CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 





founder your ball, and either top it or drive 

 it a comparatively short distance. The easier a 

 stroke is taken, the greater the chance of hitting 

 the ball correctly ; the mere swing of the club will 

 drive a ball a long distance, and with more cer- 

 tainty of the beginner's keeping the right direction 

 than if much force had been applied. In stand- 

 ing to the ball, the feet should be moderately well 

 apart (about a foot and a half is sufficient), and 

 the left foot should be nearly opposite the ball, at 

 a distance varying with the clubs used ; for in- 

 stance, in using the ordinary driving-club, two feet 

 and a half is a good distance between foot and 

 ball. Be careful not to exceed this distance, nor 

 be much within the mark, as the player is apt, 

 when standing too far from his ball, to fall in to 

 it, and run the chance of making a bad shot. 

 When standing too near, the ball is often ' heeled] 

 or struck with that part of the club-head nearest 

 the shaft. When this is the case, the ball flies off 

 to the right. When standing too far, the ball is 

 apt to be ' drawn ' or ' hooked ' that is to say, 

 struck with the point or 'toe' of the club, in which 

 case the ball flies in to the left. These remarks 

 apply only to driving through the green. 



Having grasped your club, straddled to your 

 ball, and swung your club as in the foregoing 

 directions, do not be disconcerted if you miss the 

 ball. Nearly every beginner ' misses the globe ' 

 the first shot, and tops his ball the second, and 

 you may even congratulate yourself if you do not 

 miss twice running ! Probably you will take a 

 dozen strokes to hole your ball, which a good 

 player would have done in five. But avoid press- 

 ing, don't be puffed up by your occasional suc- 

 cesses, attend to your putting, never take your eye 

 off the ball when about to swipe, and keep cool, 

 and in a very few months you may be able to hole 

 in five too, with an occasional ' steal ' in four. 



Golf is becoming more popular every day 

 amongst all classes of the Scottish community. 

 Boys and old men enjoy its fascinations with 

 equal zest, and both gain health and strength by 

 the exercise and easy muscular exertion brought 

 into play. If the day be fine, and the match 

 equally balanced, we know of no other out-of-door 

 game whose attractions are equal to this our 

 favourite one. Ladies' golf-clubs are now becom- 

 ing established on various links. They play at a 

 set of short holes, from twenty to fifty yards apart, 

 and have their medals and other competitions. 

 The principal ladies' club is at St Andrews, the 

 headquarters of golf in Scotland. 



The manufacture of balls used to be a distinct 

 trade by itself, and that of clubs another, but now 

 most club-makers also make balls. The price of 

 a ball is is., and a club 43. 6d. : irons are rather 

 dearer. 



The following are the chief golfing centres in 

 Scotland : Aberdeen ; St Andrews, Fife ; Brunts- 

 field, Edinburgh ; Burntisland, Fife ; Cupar, 

 Fife ; Glasgow ; Greenock ; Leven, Fife ; Moni- 

 fieth and Carnoustie, Forfar ; Montrose, For- 

 far ; Musselburgh, Mid-Lothian ; North Berwick, 

 Gullane, Aberlady, and Dunbar, East Lothian ; 

 Perth ; Prestwick, Ayrshire ; and Lanark. The 

 game has likewise its votaries in England at 

 Blackheath and Wimbledon ; at Bideford, Man- 

 chester ; Alnmouth, Northumberland ; and Hoy- 

 lake, Cheshire; and in Ireland at the Curragh 

 Camp ; in several provinces of India ; at the Cape 



670 



of Good Hope, Australia, &c. Fuller information 

 will be found in Gymnastics, Golf, and Curlii 

 one of Chambers's Useful Hand-Books. 



CROQUET. 





This is one of the most prevalent of all summer 

 recreations, and is yearly growing in popularity. 

 It was introduced about twenty years ago; but 

 though of so modern date, it is uncertain by whom 

 it was introduced, or whence it derived its name. 

 It bears some resemblance to the old game of pall- 

 mall, which was popular in England in the days of 

 the Stuart kings, and it has been supposed to be 

 a revival of this game with modifications. The 

 game of pall-mall is still played at Montpellier in 

 France. Beyond the fact that mallets and balls 

 are used in both, the two games, however, have 

 little in common. One of the chief advantages of 

 croquet, and perhaps the main cause of its popu- 

 larity, is, that it is a game which persons of both 

 sexes can play at together, and the changes made 

 in the laws of the game of late years have tended 

 to enhance this advantage, by making the supe- 

 rior strength of men-players of less avail than 

 formerly. 



The implements used in croquet are mallets, 

 balls, pegs (formerly called sticks or posts), and 

 hoops. To these are sometimes added a cage or 

 a pair of tunnels, or both ; but the tunnels were 

 never in general use ; and in the game, as now 

 played by skilled players, hoops only are used. 

 The game is played on level turf or grass, which 

 should be kept as smooth as possible by machine 

 mowing and rolling. The dimensions of a cro- 

 quet-ground should not, if possible, be less than 

 20 yards by 15 ; 40 yards by 30 are the best 

 dimensions for skilled players. The disadvantage 

 of a too limited croquet-ground simply is, that it 

 makes the game too easy. A croquet-ground should 

 have a well-defined boundary ; for example, a 

 raised walk or a trench. 



Of the mallets used in croquet, there is a great 

 variety. At first, light mallets were used, with 

 handles from 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 5 inches in 

 length (the shape of the head being most commonly 

 that of a dice-box) ; but experience shewed that 

 the mallet should be at least as heavy as the two 

 balls which, in play, might have to be moved by 

 it, and heavy mallets are now universally used. 

 In the game, as now played, there is no restriction 

 as to the dimensions or weight of the mallet. The 

 balls used are made of beech or boxwood ; but the 

 latter material is preferred. A full set of croquet balls 

 consists of eight, painted in whole or in part, blue, 

 pink, black, yellow, brown, orange, green, and red, 

 to distinguish them, and point out the order of the 

 play. The pegs or sticks are about 2 feet long, 18 

 inches being above the ground, and not less than 

 \\ inch in diameter. Two pegs are required 

 one the starting-peg, which is also the winning- 

 peg, the other the turning-peg. The hoops, which 

 are made of round iron or steel wire, half an inch 

 thick, should be 15 inches or upwards long in the 

 legs, and they should be at least 12 inches above 

 ground while they are fixed. A square top is con- 

 sidered better than an arched one. They should 

 not be more than six inches in width, inside 

 measurement ; and for match-play, much narrower 

 hoops are used. When the game was first intro- 

 duced, nine or ten hoops were used ; now, among 



