolling down 
into the hollow. By the time the small crowd of people 
has walked round to the other side of this little valley, the 
players have already crossed, and each is doing his utmost 
to get his ball, with the fewest possible number of strokes, 
into a certain small hole dug in the ground. But then 
MacGallum Mhor has it all his own way ; for at the very 
flrst stroke he came within a few yards of this particular 
spot. At present his ball is within three-quarters of a yard 
of the small black hole. He chooses a particular club ; 
measures distance and direction carefully ; gives the ball a 
tap, and as straight as a line can go it trundles along and 
disappears. He picks it out ; tosses it to an attendant to 
be sponged ; and takes another to continue the game. If 



2i4 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

there were any betting going on^ the small crowd would be 
inclined to back the elder of these two players. 

And what is the opinion which the unezcited Southron 
forms of this imported pastime ? Well, it is obviously one 
that inyolves a good deal of physical effort, as well as the 
exercise of trained skill of various kinds. In the case of 
long courses, the holes or goals are sometimes a quarter of 
a mile apart ; and a good player must be prepared to put 
all his strength into the blow which he then deals at the 

ball. Then he must be able to judge distances accurately ; 

• 

he must be capable of taking sure aim and sending the 
ball in a straight line ; and he must have experience of 
the various chances which may befall him on uneven 
ground. The golf'player does not desire a smooth plain. 
His best ground lies near the sea, where the sand has been 
washed in bygone ages into all sorts of gentle hills and 
dales ; and failing that, an occasional gravel-pit offers the 
best obstruction he can get. When one of the longed-for 
holes lies close by the brink of some abrupt hoUow, the 
manoeuvring with which a skilful player will get his ball 
over the hollow, and yet not too far on the other side, is 
beautiful to witness. There is not, certainly, the nicety of 
billiard playing in the performance ; but there is a vast 
deal more of exercise in the game, and the air that one 
breathes— even when the east winds are blowing — ^is pre- 



MEDAL BAY AT BLACKHEATH. 225 

ferable to the gas-smoke of a billiard-room. Indeed, there 
is so much exercise in the game, that one can observe our 
hardy mountaineers, who hail from the north, puffing and 
blowing at times in a fashion which suggests that they are 
not quite in condition to go " chasing the wild deer and 
following the roe." Perhaps our southern fashions have 
corrupted them. City dinners are not a good preparation 
for work of this sort. The mountaineer's legs may keep 
firm enough, but heavy luncheons begin to alter his figure 
somewhat and keep him scant of breath. Ought the cor- 
pulent golfer to "Bant," or trust to his favourite exercise 
to restore to him his wonted length of wind ? The latter 
is the more natural method, certainly, although we are in 
these times so given over to the teachings of physiology that 
one can scarcely understand how Shakspeare managed to 
get through such an enormous amount of intellectual la- 
bour, considering that he was probably unaware that there 
is phosphorous in fish, and that Qreek wines are good for 
the exhausted brain. 



226 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



A OHAPTEE ON GOLF.* 

Six o'clock has rang, and groups of artisans are sauntering 
along to their daily toil; we pass them and the busy 
housemaids, who are at work dusting carpets and cleaning 
bell handles, and in fifteen minutes we are on the links, 
and then we look around for one minute on the glorious 
prospect. There is the sky festooned overhead with blue 
and fleecy clouds, and the choristers of heaven flapping 
their glittering plumage in the golden sunbeams ; there is 
the sea, calm as a silver mirror, and dotted with ships and 
Ashing boats, the measured sounds of whose oars boom 
solemnly along the face of the deep ; there is the town 
itself, with its white towers and steeples, and the smoke of 
breakfast fires, your own among the rest, curling up like 
incense ; there are the fields of yellow com ripening for the 
harvest; there is the greensward underneath your feet, 
literally sparkling with floral jewels — the white gowans, 
the sheep gowans, the yellow butter-cups, the sea-pinks, 
and the bluebells, all appealing in turn to different senses ; 
and last, and not least, there is yourself in health and 

* From Fraseft'a Magazine, August, 1854. 



A CHAPTER ON GOLF. 227 



vigour ; and in all this happy world there is nothing more 
poetical^ although to dull mortals it may seem prosaic, 
than the firm tread and buoyant bearing of genuine 
physical vigour. 

But we are on the links to play and not to moralise. 
Very well then, to work. Thomson takes a handful of 
brown sand from a hole, excavated for the purpose, and, 
forming a small pjrramid, the ball is carefully placed on 
the apex. The club is then taken in hand, and, after two 
or three trial-aims, the implement is swung round with 
full radius, and the ball takes an upward flight of some 
hundred feet, and disappears behind a small hill. Forth- 
with, an attendant urchin, y'clept a cadie, darts off in 
pursuit, and has its whereabouts fixed before the party 
come forward. Smith has his ball ready, but by this time 
a boy with a fleet of cows, or a couple of nymphs with 
washing baskets, are seen hovering in the locality where 
Smith, from long experience, knows that his ordnance is 
likely to fall, and he has to pause. The delay is needful, 
because a blow with a golf-ball may be fatal, and in no 
circumstances is pleasant ; and so much is this understood 
and acted on, that in some districts the authorities are 
Vandalistic enough to prohibit the sport entirely. 

" Hollo, you, there I ** shouts the remaming cadie^ " cut 
your sticky will you 1 and look sharp about it I " 



228 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

The parties admonislied^ knowing from experience that 
golfers do not brook delays^ immediately act on the polite 
hint given by the youth, and there now being a clear field, 
Smith in turn proceeds to send off his ball. But instead 
of causing it to describe a brilliant parabolic curve like his 
antagonist, his shot produces a low horizontal movement, 
which carries the ball to a greater distance. Both having 
played, it is time that the party should move off, but you 
are a stranger, and as there are spare clubs and balls, you 
are courteously invited to try your hand ; and, sooth to say, 
inasmuch as Messrs. Thomson and Smith struck their balls 
with so much ease, you do not think that there can be any 
great difficulty in the matter, and you grasp the proffered 
implement without any hesitation. But, tyro, beware! 
When one looks at a gardener mowing grass, there does 
not in all the world appear to be a more simple operation. 
WeU, friend, try it, sweep first, and you bury the point of 
the scythe in mother earth ; sweep second, and you inno- 
cently brush the tip of the grass-blades ; sweep third, and 
you cut the grass in some places, but not in others ; sweep 
fourth, you feel the perspiration running down your forehead, 
and your shoulders aching, and you give up the operation 
in despair. It is the same with Gk>lf . Your friends advise 
you not to attempt a heavy stroke, but you are determined 
to do something brilliant, and you draw full force, but as 



A OHAFTBB ON GOLF. 229 

you have struck nothings yon swing round on one foot, and 
narrowly escape falling on your nose. Of course you are 
certain that by striking lower the next time you wiU do 
business — ^but this time the club comes thump upon the 
ground, and a tingling pain runs from the wrist to the 
elbow. Messrs. Thomson and Smith are too polite to in- 
terfere — ^indeed, you do not give them time, for you are 
anxious to retrieve the blots on your escutcheon, and in 
fury you strike again. All at once you are taken back by 
a sharp crack, and a feeling of lightness comes over your 
grasp. You have broken the club. The head nearly paid 
its compliments to Thomson's encephalon, and as for the 
ball it is at Smith's feet, having positively not been dis- 
patched, notwithstanding your Herculean effort, one yard 
from your standing point. You gaze at the shattered shaft 
in your hand, and have to admit, with shame and confu- 
sion, that golf, like everything else, cannot be mastered 
without experience, and that the ease and dexterity of 
veterans in the art is not the result of chance, but of long 
and continued practice. Now at last we move off in 
earnest. 

Thomson's ball lies in an advantageous position, and a 
red flag denoting the goal is seen fluttering in the distance. 
His next stroke sends the ball within a yard of the staff, 
and this is by aU pronounced to be a good shot. Smith 



230 QOL^IANA MISCMLLANEA. 

has not been so fortunate, Hs ball lies in a sand-rat, whilst 
some ungainly whins are in the vicinity, and he calls 
despairingly for the iron. The ball is driyen from its lair, 
but the awkwardness of its site has prevented an effective 
blow, and it has not been propelled onwards to its destina- 
tion further than some ten feet, and this turns the scale in 
Thomson's favour, who tries to hole his ball with the third 
shot, but the touch given is homceopathioally too strongs 
and it provokingly bounds over the hole. Smith now 
comes up within a foot. Thomson holes, but Smith is 
also entitled to play, in order that the shot may be equa- 
lised, and as he also holes with the fourth shot, the first 
hole is a draw between the two players. 

This, then, is golf, consisting of pedestrianism round 
the margin of the links, two or three powerful blows, and 
two or three delicate manipulations. No game that yet 
has been invented affords more gentle and equable exer- 
cise, and if, at first sight, it seems to the players of 
more active sports to be too tame for general acceptance 
we must refer in proof of contrary experience to the anti- 
quity of golf, and to the numbers, distinction, and enthu- 
siasm of its votaries. 

We have now to refer to some singular feats in golfing, 
properly so called, as well as to some wonderful perfor. 
manoes, which, although performed by golfers, are not legi- 



A CHAPTEB ON GOLF. 231 

timately witHn the sphere of the game. Of the first class 
may be mentioned the dexterity of a northern player, who was 
in the habit of striking off three balls from one hole to an- 
other (the distance being nearly five hundred yards) with 
such precision, that giving a uniform number of strokes to 
each ball, the three would so cluster round the second 
hole that the player could touch them all with his club. To 
the uninitiated other kinds of feats had a greater appearance 
of the marvellous. When striking a ball on a Inrge com- 
mon, the vertical or horizontal distance traversed cannot 
be accurately judged, except by a practised eye ; hence, 
to send a ball up to the top of the mountain, or over the 
apex of a public building, confers on the golfer laurels 
which could not be accorded to him on his own proper 
field. Some daring spirit, having evidently steeplechases 
in his eye, conceived the bold idea of driving a ball from 
Bruntsfield Links to the top of Arthur's Seat, near Edin- 
burgh — a performance which appeared so extravagant to a 
local historian who flourished in the middle of last century, 
that, like the steam navigation of the Atlantic, it was dog- 
matically asserted to be an utter impossibility. It has, 
however, been accomplished, affording another instance, 
among many, of the danger of rash assumption of the 
prophetic office. The feat has not been tried latterly, as 
the number of houses and streets that intervene would 



232 aOLFlANA MISCELLANEA. 

render it a tedious, althoagh, having duly the fear of our 
Own warning before our. eyes, we shall not add — an im- 
practicable operation. 

The next enterprises that deserve notice are the driving 
of balls over public buildings ; and the first of these was a 
bet, taken in 1798, that no two members of the Burgess 
Golfing Society of Edinburgh could be found capable of 
driving a ball over the spire of St. Giles's Church. The 
late Mr. Sceales of Leith, and Mr. SmelHe, printer, were 
selected to perform this formidable undertaking, and they 
were allowed to use six balls each. The required elevation 
was obtained by a barrel stave, suitably fixed. The balls 
carried considerably higher than the weather-cock, and 
were found nearly opposite the Advocates* Olose. The bet 
was decided early in the morning, in order to prevent 
accident and interruption, and the balls were struck from 
the south-east comer of Parliament Square. For greater 
precision an erection for the judges was placed near the 
weather-cock. The height, including base distance, is a 
hundred and sixty-one feet. After-experiment demonstrated 
that the undertaking was not up to the average stroke of 
formidable players. 

The next match of the kind was to surmount the 
Melville Monument, situated in the new town of Edinburgh 
— ^a bet which the challengers could not have proposed had 



A CHAPTEB ON GOLF. 233 

they been aware of the St. Giles's affair, as the monument 
is only a hundred and fifty feet high, although it is possible 
that the parties in this second business, which took place 
many years aft^r the other, may have thought that golfing 
had so much degenerated in modem times, that the 
chivalry of the last century could not be maintained. The 
wager was, however, duly won by a Writer to the Signet, 
Anglice, an attorney. 

One word more, and we end our chapter on golfing. If 
in selecting a pastime permanence be any recommendation, 
golf is evidently deserving of consideration. When the 
arm loses its vigour, cricket must be given up, feeble knees 
will not suit football, and the archer must cease to string 
Ms bow when the eyes grow dim. But golf outlives all — 
for as it does not heavily tax the bodily powers, that 
gentle-paced old age which Shakespeare says comes on us 
^' frosty but kindly," is not incompatible with its moderate 
indulgence. 



234 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



THE GOLFEE AT HOME.* 

The following observations and reflections are not written 
either in praise or explanation of the game of golf. Golf, 
like cricket, is, as a game, beyond all praise, and none 
admit its merits more than a really good converted 
cricketer. It wonld be insulting, moreover, to the reader 
to inflict upon him a minute description of the game ; if 
he is a Scotchman, he is probably personally acquainted 
with it ; if he is an Englishman, he knows enough about 
it from description, or perhaps from having seen it played, 
not to consider it merely a savage kind of Scotch hoc^, in 
which the players pursue a ball at full speed, the principal 
object in view being to break each other's shins, and do as 
much damage as may be to their persons, and to their 
dress, if they happen to have any. 

Let us rather note the more peculiar features of the 
game, and the effect which it has for the time being upon 
the characters, or rather upon the tempers, of its votaries. 
Let us inspect the golfer in his golflng home, invade the 
privacy of his temple, and lay bare the secrets of his eager 

* From The CamhiU Afagazine, April, 1867. 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 235 

yet calculating heart. To catch him thoroughly unawares, 
and too much rapt up in his game to fancy that he is 
unobserved, we must seek him in some place consecrated 
to golf. There is only one place that answers that des- 
cription, the Httle town of St. Andrews, in .Fife, in which 
let us imagine ourselves established. Here we breathe an. 
atmosphere of pure golf ; in which no living thing that 
does not play golf, or talk golf, or think golf, or at least 
thoroughly knock under to golf, can live. 

Occasionally some darkened man, to whom the game is 
unknown, comes here. If he is a distinguished stranger, 
pains are usually taken to enlighten him ; the points of the 
game are explained to him, and for a day, or may be two 
or three days, he is looked upon with that interest with 
which proselytes are usually regarded. But very, very 
soon, unless he really takes to the game, and plays it 
decently, he sinks out of notice entirely, or is at best 
regarded with considerable dread, by the very people who 
have taken such pains to instruct him, lest perchance he 
should ask them to play with him, and so waste their 
valuable time, and spoil their matches and their tempers. 
If he is not a distinguished stranger, he is of course 
tabooed at once, and handed over to croquet and the ladies, 
if they will have him. When the golfing day is done, and 
one would fancy he might at length be allowed an innings. 



236 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

lie does not find himself mucli better off ; he hears nothing 
but golf talked at dinner, and the other gentlemen present 
discuss, stroke by stroke, the matches they have been 
plajdng that day. Even if he grovels to them, and affects 
an interest in the game, he does not find himself listened 
to, as the company would much rather talk over their own 
games than listen to any remarks, however theoretically 
correct, which he may make. 

There is a very comfortable little club at St. Andrews, 
which, like all the other institutions of the town, is subser- 
yient to golf. It stands at the end of the links, or downs, 
upon which the game is played, and from the windows, 
with a good opera glass, you can rake the first part of the 
course, and judge from the features aud gestures of the 
players returning, whether they are losing or winning. 
The parlour of this club will shortly form the scene of 
some of our observations. 

Its members come from all quarters. There is a uni- 
versity at St. Andrews, and not only its students, but also 
its professors, almost without exception, are keen if not 
effective players. St. Andrews is a watering-place ; of the 
visitors who frequent it, some come with the avowed inten- 
tion of doing nothing but play golf, while others basely 
represent to their wives and families that they come for 
the sake of bracing air and sea bathing. Once, however. 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 22fr 

let a monster of the latter class safely establish himself, he 
shakes off all domestic cares, and struts down to the club» 
in which, from that moment, he is practically lost to his 
family. If his house lies near the links, he may return to 
lunch, but if he does, he brings home some other golfer, 
madder than himself, and the two, when they are not 
eating, are discussing with more or less acrimony the 
events of the morning. He pursues the same course at 
dinner ; so it may be imagined how extremely interesting 
golf as a subject soon becomes to all his relations. If he 
has children, he propagates the evil by putting into the 
hands of his boys at an early age the deadly weapons of 
his craft, which they use indiscriminately on the green and 
in the drawing-room ; this entails a large glazier's account, 
not to mention considerable risk, to visitors in particular, 
and the public in generaL As for his wife, she must 
amuse herself as best she can ; she cannot even accompany 
him in his game as a spectator, the presence of ladies being 
by no means regarded with favour, as we shall see. 

Besides the family men, who come for the season, many 
bachelors come in parties of four and eight, and stay for a 
week or so ; they play golf by day, and whist by night, 
and very good fun it is for a short time. The air is delight- 
fully keen, and the short intervals left by golf and whist 
are agreeably filled by eating and drinking voraciously and 



238 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

sleeping profoundly. In addition to its own attractions^ 
there is no better preparation for the moors than golf. It 
hardens the muscles, both of arms and legs ; and the 
sportsman who can take his three rounds of St. Andrews 
links without feeling the worse for it, need not be afraid of 
knocking up about two o'clock on the 12th of August. 

We shall select the first week of August for our inspec- 
tion, when the regular summer visitors have arrived, and 
the sportsmen not yet departed for the moors. About the 
12th the place will look much thinned, those who have 
shootings having gone to them, and those who have not 
being carefully lost to sight for a week, so that their 
friends may put the most flattering construction on their 
absence. It is a strange fact that a man does not like to 
admit that he is not going to shoot on the 12th. If you 
put it directly to him, he of course does not assert that he 
is going to shoot if he is not ; but he always qualifies his 
answer by an explanation that for this year he must wait 
till the 15th, to his great annoyance and regret, owing to 
some unforeseen accident, domestic affliction in his host's 
family, or some such unanswerable reason. This is a de- 
gree better than being told by a straightforward friend 
that poor devils like you and him cannot expect to get 
grouse-shooting every year. 

The golfer, having finished a large and late breakfast. 



THB GOLFER AT HOME. 239 

lights a cigar^ and turns liis steps towards the links and 
the club ; so far there is nothing unusual in his procee- 
dings. Presently he is joined by another^ and then another 
golfer, and by eleven o'clock little knots form in front of 
the club and in the parlour, and the process of match- 
making begins. There is only one thing more difficult 
than getting a good match, and that is, avoiding a bad one. 
A man must be firm, and sometimes slightly unscrupulous^ 
if he would be spared a match which will make him 
miserable for the day ; for if he once begins a match he id 
bound in honour to play it all day, and he cannot better 
his condition. It is therefore a necessary though painful 
duty to himself always to be engaged till he falls in with 
a match which he thinks he can play with comfort and 
amusement. The most handsome and gentlemanly 
apologies from a bad partner a£Pord no reparation 
for a lost day. It is of no use his trying to beguile the 
time, and soothe you wounded feelings by pleasant remarks 
and occasional jokes, if you are obliged to spend the day 
with your heavy iron in your hand, to enable you to dig 
him out of every sand-hole he puts his and your ball into. 
It is no substantial consolation to abuse him and his play 
heartily, as of course you will do whenever you escape 
from him. The day has been lost, and probably both 
temper and money too. Be warned in time, and never, 



240 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

except in peculiar circomsiances, be so entrapped. This 
may seem hard advice, but no one knows till he tries 
what a painful thing an unequal and uncongenial alliance 
in golf, as in matrimony, is. 

Ptobably thoughts like these are foremost in the minds 
of the gentlemen, old and youngs whom we see congrega- 
ting in the parlour. They walk round and round each 
other with that guarded and cautious air with which a 
dog receives a stranger canine brother. Some, owing to 
their superiority, are comparatively free from solicitations, 
except from equals ; and having probably arranged their 
matches over night, are finishing their cigars in luxurious 
ease. But even they are not always safe, as the game is 
sometimes played in foursomes, as rackets and billiards 
are. Now there is nothing a certain class of players like 
better than to get a good powerful driver to help them 
through the heavy part of the work ; while (they flatter 
themselves) recompense him by the deadly accuracy with 
which they approach the hole, and '' hole out," as it is 
called. Every man has, or fancies he has^ a distinctive 
game. There is the *' long driver,'' who hits as far in two 
strokes as a ''short driver" does in three ; but then, says 
the latter, "he (the long driver) is very wild and un- 
steady, and not to be depended upon when he gets near 
the hole." It is amusing to hear the "short driver" 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 241 

applying balm to his soul, as he always does, with a view 
apparently of deceiving himself into the belief that '' short 
driving " is better than " long driving." " Very few holes 
can be driven in two, and my three shots are quite as good 
as his ; he has two long drives and a short stroke, while I 
have three moderate * drives,' and get quite as far, and 
probably a good deal straighter, as if there is any wind he 
cannot keep the line." Again, " one good ' putt ' is equal 
to two drives ;" or, " the short game is the thing that 
tells." With such reflections and aphorisms he endeavours 
to console himself ; but all the time there is nothing that 
annoys him more than being " out driven." Now, if two 
" short drivers " can get a " long driver " apiece, they are 
quite happy ; they are helped through what is to them 
the most laborious part of the game, and at the same time 
have a sort of feeling that they are doing it themselves ; 
and if they have any doubts about this, they have none as 
to who really wins the game, by his masterly approach to 
the hole and his deadly "putting.". The "long driver" 
does not always overhear a very flattering account of hitn 
by his "short" colleague; he may perchance hear him 
telling a friend in confidence that it was all he (the short 
one) could do to keep him (the long one) straight, and so 
forth. But it cannot be denied that there are advantages 
to be derived by the " long driver " from such an alliance. 



342 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

. ' — 

especially if , as is sometimes the case> He is not a good 
'' putter." 

Well, the adjustment of ''long diiyers" and "short 
drivers " goes steadily on, and as a rule we may take it for 
granted that nobody engages himself for a match which he 
very much dislikes. But all is not done when you have 
got a match which you don't dislike. Perhaps you find 
three men who, with yourself, will make a good foursome ; 
there remains the question of adjustment^ and this is an 
important one, and betrays what may be considered by a 
thoughtless looker-on a somewhat depraved side of the 
golfer's character. Each man wants the best partner, and 
very naturally ; but while each man wants the best partner, 
each man does not like to admit that he is the worst player, 
and this gives rise to a slight mental staruggle. If a man 
underrates his play, he may perhaps get a good partner, 
and win his match, but he wounds his self-conceit ; if he 
overrates it, he loses his match, and makes an enemy of his 
partner for life: N.B., certain and inmiediate exposure 
follows overrating. But whether it be considered to the 
credit of golfers, or otherwise, they, as a rule, prefer to 
overrate their play ; and this shows spirit and a certain 
amount of foresight. The fact is, there are pitfalls on every 
fiide, and on the whole the exposure consequent upon over- 
rating is to be preferred. However genuine the modesty 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 243 

may be which leads you to underrate your play, you will 
not get credit for it from your opponents ; if you do so 
from any other motive, you will not have many chances of 
doing it again, and serve you right. Still it is mere wan- 
tonness to take the worst partner, without being obliged to 
do so ; it shows arrogance and self-sufficiency, and is never 
supposed to be done from charitable motives. Thus the 
best feelings of our nature, while they forbid us wilfully to 
under-rate our play, equally forbid us vauntingly to take 
unto ourselves inferior partners, unless such burdens are 
unavoidably thrust upon us. 

It is rather dull looking on at this match-making, so 
we had better take a turn round the links with one of the 
parties which is just setting out. Instruction and amuse- 
ment alike may perhaps be derived from it. Oolonel 
Burnett (long driver) and Mr. Qreenhill (short driver) play 
Mr. George Browne (long and wild driver) and Mr. Tom 
Gumey (medium driver and desperate putter). 

A difficulty arises at the very outset. The Colonel 
resents, though he does not openly object, to Mr. Browne 
being accompanied by ''his women,'' as the Colonel un- 
gallantly terms Mrs. Browne and her sister Miss Wilkinson. 
" The links," says the Colonel to his partner, " is not the 
place for women ; they talk incessantly, they never stand 
still, and if they do, the wind won't allow their dresses to 



24A QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

stand still." If the Colonel would admit it, it is not the 
taUdng^ or the moving, or the flattering, that interferes 
with his game, so much as a certain neryonsness, inevitable 
to gaUant natures like his, lest he should not appear to the 
greatest advantage in the presence of ladies. The discom- 
fort experienced by him is not singular. Mr. Tom Qumey, 
Browne's partner, is also somewhat imeasy ; he is not un- 
known to Miss Wilkinson, he hopes not unfavourably 
known, and yet he is doomed to appear before her in some- 
what scanty garments. The weather being very hot, he 
has dispensed with waistcoat, collar, and tie, and has en- 
dued himself in an alpaca jacket, which, though admirably 
adapted to the free use of the arms, is more becoming, as 
far as appearances go, to boys and monkeys than to grown 
men — especially men desirous of creating a favourable 
impression upon the fair sex. Add to this, he knows that 
if his side loses, the blame will be laid by Browne's female 
relations upon him, not Browne. They wait their turn at 
the beginning of the course, and off they go— Qreenhill 
and Ghimey striking. 

The course is in the shape of a pot-hook, and consists 
of eighteen holes — ^nine out to the end of the pot-hook, 
and nine back again. As we all know, the object of the 
game is to get from hole to hole in as few strokes as pos- 
sible. In a '< foursome " the partners play alternately, the 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 245 

" long driver " on tlie one side being pitted against tlie 
'*long driver" on the other, and the "short" against the 
" short." Now two things are especially abhorred by the 
golfer while he is playing — ^the one is the human voice, the 
other is any movement of the human body, in his vicinity. 
The moment a man begins to " address " his ball, as it is 
called, he expects that, as a matter of course, everybody 
near him will become dumb and motionless ; if they do 
not, he either refuses to play till they obey, or plays and 
lays the blame of any bungle he makes upon their heads. 
It depends, however, upon his position and temper, what 
course he pursues. A man like Colonel Burnett, on hear« 
ing anybody near him talking, laugliing, or moving, im- 
mediately grows hot about the ears, and walks away from 
his ball, intimating, at the same time, unmistakably to the 
offender, that there will be no sport forthcoming till he 
desists, and probably adding, that if he does not mean to 
play the game, the party had better break up before they 
get too far. Gumey, on the other hand, will play his ball, 
but if any mishap befall it, will grumble in an audible and 
plaintive voice about the interruption, not to the offender, 
but to the man who carries his clubs, into whose sympa- 
thising ear he pours his sorrows ; the length of time that 
the grumbling continues depending upon his success. 
To return to our "foursome;** everything goes on 



246 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

pretty smootlily till about the third hole, at which point 
Qximey has sufficiently recovered from the shock which 
Miss WilMnson's presence gave him, to button his alpaca 
jacket about him, and address a remark to her, just as 
Colonel Burnett is adjusting his '' putter " for the sixth 
and last time. Of course this gives rise to heated ears, 
and a walk away from the ball, which produces immediate 
silence on the part of Gumey, but not on the part of the 
ladies, who are unaware of the offence committed. Accor- 
dingly, just as the Colonel after a short walk returns to 
his ball, Miss Wilkinson answers Gumey's observation ; so 
the Colonel misses his stroke, and much grumbling about 
the irregularity of females appearing on the links is imper- 
fectly overheard. The ladies are still pleasingly uncon- 
scious of the Colonel's wrath, and instead of gracefully 
withdrawing, begin to take an interest in the game, and 
ask Gumey questions about it, which he answers in a timor- 
ous and abrupt manner, justly dreading another outbreak 
on the part of his irascible opponent. Fortunately for him, 
that gentleman's attention is diverted by another painful 
incident, which occurs at the sixth hole. 

Both parties have played an equal number of strokes 
from the fifth hole ; the Colonel's partner has put his ball 
within a foot of the hole, and Gximey has played his to 
about a couple of yards from it. The Colonel and Browne 



THE GOLFER AT HOME. 247 

have now respectively to play, and Browne being farthest 
from the hole plays first and goes in ; the Colonel, 
thinking that his ball is so ridiculoasly near the hole 
that he will not be called upon to put it in, knocks it 
away with the back of his club and says, " halved hole.'* 
But Browne promptly claims the hole, and tells the 
Colonel that if he wanted half he should have made sure 
of it by " holing out." This is done more in fun than 
earnest, as the Colonel is known to be a great martinet. 
But a very dangerous joke it proves ; the Colonel deeply 
resents it, and asks, ''What is to become of all the 
good feeling of the game if a man takes such a dirty 
advantage as that ? Whether Browne thinks that 
he (the Colonel) would not have holed that ball nine 
times out of ten?" and so on. However, peace 
is apparently restored, and the game goes on. At 
the ninth hole, to the great relief of some of the party at 
least, the ladies leave them, and make for the beach : 
Gumey unbuttons his jacket, and the Colonel breathes 
freely again. The game has been going pretty evenly, and 
Browne's side turns one hole ahead, an advantage, how- 
ever, which very soon disappears. The wind having been 
at his back on the way out, Browne has driven steadily 
enough ; but now the wind meets him, and a good deal of 
fancy driving ensues. If you hit a ball with what is called 



248 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



the heel of the club, a sort of screw is put upon it, which 
makes it twist away to the right ; if with the toe of the 
club, it twists to the left. K there is a high wind it exag- 
gerates these erratic tendencies, and the higher a man hits 
his ball, the more it is affected by the wind. Now Browne 
always hits his ball high, and usually hits it with either 
the heel or the toe of the club with wonderful impartiality, 
instead of hitting it fairly with the centre, as he ought to 
do ; the consequence is, that as the course at St. Andrews 
is too narrow to admit of much deviation from the straight 
line, Browne's ball is as often in the " bent " and whins 
which lie at either side of the course as on the course itself. 
Just as the party are coming round the curve of the " pot- 
hook," Browne hits and heels a terrifically high ball, which 
is caught by the wind, and whirled miles into the whins. 
After a proia'acted search, behold the plaintive Qximey up 
to his knees in a whin, making frantic endeavours to catch 
a glimpse of his ball, which is hidden among the roots ; 
suddenly we see the bush convulsed, small pieces of whin 
flying in every direction before the iron of the furious 
Gumey, and the ball emerges, not in the direction of the 
hole, but perpendicularly, and finally lands upon the 
player's shoulders. According to the stern rules of golf, 
the ball having touched him, ipso facto, the hole is lost. 
He emerges from the whin, with his legs still tingling and 



J 



THE QOLFEB AT HOME. 249 

Ills left wrist slightly sprained^ from having had to cut 
througli a root, in order to get at the ball. The next hole 
is played in solemn silence ; but in the coarse of the one 
succeeding, Brown varies his partner's entertainment by 
pulling his ball round with the toe of the club into the 
whins at the opposite side ; another search, another inef- 
fectual uprooting of a whin, and Qumey again emerges, 
but this time, wonderful to relate, with a comparatively 
cheerful countenance. He takes out a cigar-case, lights a 
cigar, and walks along contentedly smoking it, and appa- 
rently enjoying the scenery. This is a fatal sign. When 
a man smokes, he is either winning very easily or has 
given up all hopes of winning ; when a man draws the at- 
tention of his partner to lights and shades, and the beauty 
of the scenery generally, it is tantamount to his saying, 
'' As mere exercise this is a very pleasant and healthy oc- 
cupation — plenty of fresh air, a charming day, and St. An- 
drews looks very well from here ; but as to its being golf, 
to play with a fellow who puts you into a whin or a 

bunker every other stroke " 

That this is the state of Gumey's mind at present 
becomes more apparent by his playing his next stroke with 
one hand, of course losing the hole. Soon, however, he 
is roused from his apathy by the Colonel also getting into 
grief, and at the third hole from home makes the match 



250 GOLFJANA MiaCELLANEA. 

all even by a wriggling^ bolting ten yards "putt," which 
goes in like a rabbit. At the next hole an appalling in- 
stance of retributive justice is witnessed; the Colonel's 
vigilant wrath has merely smouldered for a "s^hile, and a 
fatal opportimity for its explosion presents itself. Browne, 
in preparing to putt a ball into the hole, and pressing his 
** putter " against it, moves the ball about half an inch, 
and follows it up by hitting it. Here the Colonel, with 
great calmness, claims the hole. " You struck your ball 
twice, sir. Mr. Qumey should have played. If we are to 
play the game strictly, that's my hole." Browne is so 
fairly caught, that he bursts into a laugh, and gracefully 
yields up the hole. This gives the Colonel's side a hole 
to the good, which they keep to the end, thus winning a 
closely contested match by one hole. As they walk 
towards the club for lunch, the Colonel puts his hand af* 
fectionately upon Browne's shoulder, and assures him that 
he would not have thought of claiming hole No. 16 if 
Browne had not been rather hard upon him at the sixth 
hole, and with the exception of a plaintive sigh from Gur- 
ney, as he pays his five-shilling bet to his opponent, all is 
peace and good-humour. And, notwithstanding the little 
exhibitions of temper which we have seen, golf is really a 
good-natured game. During a match some men may be 
rather over-keen, and from their very keenness lose their 



THE GOLFEB AT HOME. 251 

temper for the time, but they are the first to regain it 
when the occasion is past. Perhaps the secret of this i» 
that it is such an invigorating, healthy game, that a man 
cannot foster ill-nature for such trivial matters as a hole 
won or lost ; accordingly, winners and losers turn voraci- 
ously to their lunch. 

But it must not be supposed that their game is lost sights 
of now. They find most of the players who preceded 
them at lunch, and everybody enquires after everybody 
else's game. If a man has won, he has of course no objec- 
tion to say so, and does so curtly, as if it were a matter of 
certainty that he should win. If he has lost, he does not 
like to answer directly, unless he has an opportunity also 
of explaining how it happened. For instance, to watch 
our friends of the morning : as the Colonel is lighting a 
cigar, a friend asks how his match ended, and is answered 
by the monosyllable " won." Qnmey is also inquired of> 
but as the Colonel is sitting at his elbow, finds it conveni- 
ent to have his mouth full of cold beef at the moment. 
He, however, avails himself of a subsequent opportunity of 
putting the inquirer in full possession of the particulars of 
Browne's evil doings and irregularities, and the Coloner^ 
sharp practice. After three quarters of an hour allowed 
for lunch and a cigar, the players again take the fields 
and continue their game till about half-past five. We 



252 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

need not follow them, liaving seen enough for the 
present of their manners and customs. We know 
how they will all march round and round, wrapt up 
in their own games ; how they will growl and murmur 
if they are kept an instant waiting by the party in 
front, and how they wiU remonstrate indignantly, nay, 
even foraoiously, if a ball from the party behind 
comes anywhere near them, while, at the same time, 
they will not scruple to touch up the party in front by 
sending a ball among them if they conveniently can ; how 
each man will converse almost exclusively with the man 
who carries his clubs, from whom he will accept any amount 
of soft sawder and advice, now anxiously inquiring what 
part of the club he hit the last ball with, and now obser- 
ving coyly " that ball went away well ;'' all this we have 
already seen, and one round may fairly be taken as a 
sample of the next. 

It only remains to take a glance at the golfer when he 
regsdns his domestic circle. Having gained a noble appetite 
by his exertions, he is sufficiently recruited by a bath and 
dressing for dinner to discourse volubly about his game 
during that meal. He will probably have some golfing 
friends dining with him — ^but we recommend the uninitiated 
to take the precaution of furnishing themselves with a 
manual of the game and a map of the course to enable 



TMS GOLFEE AT HOME. 25S 

them to follow intelligently tlie varions addresses on the 
subject to whidi they will be compelled to listen, bnt in 
which they will not be permitted to take part. For their 
consolation, howeyer, we may throw out the hint that if 
any gentleman is fond of female society, he will have an 
lininterrupted innings at St. Andrews. During the hours 
of golf the young ladies are most shamefully neglected, 
owing to the conscription levied by the game, and would, 
no doubt, gladly receive deserters, or those who have not 
yet been enrolled. 

No close observer of the golfer has recorded whether 
any phenomena are to be observed in him during sleep ; 
whether, like a dreaming greyhound, his limbs move in 
conformity with the occupations of the day. It is ascer- 
tained beyond question that he dreams about golf; dreams 
how he hit a ball which seemed as if it would never come 
down, and when it did, fell into the next hole a quarter of 
a mile away ; dreams how he habitually holes out at thirty 
yards, and how neither ''bunkers " nor whins can hold him. 
All this, and much more, he has been known to dream ; 
but as yet no complaints have been lodged by indignant 
wives of blows received during the watches of the night 
from hands wielding imaginary golf clubs; so we must 
assume that he reclines peacefully, especially as if there 
existed cause of complaint on this score we should hear of 



254 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

it, the game being by no means regarded with f avoar by 
the ladies. Haying followed him to his lair, let as bid the 
golfer good-night ; and if any one is inclined to scoff at 
his tuitiring zeal and keenness abont the game, let him 
suspend judgment till he too has been exposed to its fas- 
cinations. Doubtless, after a month's experience, he in his 
turn will prove an interesting subject of inquiry, and will 
help to develop some undiscovered vein in the golfer's 
character. 

H. J. M. 



EARLY LEGAL BEFEBENCE8 TO GOLF. 255 



EAELY LEGAL EEFEEENOES TO GOLF. 

The first notice we have of golf occurs in an Act of Par- 
liament in 1457, a most unlikely place, perhaps the last 
where a golfer would seek for information regarding his 
favourite amusement. The Act runs thus : — " ThD XIV. 
Parliament of Kana James the Second, halden at Edin- 
burgh, the sext daie of the moneth of March, the zeir of 
God ane thousand foure hundreth fiftie-seven zeires. 

" Item. — ^It is decreeted and ordained that the weapon- 
schawinges to be halden be the Lordes and Barronnes 
Spiritual and Temporal, foure times in the zeir. And that 
the Fute-hall aud Oolfe he utterly cryed downe, and not to 
he used. And that the bow-markes be maid at ilk Parish 
Kirk, a pair of Buttes, and Schutting be used. And that 
ilk man shutte sex schottes at the least, under the paine to 
be raised upon them, that cummis not at the least, twa 
pennyes to be given to them, that cummis to the bowe- 
markes to drinke. And this to be used fra Pasche till 
Alhallow-mes after. And be the nixt Midsommer to be 
reddy with all their graith without failzie. And that 
there be a bower and a fledgear in ilk head town of the 
Schire. And that the town furnish him of stuffe and 



256 OOLFJANA MISCELLANEA. 

graith, after as needs him thereto, that they may serve the 
countrie with. And as teitching the Fute-hall and the 
Oolfe, to be punished be the Barronnis un-law, and gif he 
takis not the nn-law, that it be taken be the Kingis 
OfBciares. And that all men, that is within fiftie, ancjl 
past twelve zeires, sail use schutting." This is the first 
notice of the existence of golf in Scotland which has been 
found as yet, and it dates far enough back to entitle our 
game to be called the " ancient game of golf." 

The next notice we have of ihe game is in 1471. 
Whether the Act of James IL was not attended to, or 
whether the people had got so enamoured of their game, 
ire are not informed, but the Parliament <^ James m. felt 
called upon to prohibit the game likewise in the short 
space of fourteen years from the previous Act. The Act 
runs as follows : — 

'' The VL Parliament of King James the Third, halden 
at Edinburgh, the sext dale of the moneth of M<uj, the 
scire of God ane thousund f cure hundreth seventie-an^ 
seires. 

<'Xtbm. — ^It is thought expedient that no Merchandes 
bring speares in this Bealme out of ony uther cuntry, bot 
gif they conteine sex elne of length, and of a clyf t : nor 
that na bower within this cuntrie make na speares, bot gif 
they conteine the samine length. And quha that dois the 



EARLY LBGAL BEFEBENCE8 TO GOLF. 267 

contrair, that tlie speares be escheited, and the persones 
punished at the kingis wilL Also, that ilka zeamen that 
cannot deale with the bow, that he have ane gude axe, and 
ane targe of ledder, to resist the schot of England, quhilk 
is na coist but the value of a hide. And that ilk Schireffe, 
Stewart, Baillie, and uthers Officiares, .mak weapon- 
schawinges within the boundes of their office, after the 
tenour of the Acte of Parliament, sa that in default of the 
said weapon-schawinge our Soveraine Lords Lieges be not 
destitute of hames, quhen they have need. And that the 
Fute-hall and Oolfe he abused in time cnmming, and that 
the buttes be maid up, and schuting used, after the tenour 
of the Acte of Parliamente maid thereupon.'' It would 
appear, as if in the short space of twenty years, this second 
Act had shared the fate of its predecessor. Whether the 
local authorities had failed to enforce it, or whether the 
passion for foot-ball and golf had been irrepressible, we do 
not leain, but in any case, in a comparatively short period 
we again find Parliament dealing with the question. 

As in the respective reigns of King James IL ^d King 
James UI., so in 1491, in the reign of Eling James IV., 
another very pointed and emphatic enactment was passed 
agi^nst the innocent amusements of foot-ball and golf. It 
runs thus : — 

*' The DL Parliament of King James the Fourth, halden 



268 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



the anchtenth day of the Moneth of Maij, the zeir of 
Ck)d, ane thousand four hundreth^ ninetie ane yeires. 

Item. — ^It is statute and ordained that in na place of the 
Bealme there be used Fute-Ml, Golfe, or uther sik un- 
proffitable sportes, but for common gude of the Eeahne 
and defence thereof. And that bows and schutting be 
hanted, and bow-markes maid therefore ordained in ilk 
parochin, under the paine of fourtie schillinges to be 
raised be the Schireffe and Baillies foresaid. And of ilk 
Parochin ilk zeir, quhar it beis found in, that bow-markes 
beis not maid, nor schutting hanted, as is before said." 

The object of these enactments, as will be apparent, was 
to preyent golf from interfering with the practice of 
archery, and so the more to enable our countrymen to 
oope with the greater superiority of the English in that 
respeot^ and of whidi superiority on the part of their 
enemies the Scotch too often had experience. Meantime 
gunpowder as an instrument of war having become 
gradually more common, aicheiy fell into the background, 
and with, it the enactments against golf. In the altered 
^roumstanoesi, the game of golf apparently became a 
highly popular amuaemqdt in an increasing degree, both 
among the higher elaaaes as well as among the masses of 
the people. 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 259 



ANECDOTES AND INOIDENTS. 

The following selected anecdotes and incidents may prove 
interesting to the casual reader. A number of these nar- 
rations have, as may be observed, already a place in prece- 
ding portions of the present volume, chiefly in connection 
with the historical sketches. 

BABLT CLUB AKD BALL MAKINa. 

Even as early as 1603 club-making had become of such 
importance, that we find King James VI., in that year, 
appointing William Mayne, "bower burgess of Edinburgh, 
during all the dayis of his lyiftyme, clubmaster to his 
Hienes ; " so much for club-making two hundred and fifty 
years ago in Scotland. But it would appear as if the golf- 
ball of Scottish manufacturers had not been giving satis- 
faction, as large numbers were imported from Holland, no 
doubt on account of their superiority over the native 
article. In order to protect and encourage the Scottish 
makers. King James deals with the case in 1618, and in a 
letter that year states that as ''no small quantitie of gold 



260 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



and silver is transported yeirlie out of his Hienes' king- 
dome of Scotland for bying of golf balls/' James Melvill 
and others are granted the right of supplying all balls 
within the kingdom, and prohibiting all others from 
making or selling them for the space of twenty-one years. 
The cost of each ball to " exceid not the pryce of four 
schiUingis money of this realm/' and Melvill, " for the 
better tryell heiroff/* was ordained to have " ane particu- 
lar stamp of his awin, and to cause mark and stamp all 
suche ballis maid be him and his foirsaidis thairwith, and 
that all ballis maid within the kingdome found to be 
otherwayis stamped 8all be escheated.** 



THB DUKE AKD THB SHOEMAKEB. 

During the residence of the Duke of York, afterwards 
James IL, in Edinburgh, in 1681 and 1682, he was fre- 
quently to be seen playing at golf with some of the nobi- 
lity and gentry, on the Links of Leith. Two English 
noblemen one day debated the question with his Boysd 
Highness, as to whether Scotland or England were en- 
titled to th^ honour of originating the delightful pastime, 
and living some difficulty in agreeing on the subject, it 
yraa proposed to decide the argument by an appeal to th? 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 261 

game itself, the Englishmen agreeing to rest the legitimacy 
of their national pretensions, together with a large sum of 
money, on the result of the match, to be played with any 
Scotsman the Duke chose to bring forward. The person 
recommended to him for this purpose was a poor man 
named Patersone, a shoemaker, who was regarded as the 
best golfer of the day. On being asked to play, Patersone 
modestly expressed great unwillingness to enter into a 
match of such consequence ; but on the Duke encouraging 
him, he promised to do his best. The match was played, 
in which the Duke and his humble partner were of course 
victorious, and the latter was dismissed with his full share 
of the stake played for. With this money Patersone bidlt 
a comfortable house in the Oanongate, on the wall of 
which the Duke caused a stone to be placed, bearing the 
arms of the Patersone family, with the addition of a crest, 
a hand grasping a club, and the appropriate motto, ''Far 
and Sure." 



Smollett's dbsobiptiok of letth links in 1766. 

Smollett, writmg in 1766, thus notices the game, and 
describes its yotaries as he found them at that period : — ^I 
never saw such a concourse of genteel company at any 



262 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

raoes in England^ as appeared on the course at LeitH. 
Hard by, in tHe field called the Links, the citizens of Edin- 
burgh divert themselves ai a game called golf. Of this 
diversion the Scotch are so fond, that, when the weather 
will permit, you may see a multitude of all ranks mingled 
together in their shirts, and following the ball with the 
utmost eagerness. Among others, I was shown one par- 
ticular set of golfers, the youngest of whom was turned of 
fourscore. They were all gentlemen of independent for- 
tunes, who had amused themselves with this pastime for 
the best part of a century, without having ever felt the 
least alarm from sickness or disgust ; and they never went 
to bed without having each the best part of a gallon of 
claret in his belly. Such uninterrupted exercise, co- 
operating with the keen air of the sea, must, without 
doubt, keep the appetite always on edge, and steel the 
constitution against all the common attacks of distemper. 



EABLY BEFSBENOES TO EXPENSES COKNEGTED WITH GOLF- 

FLATINa. 

Scattered throughout biographies. State documents, 
family note-books, and other sources, we find a good many 
references made to expenditure, as well as to losses and 
gains, connected with the game. Many of these are 



ANECDOTES AN*D INCIDENTS. 26$ 



highly interesting as throwing a side light on the usages 
of this popular as well as aristocratic pastime. The 
following may serve as instances of such entries. It is 
hardly necessary to add that the sums are Scots, not sterling 
money : — 

KING JAMES n. 

The following entries occur in the Accounts of the Lords 
High Treasurers of Scotland : — 

1503-4. Feb. 3. Item to the King to play at the 

Golf with the Erie of Bothwile, xlij.s 
Item to Golf Clubbis and Ballis 

to the King that he playet with^ iz.s 
1505-6. Feb. 22. Item for xij Golf Ballis to the 

King^ ..... iiij.s 
1506. July 18. Item, the xviij day of July, for ij 

Golf Clubbis to the King, . ij.s 



THE HABQUIS OF MONTBOSE. 

The following appears in The Memorials of Montrose 
and his Times : — 

1628. The 19th May— For two golf balls to 

my Lord, 3 lib. 17 sh. 

Item, My Lords lose at the golfe, . 10 sh. 

Item, For two goffe balls, my Lord 

going to the goffe there (Leith), • 10 sh. 



264 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

8IB JOHN FOTJUB OF BAIOELBTONE. 

From the Note-Book of Sir John Fonlis, in Miscellaneonfl 
Papers relative to Scottish Affairs :••— 

1672. 

Jan. 13. Lost at golf with Pittarro and Com- 
missar Mimro, . . . • £0 13 
Lost at golf with Lyon and Henry 

Hay, 14 

Feb. 14. Spent at Leith at golfe, • . .200 
26. Spent at Leith at golfe, . . .19 
Mar. 2. For three golfe balls, . . . 15 
Lost at golfe at Musselburgh, with 
Gosford, Lyon, etc., . . .350 
April 18. To the boy who carried my clubs 
when my Lord Begister and New- 
bythe were at the Links, . .040 
Nov. 19. Lost at golfe with the Ghancellour, 

Lyon, Master of Saltoun, etc., . 5 10 
For golf e balls, . . . . 12 
Nov. 30. Lost at golfe with Ohancellour, Duke 

of Hamilton, etc., . . . 4 15 
Dec. 7. For a golfe club to Archie (his son), 6 



KINO 0HABLE8 I. AND THE BXBELLIOK. 

King Charles I. was extremely fond of this exercise, and 
played much at Newcastle, the Links of Leith, and else- 
where. And it is said that it was when he was engaged 
with a party at golf on the Links of Leith, that the first 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 265 

commuiiication was delivered into his hands announcing 
the insnrrection and rebellion in Ireland. The evil tidings 
affected Charles so deeply, that he instantly broke up the 
match and drove to Holyrood. 



DBIVINa A BALL OVEB ST. GILES* STEEPLE. 

In 1798 bets were taken in the Burgess Q-olfing Society 
that no two members could be found capable of driving a ball 
over the spire of St. Giles* steeple. Mr. Sceales of Leith, 
and Mr. Smellie, printer, Edinburgh, were selected to per- 
form this apparently formidable undertaking. They were 
allowed to use six balls eadi. The balls passed consider- 
ably higher than the weather cock, and were found nearly 
opposite the Advocates' Olose. The bet was decided early 
in the morning, in case of accident, the parties taking their 
station at the south-east comer of Parliament Square. 
The feat turned out to be one of easy performance. The 
height of the steeple, which is one hundred and sixty feet, 
together with the distance from the base of the church, 
was found to be much less than a good stroke of the club. 



DBIVING A BALL TO THE TOP OF ABTHUB'S SEAT. 

Another amusing feat of ball driving is associated with 

R 



266 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Arthur's Seat. Were a person to play a ball from that 
point it is stated that he would probably have to walk 
half-a-mile before he could touch it again, and it had been 
declared that the whole art of man could not drive it back 
again. This, however, it appears, has actually been done. 
Amot, the historian of Edinburgh, mentions that Topham 
had achieved that feat about 1775, or thereby. 



OUTTA PEBOHA BALLS ver8U8 LEATHER ONES. 

We take the following from Bobb's Golf and Golfers 
regarding the change from the old-fashioned leather balls 
to the modem gutta-percha : — ^There is nothing perhaps 
in the whole history of golf which has given a greater im- 
petus to the game among all classes, than the substitution 
of gutta-percha balls for the old leather ones. The change 
can only be fully appreciated by those who have played 
golf under the old regime of those made with leather, 
stuffed with feathers. Witness the distress of one of 
ihese balls on a wet green. It got soaked with water, and 
every time it was struck, off came some of the paint, and 
ultimately — ^if it chanced to survive a round under such 
circumstances — it became so saturated with water, that 
almost no amount of physical strength could make it 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 267 



'* fly." And then to contemplate it next moming^^-eyery 
seam gaping and laughing at our folly I But all this is 
changed since the introduction of the "gutta/' with its 
round, well hammered surface. It refuses to be affected 
by water ; and even after you have had the misfortune to 
be on the road with it two or three times^ and perhaps 
bashed it with your cleek, and it has begun to lose the 
freshness of its youth, it has only to be remelted, and it 
makes its appearance again, ready to commence a new 
existence. And mark the difference in a financial point of 
view — and this was the grand difiSculty of youths who 
essayed the game, and youth is the time to learn it ; for if 
*' learn young learn fair " is true in anjrthing, it is particu- 
larly so in golf. The cost of a leather ball, of the best 
quality, was two shillings and sixpence, while the cost of 
a gutta percha one is only one shilling. 



THE COCK O' THE OBEEK. 



Alexander M'Eellar, ironically called the The Cock o* 
the Oreen, and rendered famous by Kay including him 
among his Edinburgh Portraits, spent his life pretty much 
on Bruntsfield Links, playing by himself when unable to 
procure an opponent, and was even not unfrequently found 
practising at the " short holes " by lamp light. His golf- 



268 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



liating wife, annoyed by Ids all-absorbing passion, on one 
occasion carried bis supper and bis nigbt-oap to tbe Links. 
But M'Kellar, blind to satire/ good bumouredly observed 
to bis better balf tbat sbe " cou'd wait if sbe likit till tbe 
game was dune, but at present be bad no time for refresb- 
ment." 



FBINOE HENBY AND HIS DEBTS. 

Tbe lamented Prince Henry, eldest son of King James 
YI., sometimes engaged in a game of golf. At one time 
wben playing a game, wbilst bis tutor Newton stood talk- 
ing witb anotber, and did not observe bis Higbness' 
warning to bim to stand furtber off, tbe Prince, tbinking 
tbat be bad gone aside, lifted up bis golf-dub to strike tbe 
balL Meantime, one standing by said to bim, *' Beware 
tbat you bit not Master Newton," wbereupon tbe Prince, 
drawing back bis band, said, — '' Had I done so, I bad but 
paid my debts." 



8IB HE17BY BAEBUBN A GOLFEB. 

Sir Henry Baebum, tbe great psdnter, tbougb ardently 
devoted to tbe duties of bis studio tbrougbout tbe week^ 
made an exception of Saturday afternoons always in favour 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS, 269 



of golf. Dr. Duncan tells us that on the first Saturday of 
June, 1823, he played with the aged artist on Leith Links 
what proved to be Sir Henry's last game, the distinguished 
artist being then in his 80th year ! 



THE BISHOP OF GALLOWAY AND THE YISIOK. 

The historian Bow gives an account of the following 
strange circumstance regarding the death of the '' apostate '* 
Bishop of Galloway (1610). Mysterious as it may appear, 
there seems to be a certain element of truth in a portion of 
the narrative. While on the links of Leith at his favourite 
pastime of golf, for which he had had a very great love aU 
his life, the Bishop was terrified by imagining that he saw 
a vision, and casting away his club, said — " I vow to be 
about with these two men who hes come upon me with 
drawn swords." When those who were with him replied, 
" My Lord, it is a dreame ; we saw no such thing." But 
the Bishop remamed silent, went home trembling, took to 
bed and died, ** not giving any token of repentance for that 
wicked course he had embrased." 



FBBSIDENT FOBBES Ain> HIS SON. 

Duncan Forbes of Oulloden, President of the Oourt of 



270 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

Session, was another distingaislied personage, who com- 
bined a keen love of golf with a highly laborious and 
useful career. He was such an ardent loyer of the national 
amusement, that when the Links of Leith were coyered 
with snow, he played on the sands. He was also in the 
habit of playing on the Links of Musselburgh. In con- 
nection with the latter Links, we find him making an 
amusing reference to a game he had with his son. He 
eays — " This day (Nov. 1, 1728), after a very hard pull, I 
got the better of my son at the Gouf . If he was as good 
at any other thing as he is at that, there might be some 
hopes of him." In his poem of The Goff, Matheson, the 
author, makes reference to this highly-popular gentlemen, 
both as a distinguished golfer and on account of his great 
merits as a judge. 



GOLF AND SUNDAY PROFANITIES IN OLDEN TIMES. 

In another way do we come across not unfrequently 
references to golf, during the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. In these times of Puritan strictness with regard 
to the Sabbath, the golf player, as well as other votaries of 
Sunday amusements, had given the local authorities in 
various parts of the East of Scotland a modicum of trouble. 
Some of the references to Sunday amusements and non- 



ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 271 



cliurch-going to be found in old bnrgh and kirk session 
records are very amusing : — 

In 1592 the Town Gonncil of Edinburgh ordained that 
" na inhabitants of the samyn be sene at ony pastjmes or 
gammis within or without the toun upoun the Sabboth 
day, sic as Golf, etc. ; and also, that thair dochters and 
wemen seryands be nocht fund playing at the ball, nor 
singing of profayne sangs, upon the sam day." 

In 1573 the Town Council find that "dyvers inhabi- 
tants of this burgh repaires upon the Sabboth day to the 
toun of Leith, and in tyme of sermons are sene vagrant 
athort the streets, drynking in taverns, or otherwayes at 
Golf, aircherie, or other pastymes upoun the Links, thairby 
profaning the Sabboth day," etc., and warn them to desist 
under the penalty of a fine of forty shillings. 

In 1608, John Henrie, Patrick Bogie, and others were 
" accusit for playing at the Gowff on the Links of Leith 
eyerie Sabboth the time of the sermounes, notwithstanding 
oft admonitioun past befoir." Were convicted, and fined 
and ordained to be kept in prison until the fine was paid. 

And again in Perth in 1604, Bobert Bobertson and 
others were convicted of profaning the Sunday, by absent- 
ing themselves from hearing of the Word, and playing at 
the Golf on the North Inch ** in time of preaching." 
Bobertson was fined "ane merk to the poor," and the 



272 aOLFIANA MiaCELJLANEA. 

others had to appear the next Sabbath in the place of 
pablic repentance in presence of the whole congregation. 

At Stirling, in 1621, David Hairt, ''prenteis to Gilbert 
Banhop, wrycht^ conf est prophanatione of the Sabboth, in 
playing at the Goff in the park of Sturling on the Sabboth 
aiftimone in tyme of preaching," and therefore is ordained 
to pay a fine for the same. 

In Berwickshire daring 1651, the kirk session of the 
parish of Hiunbie ordain James Bodger, John Howdan, and 
others '' to mak their pabliok repentance, haying confessed 
thair prophaning of the Lord's day by playing at the Qoff,'' 
and Howdan being a deacon, is deposed from his office. 



DUTCH KOLF. 273 



DUTCH KOLF * 

The Dutch game called kolf , from which the word golf is 
derived; as both are probably from the Greek word KaXwpos, 
is played in an enclosed rectangular area of about sixty 
feet by twenty-five. The floor, which is a composition of 
sand, clay, and pitch, is made as level as a billiard table, 
and the inclosing walls are for two feet above the floor 
faced either with polished stone or sheet lead, that they 
may cause the ball to rebound with accuracy. At about 
eight or ten feet from each end wall, a circular post of 
about five inches diameter is placed precisely in the middle 
of the area with regard to breadth, consequently opposite 
the one to the other, and at the distance of forty feet or 
thereby. The balls used in the game are about the size 
of cricket balls, made perfectly round and elastic, covered 
with soft leather, and sewed with fine wire. The clubs 
are from three to four feet long, with stiff shafts. The 
heads are of brass, and the face with which the ball is 
struck is perfectly smooth, having no inclination, such as 

might have a tendency to raise the ball from the ground. 

— — — - - - .... 

* From the SiatiHical AccaiuU o/SooOand, Vol. XYL 



274 aOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

The angle, which the head makes with the shaft, is nearly 
the same with that of the putting clubs used at golf. The 
game may be played by any number, either in parties 
against each other, or each person for himself ; and the 
contest is, who shall hit the two posts in the fewest 
strokes, and make his ball retreat from the last one with 
such an accurate length as that it shall lie nearest to the 
opposite end wall of the area. The first stroke is made 
from within a few inches of what is called the beginning 
post, and the player directs his ball as precisely as he can 
on the opposite one, that he may hit it if possible, compu- 
ting at the same time the force of his stroke, so that 
should he miss it (which from the distance may be sup- 
posed to be most frequently the case), his ball may 
rebound from the end wall, and lie within a moderate 
distance of the post, and before it, i.e., between the two 
posts, rather than between the post and the end walL 
The reason of preferring this situation of the ball will ap- 
pear by reflecting how much easier it is in that case to 
send the ball, after striking the post, back again towards 
the other one. The skill of the game consists in striking 
the post in such a way, whether full or otherwise, as may 
send the ball towards the place where you wish it to rest. 
It combines the address required both in golf and in 
billiards. Five points make the game ; and such is the 



GOLF IN FRANCE. 275 



difference between a capital and an ordinary player, that 
the former will give foor points of the game, and fre- 
quently be the winner. This superiority of play I 
experienced myself at a kolf haan near the Hague, after I 
had considerable practice in the game, and was in fact no 
mean player. With the advantage of three points I was 
completely beaten, and even when I got four, I could 
hardly preserve any tolerable equality. 

A great advantage of the game of kolf is that it can be 
played at all seasons, in all weather, as the place is as 
close as a house, while at the same time, by opening the 
windows, which are very large, you may have a sufficiency 
of air. There is generally a kind of apartment at one end 
of the kolf haan, two or three steps higher than the floor, 
where spectators may enjoy the sight of the game as far 
as the clouds of tobacco smoke, with which they commonly 
fill it, will allow. 



GOLF m FBANOE. 



It is called jeu de mail, or the game of the hammer. It 
is exactly our golf, but played under different circumstan- 
ces, and many of the men here attain to great perfection 
in it ; but whether they could beat our best players I shall 
not venture to say. I think they would have a better 



276 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

chance of beating us on our fields than we should them on 
their ground. Their club is made in the shape of a ham- 
mer, which gives rise to the name. The handle is rather 
longer than that of a golf club, of the same size and thick- 
ness, and having a good deal of spring in it. The part 
with which the ball is struck, and into which the handle 
is firmly fastened in the middle, is about four and a half 
inches long, by about two inches thick, round, but shaped 
in such a way as to give the greatest facility for striking 
the ball with precision, the one end being nearly flat, like 
the flat end of a hammer, with which the ball is usually 
hit, while the other is more sloped, so as to give a facility 
for strildng the ball when it gets into a position of diffi- 
Gulty^ and from which it requires some skill to extricate 
it, such as often happens also at golf. Both ends are 
strongly bound wiidi iron, which is necessary to give 
weight to the club, as well as prevent the wood from 
breaking. The ball is solid and sound, made of the root 
of the box tree, about two inches in diameter, and conse- 
quently heavier than our balls. The game is played along 
the bye roads, in the neighbourhood of the town, some- 
times with high banks on. each side, sometimes ditches, at 
other places level, with the fields sometimes lined with 
hedges, but usually quite open. The surface of the 
ground is very variable;, sometimes covered with deep 



GOLF IN FRANCE. 277 

ruts, at others sandy and smooth^ generally tortuous^ and 
offering many obstacles to the course of the ball^ which it 
is the object of the players to overcome in proceeding from 
one goal to the other. The goals are not very long, 
averaging perhaps half a mile ; at the end of each is 
placed a touchstone, as it is called, which the players have 
to strike before the match is won, and he who can do it in 
the least number of strokes wins. The players must, how- 
ever, keep on the road, as if the ball is struck off it, into a 
field for instance, the player loses three ; so that he must 
make up that number, in counting his strokes, which gives 
his adversary a great advantage. Good players, I am told, 
hardly ever make false strokes of this kind, but can 
usually send their balls in any direction, and almost to 
any spot they wish. There is one man here who, they 
say, and he says so himself, can break a plate once in 
three times, at a distance of two hundred or three 
hundred yards ; but their great trial of skill is to put up a 
target raised eighteen feet high from the ground, and, at 
a distance of fifty yards, to strike the ball through a hole 
IB the centre six inches in diameter. It is quite a chance, 
they say> if the ball passes through this hole, but it is not 
xmcommon for their best players to hit the target fre- 
quently. The target is about the size used «fe 
meetings in England. 



278 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



ALEXANDER M'KELLAB,* 



THB COCK O' THB OSEEN. 



Alexander M'Eellab, tHe ^'Oock o'-the Green/' was pro- 
bably one of the most enthusiastic golf -players that erer 
handled a club. When the weather would at all permit, 
he generally spent the whole day on Bumtsfield Links ; 
and he was frequently to be found engaged at the " short 
hole ** by lamp-light. Eyen in winter, if the snow was 
sufficiently frozen, he might be seen enjoying his favourite 
exercise alone, or with any one he could persuade to join 
him in the pastime. (When snow happens to be on the 
ground a red ball is used.) M'Kellar thus became well 
known in the neighbourhood of the green ; and his almost 
insane devotion to golf was a matter of much amusement 
to his acquaintances. So thoroughly did he enter into the 
spirit of the game, that every other consideration seemed 
obliterated for the time. "By the la* Harry," or "By 
gracious, this won't go for nothing!" he would exclaim, 
involuntarily, as he endeavoured to ply his club with 
Bdentific 8km ; and, when victory chanced to crown his 
exertions, he used to give way to his joy for a second or 

* From Kay's Edinburgh Portraits. 



ALEXANDER M'KELLAR. 279 

two by dancmg roxind the golf hole. M'Kellar, however, 
was not a member of any of the clubs ; and^ notwithstand- 
ing his incessant practice^ he was by no means considered 
a dexterous player. This is accounted for by the circum- 
stance of his having been far advanced in years before he 
had an opportunity of gaining knowledge of the game. 
The greater part of his life had been passed as a butler, but 
in what family is unknown; nor indeed does it matter 
much. He had contrived to save a little money ; and his 
wife^ on their coming to Edinburgh, opened a small tavern 
in the New Town. M'Kellar had thus ample leisure for 
the indulgence of his fancy, without greatly abridging his 
income^ and golf may be said to have virtually become his 
occupation ; yet no perseverance could entirely compensate 
for the want of practice in his younger years. 

His all-absorbing predilection for golf was a source of 
much vexation to his managing partner in life, on whom 
devolved the whole duty of attending to the affairs of the 
tavern. It was not because she regretted his want of 
attention to business — ^for probably he would have been 
allowed to appropriate a very small portion of authority in 
matters which she could attend to much better herself ; 
but she felt scandalised at the notoriety he had acquired, 
and was not altogether satisfied with the occasional outlay 



280 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

to which he was subjected, though he never speculated to 
any great amount. 

No sooner was breakfast over than M'Eellar daily set off 
to the green ; and ten to one he did not find his way home 
until dusk ; and not even then, if the sport chanced to be 
good. As a practical jest on the folly of his procedure, it 
occurred to his "better half" that she would one day put 
him to the blush, by carrying his dinner, along with his 
night-cap, to the links. At the moment of her arriyal, 
M'Eellar happened to be hotly engaged ; and, apparently 
without feeling the weight of the satire, he good-naturedly 
observed that she might wait, if she chose, till the game 
was decided, for at present he had no time for dinner I 

So provoked at length was the good dame, that she 
abhorred the very name of golf, as well as all who practised 
it; and to her customers^ if they were husband's associates 
on the green, even a regard for her own interest could 
scarcely induce her to extend to them the common civilities 
of the tavern. 

What betwixt respect for his wife and his fondness for 
golf, M'Eellar must have been placed in a rather delicate 
situation ; but great as the struggle might be, all opposi- 
tion was eventually overcome, and he determined to enjoy 
his game and be happy in spite of frowns, lectures, or en- 
treaties. One thing alone annoyed him, and that was the 



ALEXANDER M'KELLAB. 281 

little countenance lie was enabled to give his friends when 
they happened to visit him. At length an opportunity 
occurred^ apparently highly favourable for an honourable 
amende to his long-neglected acquaintances. Having re- 
solved on a trip to the kingdom of Fife, where she calcu- 
lated on remaining for at least one night, his "worthy rib" 
took her departure, leaving him for once, after many 
cautions, with the management of affairs in her absence. 
Now was the time, thought M'Eellar. A select party of 
friends were invited to his house in the evening ; the hour 
had arrived, and the company were assembled in the best 
parlour — ^the golf was the theme, and deep the libations — 
when (alas I what short-sighted mortals are we!), who 
should appear to mar the mirth of the revellers, but the 
golf -hating Mrs. M'Kellar herself I Both winds and waves 
had conspired to interrupt the festivity; the ferry had 
been found impassable, and the hostess was compelled to 
return. What ensued may be imagined. The contem- 
plated journey was postponed sine die; and M*Kellar 
internally resolved to make sure, before giving a second 
invitation, that his spouse had actually crossed the ferry I 

Happening to be at Leith one day, where his fame as a 
golfer was not unknown, M'Kellar got into conversation, in 
the club-maker*s shop, with a number of glass-blowers, 

who were blowing very much about their science in the 

s 



282 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

game of golf. After bantering Hm for some time to 
engage in a trial of skilly a young man from Bomtsfield 
Links opportunely made his appearance. ''By gracious, 
gentlemen I'' exclaimed M'Kellar, whose spirit was roused; 
" here's a boy and I will play you for a guinea !" No 
sooner said than a match of three games was begun, in all 
of which the glass-blowers were defeated. The " Oock o' 
the Green " was triumphant ; and, not waiting till the bet 
had been forthcoming, he ran to the shop of the club* 
maker, announcing the joyful intelligence — ''By gracious, 
gentlemen, the old man and the boy have beat them off 
the green I" 

By way of occupying his time profitably on the seventh 
— the only day in the week he could think of employing 
otherwise than in his favourite amusement — ^M'Kellar was 
in the habit of acting as door-keeper to an Episcopal 
Chapel. On entering one day, old Mr. Douglas Gourlay^ 
club and ball-maker at Bumtsfield, jocularly placed a golf 
ball in the plate, in lieu of his usual donation of coppers. 
As anticipated, the prize was instantaneously secured by 
M'Kellar, who was not more astonished than gratified by 
the novelty of the deposit. 

It was at the suggestion of the late Mr. M'Ewan and Mr. 
Gourlay that Elay produced the etching of the " Oock o* 
the Green." Going out purposely to the Links, the artist 



ALEXANDER M'KELLAB. 283 

found him engaged at his usual pastime, and succeeded in 
taking an accurate and characteristic likeness. When in- 
formed what Eay had been doing, M'Eellar seemed highly 
pleased. "What a pity," said he; "By gracious, had I 
known, I would have shown him some of my capers l" 

Although pretty far advanced in life, M'Kellar continued 
to maintain his title of the " Cock o' the Qreen " for a con* 
siderable time. He died about the year 1813. 



284 OOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



ALLAN BOBEETSON,* 

The Champion Golfer. 

Allah Bobebtbon, the greatest golf-player that ever lived, 
of whom alone in the annals of the pastime it can be said 
that he never was beat^n^ was bom at St. Andrews on the 
11th September;, 1815. He came of a golfing race. His 
grandfather, Peter Bobertson, who died in 1803^ was a 
ball-maker and professional golfer. His father, too, David 
Bobertson, who lived till 1836, followed the same trade, 
and was, moreover, a good player in his day — ^nay, few 
were better on the golfing green. As might be expected 
from such a generation of golfers, Allan took naturally to 
the Links. It is a fact that his very playthings as a child 
were golf clubs. As he grew up, this natural tendency, 
joined to a natural desire of his father that his son should 
continue the busiaess of ball-maker, decided Allan's pro- 
fession, and in due course of time he likewise took up the 
awl and the feathers to learn the manufacture of golf-balls. 
At that period golfing was quite another thing from what 
it is now, or at least its accessories were. Qutta percha 

* From the Dvmdee Advertiser, Sept, 1859. 



ALLAN ROBERTSON. 28& 

was unknown^ and golf -balls were composed of stont leather 
cases stuffed hard with boiled feathers. Their manufac- 
ture, indeed^ was both a difficult and an arduous matter ; 
and their expense when finished was such as to restrict the 
practice of the game^ as a rule^ to the more wealthy of the 
community. The Links of St. Andrews, in consequence, 
were less frequented than now ; the course was rougher ; 
the sport had an aristocratic and portly mien ; and the 
matches of professionals were as pregnant with interest as 
any public event. It is not so now; the St. Andrews 
Links are crowded with careless multitudes luxuriating in 
the pastime cheapened to them by the discovery of gutta 
percha ; and the game is popularised at the expense of its 
stately traditions. 

Allan, however, commenced his golfing career in what, 
despite the deamess of leather and the paucity of players, 
we must still call the palmy days of golf. His entire 
nature was bent on being a golfer. It is yet told on the 
Links how Allan would rise betimes, and with shirt sleeves 
rolled up for better muscular play, start alone for practice 
across the deserted Links still wet with early dew. His 
success was abundant. Allan has improved in his day on 
the old theories of golf, and to him are owing many of the 
improved methods and styles of the present game. Some 
of these we will afterwards more particularly allude to. 



286 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

In the spring of 1848, Mr. Campbell, of Saddell (we be- 
lieve), brought a few experimental gntta percha balls from 
London to St. Andrews. They were not very first-rate, to 
be sure ; were not hammered, and flew heavily. Still the 
material was unquestionably good and adaptable, and con- 
sternation stood on every face, Allan's included. And no 
wonder. The leather ball trade was the only one St. 
Andrews could boast of, and it was considerable, extending 
to exports to the colonies as well as home consumption. In 
Allan's shop alone there were made, for example, in 1840, 
1021 balls ; in 1841, 1392 ; in 1844, 2456 ; and so on. 
The introduction of gutta percha, which anybody could 
mould into a sphere, was a dreadful prospect for Allan and 
his brethren, and dire was their alarm. It is even related 
that Allan would gladly buy up all the gutta percha balls 
found among the whins, etc., and actually attempted to 
destroy the obnoxious interlopers with fire 1 

However, the influx was too great for this system to be 
pursued any longer, and about 1850 Allan entered regularly 
into golf-ball making from gutta percha ; and we are glad 
to know that his labour, whilst it was easier to himself, 
was not a whit less rewarded than in the old monopoly 
days of feathers. 

The life of a professional golfer, like Allan's, is so com- 
posed of continuous matches and a certain recurring same- 



ALLAN BOBEBTSON. 287 

ness of incident, that we have found it impossible to trace 
in anything like a consecutive story the incidents of Allan's 
life. All we can do is to recall a few memories here and 
there, and give a selection in chronological order of his 
more important matches and feats. 

Who will ever forget Allan, having once seen himl 
What Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair has been to the city proper, 
has Allan been to the Links of St. Andrews. They have 
imwittingly been in close partnership. Sir Hugh renovated 
a rough, ruined street ; Allan had an eye the while to the 
improvement of the Links. Sir Hugh attracted citizens, 
Allan golfers. Ah ! it was a magnificent partnership, and 
has done wonders. The analogy holds good between the 
two in other respects also. Who could do the honours of 
the Links like Allan ? He was as perfectly at home with 
a descendant of William the Conqueror as with one of the 
cadies. Without the least tinge of servility, Allan could 
accommodate himself to everybody, and arranged every- 
thing on the golfing links with the politeness of a Brummel 
and the policy of a Tallyrand. 

We have asked. Who that has once seen the champion 
golfer can ever forget him ? Let us try to help the picture 
which every player will oft in fancy draw. Our scene is 
the St. Andrews Links on a genial summer's day. Allan's 
house crowns the summit of the slope ; down towards the 



288 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



sea — ^the blue, beautiful sea — ^lies the white Club-House, 
with its gravelled terrace. It is not yet eleven, that great 
hour of cause on the Links. Groups of cadies are prowl- 
ing about ; a clash and rattle of clubs are heard as you 
pass the club-makers* shops. One or two golfers are 
putting idly at the starting hole with their burnished 
cleeks, trying some impossible putt, which, if they had only 
done but yesterday, would have put a very different finish 
on to a certain match. Suddenly a golfer appears at the 
Olub-House door; he looks about for somebody who \& 
evidently lacking. "Where's Allan ?" — the cry is repeated 
by telegraphic cadies right up to the champion's little 
garden. A minute elapses, and down comes the champion 
in hot haste to the Glub-House. He is, you will recollect, 
ohl golfer, not of much stature, compact, rather robust 
indeed, with a short stoop, and short-necked. His face is 
pleasant to look at — ^rather Hibernian, indeed, with ita 
habitual expression of drollery, which has almost given the 
stalwart golfer one or two dimples. He is dressed, as you 
must remember, in his favourite red jacket, and carries a 
cleek (a pet weapon) in his hand. But now the match is 
arranged. Allan has evidently got to nurse an elementary 
golfer. It is a foursome ; Allan and his protege against 
two rather good hands. Remark how pleasant the little 
man is ; no miss of his partner causes a shade to habitual 



ALLAN B0BEBT80N. 289 



good nature, and, ten to one, when the match comes in 
from their round, but the new player swears by Allan, and 
gives in his adhesion to golf for once and all. 

But it was in a grand match that the figure of Allan 
should live in the memory of all. . Who shall describe his 
elegant and beautifully correct style of play I The cham- 
pion was remarkable for his easy style, depending on a long 
cool swing, and never on sheer strength. His clubs were 
of the toy description, as the slang of the Links hath it, 
possessing no weight or misproportion of wood. Indeed^ 
in it word, Allan's game throughout was pure unadulterated 
science. No man, perhaps, so well united in his play all 
the bits of the game. Pretty driver as he was, we still 
stake our belief on Allan's short game, especially in quarter 
shots. And this was an important point in Allan's practice. 
He it was that introduced the deadly use of the deck in 
plajring up to the hole. Previous to about 1848 or 1849, 
short wooden clubs, the bafBing, or short-spoons, were used 
for this important stroke— -both difficult, and frequently in- 
accurate. But Allan employed the cleek to jerk up his 
ball; however badly it might lie, it was all the same ; and 
this killing game, destructive to a certain extent to the 
green, is now all but universaL 

To return to Allan's great matches. His coolness was 
unique^ and almost miraculous. He was never known to 



290 GOLFIANA MISCBLLANMA^ 

Junk or indeed change liis off-band nwmipr in the leasL 
He was nerer bealen — proud efpiaph. H is someQui^ to 
lie the besi in anjtliing of all the wodd, and ADan stood 
eonf eased the model plajer. But it is not onty as a golfer 
that Allan is to be deeply deplored. He was ponsewwd of 
the best beart and kindliest feelings in tbe world. In the 
intrieake dealings of the Idnbs, in the formation and play- 
ing of great matches, Allan was bflnoarable^ jast^ and 
gentlemanly, from first to lasL 

ADan did mneb for golfing both in and out of St. 
Andrews. He has laid ont capital links in Tsrions dis- 
tricts, and played tbereon binisftlf to the incitement of 

A new era is about to dawn on the golfing links ; the 
old stars are paling; when will others arise? Hngh 
FhOp, wbo knew bow to make a dab, is gone ; gone, toot, 
fine AHan, wbo knew bow to handle one. 

Up to the spring of the present year, Allan was a hal^ 
stoat little man, with scarcely tbe memory of an boor's 
illness. Temperate, too, in an oncommon d^ree, regular 
in bis habits, and enjoying daily exercdse on tbe links ; no 
one coald reasonably foretell tbe rapid change that has 
taken him from as. In the spring, Allan bad an attack 
of jaandice, proceeding, we beliere, from an abnormal 
state of tbe liyer. He neyer rallied ; and after ax 



ALLAN B0BEBT80N. 291 



months' weakness, lie gradually sunl^ and died on the 1st 
of September. Qod rest him, noble golfer, excellent com- 
panion — we will not easily see his like again. 

"We have already noticed how impossible it is, especially 
with imperfect means of information, to give a consecutive 
or full account of the champion's feats, but we subjoin a 
few, in hopes that this meagre outline may testify, in 
some small way, to the merit, as a man and a golfer, of 
Allan Bobertson. 

1840. Allan played a grand match with Tom Alex- 

» 
ander, ballmaker, Musselburgh, over the St. Andrews 

Links, in October, and beat him by 4 holes, during the 

round at 95. 

1842. Allan and Sandy Herd, played in a double, 

against Tom Morris and Jamie Herd, beating them by 2 

holes. Strokes 91 and 94. 

1842. Allan played a match in December with Tom 
Morris, beating h\m by 2 holes, and holing the Links at 
93. 

1843. Allan played during the month of June, over 
the St. Ajidrews Links, a great match of twenty rounds, 
two each day, against William Dunn of Musselburgh* 
Allan gained on the tenth or last day, by two rounds and 
one to play. 



292 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

1843. Allan played a great matcli of 36 holes with 
William Dunn of MnBselborgh, beating him by 8 holes, 
and holing the second ronnd at 88 strokes. 

1844. Allan played a match with William Dunn, over 
three links; 1st, on Musselburgh Links, where Dunn 
gained ; 2nd, at North Berwick Links, where Allan was 
yictorious ; and 3rd, at St. Andrews, where he also won, 
thus gaining the match also. 

1846. Li April, Allan played another of his matches 
with W. Dunn : 1st, at Musselburgh, where Dunn beat 
Allan by 7 a-head and 5 to play ; 2nd, at St. Andrews, 
where Allan won by 5 and 3 ; andf 3rd, at Leven, where 
he also was victor by 6 and 4 to play, thus winning the 
match. 

1846. Allan played with a single driving club against 
Oaptain Broughton, and holed the round of the St. 
Andrews Links at 95. 

1848. Allan played a threesome with William Dunn 
and Tom Morris over Dubbieside Links. Allan holed 18 
holes (two rounds), at 80 ; Thomas Morris at 89 ; and 
Dunn, at 91 strokes. 

1849. A great match for £400 was played in the sum- 
mer between Allan and Tom Morris against the two 
Dunns of Musselburgh, on three links, Musselburgh, St. 
Andrews, and North Berwick. At Musselburgh the 



ALLAN B0BEBT80N. 293 

Dunns won at a canter^ winning by 13 Holes and 12 to 
play. At St. Andrews, however, Allan and Tom won 
their rounds, and retrieved some two or three holes. 
North Berwick was the deciding place, and at the com- 
mencement of the last round of all, the Dunns had four 
holes a head, and only eight to play. However, Allan 
and Tom, by a magnificent game, gained the first hole, 
then the second, halved the third, gained the fourth, 
halved the fifth, and gained the sixth, thus making the 
poll all even I and two to play. These two holes Allan 
and Tom also won, thus obtaining the match, one of the 
most brilliant and exti:aordinary in the whole annals of 
golfing. 

1850. In October Allan and Tom Morris played over the 
St. Andrews Links a foursome against the two Dunns for 
£50 a-side. Allan and his partner finished at the bum 
hole by two and one to play, holing at 88. 

1852. In October, over the St. Andrews Links, Allan and 
Tom Morris played a great match of 36 holes with Bobert 
Hay, Esq., and William Dunn, Blackheath, for £100 a-side. 
Allan and his partner won by six holes a-head and five to 
play. 

1853. In October, over the St. Andrews Links, Allan 
played a round with Captain John Campbell Stewart, 72nd 
Highlanders, winner at that meeting of the Boyal Medal. 



294 QOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 

This round was halved^ thongli Allan was three a-head and 
4 to play, and dormy at the Bum. 

At this time, also, Sir Thomas Moncrieffe and Allan 
played Tom Morris and Captain Fairlie. The first round 
was won by Allan and his partner, at 3 and 1 to play ; and 
the second by their adversaries, at 4 and three to play. 
This foursome was played repeatedly, and on the whole 
play it may be said to have formed one of the closest matches 
on record. 

1857. Allan and Andrew Strath, in May, over the St. 
Andrews Links, played a round against Tom Morris and 
Park junior, winning by six holes. Strokes, 84 and 90. 

1858. On the 15th September, Allan, in a round with 
Mr. Bethune of Blebo, accomplished the round of the St. 
Andrews Links at 79 strokes, a number altogether un- 
paralleled, and likely to remain so. The following are the 
particulars of this superb score : — Gbing out — 1 in 4 ; 2 in 
4; 3in4; 4in5; 5in5; 6 in 6; 7 in 4; 8 in4; 9 
in 4. Total, going out, 40. Coming in — 10 in 4 ; 11 in 
3 ; 12 in 5 ; 13 in 6 ; 14 in 4 ; 15 in 5 ; 16 in 5 ; 17 in 
4 ; 18 in 3. Total, coming in, 39. 

At various times Allan has holed the St. Andrews Links 
at the following numbers, selecting his best holes : — Going 
out — 1 in 3 strokes ; 2in3; 3in3; 4in3;5in4;6in 
4; 7 in 3 ; 8 in 1 ; 9 in 3. Total, 27. Coming in— 10 



ALLAN ROBERTSON, 295 

in 3 ; 11 in 2 ; 12 in 3 ; 13 in 4 ; 14 in 4 ; 15 in 3 ; 16 
in 3 ; 17 in 4 ; 18 in 3. Total, 29. Number of strokes 
to this selected round, 56. 



296 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



LIST OF GOLFING SOCIETIES. 



St. Andrews — The Boyal and Ancient Golf Club. 

St Andrews Thistle Golf Club. 

St. Andrews University Golf Olub. 

St Andrews Golf Olnb. 

St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club. 
Aberdeen — Aberdeen Golf Olub. 
Bon- Accord Golf Olub. 
Victoria Golf Olub. 
Aherlady — ^Lufness Golf Olub. 
Airdrie — Airdrie Golf Olub. 
Alnmouth — Alnmouth Golf Olub. 
Arbroath — ^Arbroath Golf Olub. 
BcUlantrae — Ballantrae Golf Olub. 
Banff— BsJoS Golf Olub. 
Bath — ^Bongsdown GoH Olub. 
Blackheathr-—B>ojQl Blackheath Golf Olub. 
Broughty Ferry — ^Broughty Golf Olub. 
Buckie — Buckie Golf Olub. 
Burntisland — Burntisland Golf Olub. 
Cambridge — Oambridge University Golf Olub. 
Campbeltown — Blintyre Gblf Olub. 
Carnoustie — ^Oamoustie and Taymouth Golf Olub. 
Crail — Orail Golfing Society. 
CM/Zew— OuUen Golf Olub. 
Cupar — Oupar Golf Olub. 
Curragh — Ourragh Golf Olub. 
2)a/)fce«^A— Dalkeith Golf Olub. 
Dornoch — Sutherland Golf Olub. 
Dumfries — Dumfries and Galloway Golf Olub. 
The Nithsdale Golf Olub. 
Mechanics* Golf Olub. 
Dunbar — ^Dunbar Golf Olub. 
Dundee — ^Dalhousie Golf Olub. 

The "Advertiser" Golf Olub. 



LI8T OF GOLFING SOCIETIES. 297 

Earlsbury—Thwile Gk)lf Club. 

Edinburgh — The Honourable Company of Gentlemen 

Golfers. 

Burgess Golfing Society. 

Bruntsfield Links Golf Club. 

George Golf Club. 

Tbe " Scotsman " Golf Club. 

St. Andrew Golf Club. 

Allied of Bruntsfield. 

Warrender Golf Club. 

Thistle Golf Olub. 

Viewforth Golf Olub. 
Elie — ^Earlsbury and Elie Golf Olub. 
Felixtowe — FeHxtowe Golf Glub. 
Fraserburgh — ^Fraserburgh Golf Olub. 
Glasgow — Glasgow Golf Olub. 
Oullane — ^Dirleton Oastle Golf Olub. 
The East Lothian Golf Olub. 
Gullane Golf Olub. 
Haddington — ^Haddington Golf Olub. 
Hartlepool — ^Yorkshire and Durham Golf Olub. 
Haunch — ^Hawick Golf Olub. 
Jersey — ^Royal Jersey Golf Olub. 
Inverness — ^Inverness Golf Olub. 
Inverlachy — ^Inverlaohy'Golf Olub. 
Ladybanh — ^Ladybank Gk)lf Olub. 
Lanark — ^Lanark Golf Olub. 
ietYA— Seafield Golf Olub. 
Leven — ^Innerleven Golf Olub. 
Leven Golf Olub. 
Thistle Golf. 
Liverpool — ^Eoyal Liverpool Golf Olub. 
West Lancashire Golf Olub. 
London — ^Boyal Wimbledon Golf Olub. 
Malvern — Worcestershire Golf Olub. 
Manchester — St. Andrews Golf Olub. 
Melrose — Melrose Qolf Olub. 

Minehead — ^Minehead and West Somerset Golf Olub. 
Montjleth — ^Monifieth Golf Olub. 
Panmure Golf Olub. 



298 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



Montrose — ^Boyal Albert Golf Club. 

Mechanics' Oolf Glab. 

Star Gblf Olub. 

Victoria Gblf Olub. 
MuaaeUmrgh — ^Boyal Musselburgh Golf Club. 

Ladies' Golf Olub. 
North Berwick — ^North Berwick Golf Olub. 

Tantallon Golf Olub. 
P^rfA— Boyal Perth Golfing Olub. 
King James VI. Golf Olub. 
Artizan Golf Olub. 
P«t«rAca<^-Peterhead Golf Olub. 
Prestonpans — ^Thom Tree Golf Olub. 
Prestwick — ^Prestwick Golf Olub. 

St Nicholas Golf Olub. 
Eosehearty — ^Bosehearty Golf Olub. 
i»«/ibrifc— Selkirk Golf Olub. 
Stevenston — ^Ardeer Golf Olub. 
^itVZtn^— Stirling Golf Olub. 
T'roon— -Troon Golf Olub. 
Wich— Wick Golf Olub. 
Westward — ^Boyal North of Devon Golf Olub. 
Wimbledon — ^Boyal Wimbledon Gblf Olub. 
TarmoiUh — ^Yarmouth Golf Olub. 



GOLFING GLOSSAEY.^ 



Baff. — ^To strike the ground with the ball. 

Bunker. — ^A sand-hole. 

Caddie. — A person who carries the golfer's clubs, and who 
is generally conversant with the rules of the game. 

Cup. — A small hole in the golfing course. 

Bead. — ^A ball is said to be dead — 1st, when it falls with- 
out roUing ; 2nd, when it lies so near the hole that 
the put is a dead certainty. 

* On the Foundation of H. B. Famie. 



GOLFING GL088ABY. 299 

Dormy. — ^As many holes a-head as there remain holes to 

play. 
Draw, — ^To drive wildly to the left. 
Face, — The sandy slope of a banker ; also, the part of the 

club-head which strikes the balL 
Flat, — ^A club lies flat when its head is at a very obtuse 

angle to the shaft. 
Fore 1 — A warning cry to any person in the way of the 

stroke. Contracted for "Before." 
Foresome, — ^A match in which two play on each side. 
Oohhle. — ^A rapid straight put at the hole. 
Orassed. — ^A term used instead of spooned, to signify the 

slope of a club face. 
Oreen, — Sometimes the links, but more generally the 

putting-green around the holes. 
Orip. — The handle covered with leather by which the club 

is grasped. 
Half-one, — ^A handicap of a stroke deducted every second 

hole. 
Halved, — When each party takes the same number of 

strokes — a drawn game. 
Hanging, — ^When the ground rises in any way behind the 

baU. 
Hazard, — ^A general term for bunker, whin, or other bad 

ground. 
Head, — ^The lowest part of the club. 
Heel, — The crook of the head nearest the shaft. 
Honour, — ^The right to play off first from the tee. 
Lie, — The inclination of a club when held on the ground 

in the natural position for striking. The situation of 

a ball. 
Links, — ^The open downs or heath on which the game is 

played. 
Loft, — To raise the ball. 

Match, — A party contesting a game. The game itself. 
Miss the Globe, — ^To miss the balL 
Neck, — The crook of the head where it joins the shaft 
Nose, — The point or front portion of the dub-head. 
Press, — ^To strive to recover lost ground. 
Put — ^A gentle stroke when close to the hole. 



300 GOLFIANA MISCELLANEA. 



Bind. — A roll of cloth under the leather to thicken the 

grasp. 
Scare. — The narrow part of the club-head by which it is 

glued to the handle. 
Set. — A pack of clubs. 
Sole. — ^The flat bottom of the club-head. 
Steal. — To hole an unlikely put from a distance. 
Stimy. — ^When an opponent's ball lies in the line of your 

put. 
Swipe. — A full shot or drive. 
Swing. — The circular sweep of the club in driving. 
Tee. — The pat of soil on which the ball is placed for the 

first stroke. 
Third. — A handicap of a stroke deducted every third hole. 
Topping. — Hitting the ball over its centre. 
Upright. — ^When a club-head is not at a very obtuse angle 

to the shaft. 
Whipping. — The pitched twine uniting the head and 

handle of the club. 



THE END. 



PAIBLET : PBINTED BY ALBS. OABDNEB. 



\ ■ 



^d 



JAN Z d 1951