PANALBA

In a year full of major sporting occasions, surely the greatest has to be the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship at St Andrews.

I am not a golfer, although I have hit a few balls over the years, most of them never to be found; but The 150th anniversary is quite a milestone in contemporary sport, especially when you consider that most international sporting occasions only date back to the 20th century. Golf, however, is a very old pastime, and can genuinely be considered to be one of the greatest contributions that the Scots have given the modern world, albeit from a sporting perspective.

I live opposite Leith links in Edinburgh, claimed to be the oldest course in the world. The Links is where the earliest mention of golf is found. King James II banned "gauf" (golf) and "fussball" (football) in 1457 due to interference with ongoing archery practice for military purposes. Leith Links is the site of an early five hole golf course built in the 18th century, which was last played on in 1831. The Links, also bolsters its claim to being "the home of golf " because the official rules of golf, initially formulated at Leith in 1744 by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, were later adopted by St Andrews.

Today, all major golf tournaments finish on a Sunday, which is a far cry from what would have been acceptable all those years ago.
The Edinburgh Burgh records of 1593 bemoan the fact that Edinburgh churchgoers were playing golf in Leith instead of going to church. On 16th February 1610, South Leith Kirk Session proposed a fine of 20 shillings (one pound) to be paid ‘to the poor' by anyone found playing golf (or bowls or archery) between sunrise and sunset on Sunday. Apart from the fine, they would also have to confess their sins in church. This persecution continued until 1724, which year marks the last official Kirk prosecution in Scotland for Sunday golfing, when the Leith innkeeper John Dickson was accused of giving victuals to Sabbath golfers.

More significant is the record of the first ‘international' golf match in 1681, between Scotland and England on Leith Links. The Duke of York, who was the brother of the King Charles II and who would succeed him as James VII of Scotland / II of England, was then in residence as the King's Commissioner at Holyroodhouse. Two English nobleman of his circle claimed that golf was an English game. The Duke disagreed and challenged them to a golf match to settle the matter, choosing John Patersone as his playing partner. Patersone was a ‘champion' golfer, but a common ‘cordiner' (cobbler). Not surprisingly, the Duke and his champion won for Scotland and it is said that Patersone bought a house at 77 Cannongate with the lion's share of the winning purse that the Duke generously split with him. The house was called ‘Golfers Land' , and the Duke had an escutcheon affixed to the outside with a heraldic design and the golfers' motto ‘Far and Sure' inscribed on it. Today, it is the site of Jenny Ha's, a well known parliamentary watering hole.