A GOSSIP ON GOLF 309 



ancestors had been equally famous on the links. With 

 some difficulty Paterson was induced to play, and the Duke 

 and his humble coadjutor gained the day. 



For what stakes the match was played is not stated, but 

 they must have been heavy, for Paterson's share was so 

 large as to enable him to build a house in the Canongate, 

 to which the Duke contributed a stone, bearing the arms 

 of the Paterson family, surmounted by a crest and motto 

 appropriate to the distinction which its owner had acquired 

 as a golfer. The crest is a dexter hand grasping a golf- 

 club with the motto " Far and Sure." The house is, I 

 believe, still standing. 



It has been a severe blow to the amour propre of the 

 patriotic Scot to find his own national game gaining a 

 popularity among the Southerner greater even than that 

 which it enjoys in the land of its birth. What must have 

 been the feelings of Scotsmen when they saw their best 

 golfers, both amateur and professional, beaten on their own 

 links by Mr John Ball and Mr Hilton — who are not only 

 Englishmen, but amateurs? 



It is still more galling to the Scotsmen to remind them 

 of the fact that the oldest golf club in existence is to be 

 found in England ; for the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, 

 founded by James I., is more than a hundred years older 

 than " The Royal and Ancient " of St Andrews. Another 

 point with your Scottish golfer is the true pronunciation of 

 the name of the game — it is "goff," the "/" is not sounded. 

 In this connection I recall rather a good story. Some 

 years ago a friend of mine was advised to supplement his 

 practice by studying a handbook of the game. He 

 accordingly ordered from his English bookseller a " Hand- 

 book on Goff," and in due course received The Hand 

 of Providence exemplified ijt the Life of f. B. Gough. I 

 need hardly remind my reader that at that time the name 

 of J. B. Gough, the great temperance orator, was very 

 familiar. 



A significant tribute to the popularity of golf in England 

 was paid by a billiard-marker at Wimbledon, who, on 

 being asked by a visitor why there were so few players 

 at the table, replied, " Oh, it's that confounded Scotch 



