470 LEFTHANDEDNESS. 



Woodhouselee, on reading the letter, he suddenly called for his 

 coach, and leaning on one of his attendants, in great agitation 

 drove to the palace of Holyrood, from whence he set out the follow- 

 ing day for London. The same links were a favourite resort of his 

 younger son, James II., while still Duke of York ; and some curious 

 traditions preserve the memory of his keen relish for the game. 

 There accordingly golf is still played with, keenest zest ; and among 

 its present practisers is an ambidextrous golfer, who has provided 

 himself with a double set of right and left drivers and irons ; so that 

 lie can use either hand at pleasure according to the character of the 

 ground or the position of the ball, to the general discomfiture of 

 his one-handed rivals. The Scotchmen of Montreal and Quebec have, 

 transplanted the old national game to Canadian soil ; and the latter 

 city has a beautiful course on the famed historical battle-field, the 

 scene of Wolfe's victory and death. There their exjjerience recently 

 induced the Quebec Golf Club, when ordering spare sets of imple- 

 ments for the use of occasional guests from the Old Country, to con- 

 sider the propriety of ordering a lefthanded set. In the discussion 

 to which the proposal gave rise, it was urged to be unnecessary, as a 

 lefthanded player generally has his own clubs with him ; but finally 

 it was compromised by ordering two lefthanded drivers ; so that 

 on a lefthanded golfer turning up he will have to putt with his 

 driver. The considerateness of the Quebec golfers for their left- 

 handed rivals was no doubt stimiilated by the fact that there is a 

 skilled golfer of the Montreal Club whose feats of dexterity as a left- 

 handed player at times startle them. One of the Quebec golfers 

 writes to me thus : " There is one lefthanded fellow belonging to 

 the Montreal Club who comes down occasionally to challenge us ; 

 and I have watched his queer play with a good deal of interest and 

 astonishment." 



Such illustrations of the growing disadvantage to which the left- 

 handed workman is put, as civilization develops arts and pastimes 

 with tools or implements specially adapted to the right hand, all the 

 more strongly demonstrate the innate constitutional tendency to 

 lefthandedness in a certain percentage of cases : since the whole ten- 

 dency of such artificial righthanded appliances is to foster a uniform 

 prevalent usage, and as far as possible to eradicate lefthandedness. 

 But this is only a result of the innate tendency of the majority. 

 We learn from the palseographic tablets of the Yez^re caves, that at 



