A GOSSIP ON GOLF 311 



by Mr Cruickshank of Langley Park and that madcap 

 Lord Kennedy — both good players. The match was 

 three holes, for ;^5oo each hole, to be played out then and 

 there. It was about ten or half-past, and quite dark. No 

 lights were allowed except one lantern placed on the hole, 

 and another carried by the attendants, that they might 

 ascertain to whom the ball struck belonged. Boys were 

 placed along the course to listen to the flight of the balls, 

 and run to the spot where a ball stopped. But the extra- 

 ordinary part of the match was that they did the holes in 

 about the same number of strokes as they usually took in 

 daylight. On an average, five or six strokes in daylight, 

 and in the dark six or seven. 



They were, however, in the constant habit of playing 

 over the Montrose course, and their familiarity with it 

 helped them greatly. 



I have already referred to the old Act of the Scots 

 Parliament prohibiting golf, and enjoining the practice of 

 archery that the Scots might be better able to fight the 

 English bowmen with their own weapons. The penalties 

 for default and the time of practice were not such as 

 would have recommended themselves to Sir Wilfrid 

 Lawson and Sir Andrew Agnew. Every man who did 

 not attend had to pay twopence, which was spent in liquor 

 for those present, while the day and hour were Sunday 

 afternoon, after service ! 



Archery and golf were brought into antagonism in 

 another way on Luffness Links, on 15th October 1874. The 

 Rev. Mr Tait, Chaplain to the Royal Company of Archers, 

 played a match with bow and arrow against the club and 

 ball of " Old Tom " Morris over the Luffness course. The 

 bow beat the club completely, Mr Tait doing the round 

 in seventy-six, while "Old Tom" took eighty- two. A 

 similar match has been recently played near Birmingham 

 with a similar result. 



Of the dexterity of golfers there are numberless stories. 

 The Rev. Mr Carlyle of Inveresk astonished Garrick and 

 some others at Windsor by the nicety of his play in driving 

 a ball from a good distance through a narrow gateway. 



The late " Young Tom " Morris could, it is said, drive a 



