» LIBR ARY QF^CQNG RESS. Cliap..(^\i.. Copyright M. ShelL...V:.?.. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A BATCH OF GOLFING PAPERS / BY ANDREW'LANG AND OTHERS Edited by R* BARCLAY, M, A, t : : : Captain of : : : : St. Andrcw^s University : : : : Golf Club ; : ♦ : g 1 PUBLISHED : M. F. MANSFIELD BY OF 22 EAST SIXTEENTH j STREET NEW YORK (L Entered according to act of Congress, m the year iSgy, by M, F. Mansfield, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, A Batch of Golfing Papers CONTENTS J ^ Academic Golf. Bj^ R, Barclay, . .13 Always One Hole Down. By W, Dal- rymplcy . . . . . .105 ^,^ A Song of Life and Golf. By Andrew Lang, II A Visit to Gofftoon. By A. C, Mor- rison, 89 "^^ Ballade of the Duffer. By W. Came, 114 Classics for the Clubmen, By Andrew / Lang, 78 / Dictionary of Golf. By D, Irons, . 119 Dr. Johnson on the Links. By Andrew Lang, .•••.. 66 Herodotus in St. Andrews. By Andrew Lang, 27 ^ Lines on Golf. By R. F. Murray, . 116 , Socrates on the Links. By Andrew Lang, 21 The Caddies of St. Andrews. By R, Wkyte Gibson, 74 \i The Chelah's Round. By Andrew Lang, 1 J The Devil's Round. By Mrs, Anstruther Thomson, 35 The Golfing Ghost. By R. Barclay, 103 The Home of Golf. By R, Barclay, . 79 /, THE CHELAH'S ROUND A MODERN ROMANCE BY ANDREW LANG CHAPTER I THE odds against John M'Gum- naidge's winning the Golf Medal were, according to the Professor of Math- ematics, " humanly speaking, incal- culable/' M'Gummidge was a Fresh- man : he was long, lathy, ungainly, and wore spectacles. Never had he been seen on the Links, not even taking soli- tary exercise with a short spoon. His only companion, a singular figure, was a student from Northern Hindustan. The Bobhachy Lai Rumun deserves a more particular description. The snows of an unknown number of winters flowed over the collar of his gown, I The Chelah's Round while his silver beard (which in rainy weather he tucked into his boots) gave him an aspect particularly vener- able, but in no way sporting. Rumor ascribed to the Bobhachy a longevity beyond the aspirations of romance, and it was believed that ever since the days of Akbar he had inhabited a cave in the Northern Himalayan slopes. A clear, airy, tinkling sound, as of a claret glass lightly touched, which was occasionally heard when the Bobhachy was present — especially in Lecture — had in no way endeared him to his teachers. But as he explained that the mystic note was entirely beyond his own control, and merely meant that a Mahatma (or initi- ated Sage) in Thibet or Afghanistan was anxious to converse with him in the spirit, of course censure was unjust and expostulation fruitless. The Bobhachy could not be blamed, though it was remembered that the The Chelah's Round German Chelah in Mr. Anstey's Fallen Idol said — "They are not chentlemen in Thibet." Why the Bobhachy at his time of life (or trance rather) had sought a Northern University was vari- ously explained. The most popular theory was that his parents had been too destitute to afford the usual fee for manners in Thibetan Colleges (two an- nas), and that he was now endeavoring, though late in life, to supply the defi- ciency of his early education. The Bobhachy*s mode of existence, like that of his only intimate (M'Gum- midge), was solitary and far from gay. A cave under the Castle Rock, and just above high water, was thought to be their inexpensive lodging, and it was reported that they tasted nothing which had ever breathed the breath of life. A handful of pulse, the rain-water from the rock, served to nourish the fire of existence, which, on such fuel, bums 3 The Chelah's Round "with a hard gem-like flame/' Bob- hachy said. Though M'Gnmmidge was an assidu- ous attendant of philosophical lectures, there were some who whispered that under the teaching of Bobhachy he was really pursuing that mystic or Esoteric Vedanta which has been successfully concealed from European inquisitive- ness. In short, he was, perhaps, a " Chelah," or pupil of the venerable old Hindu. News of this course of study could not but agitate the parental mind when it was conveyed to the distant shores of St. Kilda, and to the lonely manse where Mr. M'Gummidge the elder tended his little flock. But still more surprise was felt, in golfing cir- cles, when it was known that M'Gum- midge had entered for the Medal. Lay- ers never tired of offering odds fabul- ously long, which were snapped up by the Bobhachy. He was prepared, he 4 The Chelah*s Round said, to pledge even his Cummerbund (almost his only article of dress) rather than not be " on " M'Gummidge to the extent of his available capital. Whether the confidence of the patri- archal sage was justified is a question of which curiosity must be content to await the answer. CHAPTER II THE great day of the Medal arrived. The Bobhachy himself carried for M'Gummidge. It was observed that his clubs were by no means new. But few spectators watched the start, M'Gum- midge's companion being but an ordinary player, one Jones. The Bobhachy com- piled however a business-like tee, and it was noted that M'Gummidge, as he ad- dressed himself to his ball, displayed none of the diffidence of the novice. 5 The Chelah's Round He lay near the burn, and a sough of the performance reaching the town, the odds fell from 10,000 to i to 10 to i against the Chelah. His second lay- dead, and he holed out in three. Then occurred a circumstance which none who saw it will ever forget. As his partner holed out in five, the strange mysterious tinkling note sounded on the green, and all eyes were fixed on the Bobhachy. The caddie who carried for Jones (M'Gummidge's companion) put his hand in the hole to take out the balls, and, as I am a living and honor- able man, he exclaimed — "O Heaven ! what is this ?" Though two men had holed out, there was but one ball in the hole. As several credible witnesses had seen M'Gum- midge's ball enter the hole, though none but Jones's came out, the Chelah was rated at three. The Bobhachy being pressed for an explanation observed 6 The Chelah's Round that the Mahatmas in Thibet disap- proved of ^* Eclipses/' and had prob- ably disintegrated the mysterious mat- ter of which " Eclipses '* are composed. He then put down a gutta, and M*Gum- midge having the honor, struck off. His ball, being slightly ^* toed," hit the old station-house, and cannoned back on to the green, where, after consider- able search, it was found — in the hole ! "Great is Indra!" was the only re- mark of the Bobhachy. "His throne doubtless has been unpleasantly warm.'' The devout Brahmin does indeed be- lieve that the effect of prayer is to heat the throne of Indra, and to make him bestir himself in the cause of the Faith- ful. However this may be, the imme- diate effect was found in efforts to hedge among the layers of odds. Prey- ing upon each other, in their terror- stricken cupidity, they brought the market round to loo to i on the Chelah. 7 The Chelah's Round When news came that he had gone out in thirty-seven (for he came to grief in the Eden, at the high hole, landing bad- ly from the tee on the duck punt moored in the Estuary, where he could not lift his ball, and a '' mashie '* had to be used), — when news came to this effect, the Links were crowded. The University, the Artillery, the Town, the Fishing population, the Clergy of all denominations, deserted their usual haunts and pursuits : three political meetings hastily broke up, the Cabinet Ministers and distinguished Fenians who had been addressing them were " left speaking," and the whole agitated populace crowded round the Bobhachy, who by this time was talking in a re- markable Dundee accent. Why pursue the narrative in detail ? The Chelah's play may have been exag- gerated by tradition, ever greedy for the marvellous. The stone bridge is 8 The Chelah's Round reported to have broken down under the tread of the excited spectators, now swollen by the agricultural multitude. The records of the game, however, demonstrate that M'Gummidge did the round in 71, thereby breaking the record. Next morning the town was full of newspaper reporters. But the Chelah and the Bobhachy were seen no more. Various theories as to the event have been promulgated. According to some, M'Gummidge was merely hypnotized by his dusky companion and caddie. If you can hypnotize an idle boy, so that he is head of his class while the influ- ence lasts, as any one may read in the papers of the Psychical Society, why should you not do as much for a golfer ? Others maintain that the whole affair was glamor. The Indian conjurer who does the mango trick, and makes a tree grow up before your very eyes from 9 The Chelah's Round the seed in twenty minutes, must, it is argued, produce a " collective hallucina- tion *' in the mind of the observer. (See Psychical Society s Proceedings) Others there were who declared that money was uncommonly plentiful on the Links of Leven and Carnoustie after the events which tradition has handed down. They averred that a long white beard, from Nathan*s, and a '* Chestnut Bell," with a melodious tinkle, were found in a room of the Marine Hotel after the departure of two strangers who never paid their law- ful debts to that establishment. And they insist that M'Gummidge was a novice from some obscure provincial "green," while the Bobhachy was a speculative Club-maker and veteran professional in disguise. So prone is the unaided human intel- lect to fly after mere natural explana- tions of events manifestly extra-natural. lO A SONG OF LIFE AND GOLF BY ANDREW LANG The thing they ca' the stimy o*t I find it ilka where ! Ye 'maist lie deid — an unco shot — Anither's ba' is there ! Ye canna win into the hole However gleg ye be, And aye, where'er my ba' may row Some limmer stimies me ! Chorus. Somebody stimying me, Somebody stimying me ; The grass may grow, the ba* may row : Some limmer stimies me. I lo'ed a lass, a bonnie lass. Her lips an' locks were reid ; Intil her heart I couldna pass : Anither man lay deid ! II A Song of Life and Golf He cam' atween me an' her heart, I turned wi' tearfu' e*e, I couldna loft him, I maun part, The Hmmer stimied me ! I socht a kirk, a bonny kirk, Wi' teind, an' glebe, an* a*, A bonny yaird to feed a stirk. An' links to ca' the ba' ! Anither lad he cam' an' fleeched, A convartit U, P., An' a' in vain ma best I preached, That limmer stimied me ! Its aye the same in life an' gowf, I'm stimied late an' ear', This warld is but a weary howf, I'd fain be ither where ; But whan auld Deite wad hole ma corp, As sure as deith ye '11 see Some coof has played the moudie-warp, Rin in, an' stimied me ! Chorus (if thought desirable). 12 ACADEMIC GOLF BY R. BARCLAY FOISTED upon St. Andrews by my well-meaning but misguided pa- rents, I soon discovered that life at a Scottish University was not very hard to endure. True, I had been so kept in sub- jection in the early years of my existence, that the reaction caused by an independ- ent residence in the lodgings may have derived much of its pleasure by compari- son with the former state of matters; but, be that as it may, I had not been long in the place when I made up my mind to pass my undergraduate years as easily as possible. Previously my athletic record had not been strikingly brilliant : my Football experiences were unpleasant to think of, as I was gener- ally to be found inside the scrimmage usurping the position of the ball, and 13 Academic Golf receiving the attention designed for its propulsion toward the opponents* goal. In the way of Cricket, too, I had inva- riably gone in second wicket down, and as invariably I myself was third wicket down — my modesty and unassuming efforts preventing me from " troubling the scorers,** as the papers euphemistic- ally remark. It was natural, therefore, that when I made my debut in a new center of civilization I should eschew athletics and turn to more indolent forms of amusement. For a considerable period I managed to find relaxation in a country walk once a day. When the weather was not pro- pitious, I confined myself to the playing of whist or chess — in both of which games I speedily became proficient, — with an occasional game of billiards with a man from London, who stayed in the rooms next to mine. I had heard that St. Andrews boasted 14 Academic Golf Links ; but although I had seen them, they appeared to me only as a vast stretch of turf with infinite pastoral ca- pacities. In an evil hour I was intro- duced to a fourth year's student, by name Saunders M*Bunker, who, with true Celtic cunning, allured me into a shop which I afterwards discovered was Forgan's. There he expressed his ad- miration for my physique, which he said was that of a man made for Golf. "In fact," he said, "you have a future before you, and you shall buy three of my old clubs." I smiled sadly, and with a mild attempt to look wise, I took the weapons in my hand. He said that this action of his would entail a great sacrifice on his part. Unwilling to be the cause of any loss, I paid him ten shillings, and walked off with the clubs. I made for the teeing-ground, where I was speedily joined by my new friend, who began to mention all Academic Golf the feats which he had performed with the driver — a club with a broken face and a plentiful supply of splicing. He had driven a ball across the bum from the tee on five different occasions — at least so he said to me then, although later, in the presence of a clergyman, he modified the assertion to a consider- able degree. He told me how in his first year at College he had killed an unpopular Professor by striking him with a black gutta at a distance of a quar- ter of a mile, thereby earning the ever- lasting gratitude of his fellow- students. I wondered myself how he had escaped hanging, and came to the conclusion that the gallows yet awaited the mur- derous youth. Other tales equally mar- vellous he poured into my sympathetic ear, while I employed myself in con- structing, under the direction of a by- stander, a tee of enormous height. An ofl&cious Caddie offered to carry my i6 Academic Golf clubs. I declined, in as haughty a man- ner as a person who was about to lower all existing records should do. I ad- dressed the ball first with my club, next with my tongue : the first was unsuc- cessful, the second was profane, for I had dislodged a quantity of earth and left the ball untouched. The Caddie aforementioned was so unfeeling as to laugh. I struggled on, and by dint of hard hitting and turf cutting I carved my way to the first hole, which I se- cured in nineteen. The rest of my round was of a like nature ; the encour- agements of other beginners, and the sarcasm of experts, having little or no effect on my play. In four months' time I could go round in 1 20, chiefly owing to the fact that M'Bunker's clubs had collapsed in two days' time after I had acquired them ; and I felt that I was now on the high- way to fame. But I got a rebuff which 17 Academic Golf I had not expected. By some untoward freak of fortune I started on a round immediately behind what is commonly called a Professional Foursome — that is to say, a foursome in which the players are Professors in the University. Duffer as I still was, I could not fail to observe that I was immensely superior to these gentlemen. On and on they went, hole by hole, bunker by bunker, while the air was rent with the sound of break- ing clubs and the rattle of violent ejacu- lations. My insight into life was becom- ing larger and clearer. Theologians hold that religion is the perception of the Infinite — then I was a religious man — I was engaged in perception of the infinite. Reader ! Professorial Golf is the infinite : it refuses to be confined within the narrow limits of rules and the unbending laws of nature. At the fifth hole I was blinded by the loose sand and earth which came flying back i8 Academic Golf towards me, as turf after turf was hurled from the erring cleek. At the eighth hole the course of my ball was inter- rupted by a large mass of broken shafts, which was piled up in serried confusion. At the turn one of the players walked home, having lost his clubs and his temper. The three remaining Dons in solemn silence struck off — at least they struck ; I cannot speak with certainty about the " off/' My partner and I plod- ded peacefully behind for some time, until, in a fit of f orgetfulness, I drove from the tee at the long hole before the learned men had played their fifth shots. The words which they uttered I do not care to repeat here. However, I shelled them from a distance until they reached the home hole, when, hav- ing landed all square, they departed. * * * * I do not know why I was sent down by the Senatus. Rudeness and incivil- 19 Academic Golf ity towards certain Professors were the chief counts in the indictment. But I suspect that the true reason was this, that these dauntless three, enraged at being discovered in their infamous and ineffective essays at Golf, had so con- trived to secure silence on my part and salvation of their reputations. But I shall not be so easily put down. I scorn to make mention of their names ; but any one caring to investigate the matter may discern the gentlemen on the Links of St. Andrew ; nay, he may even trace them by the long rows of loose turf which mark their victorious career. I have left the city for good. M ' Bunk- er tells me in his last letter that a Pro- fessorial Handicap had been arranged. The scratch man won easily in 139 ; a learned Principal who had been turned adrift on the Links with unlimited odds has not since been heard of. 20 SOCRATES ON THE LINKS BY ANDREW LANG GOING down towards the shore lately I met Critias and the beautiful Charmides, for indeed they are seldom apart. Seeing that they carried in their hands clubs not only of wood, but of iron, and even of brass, I conceived that they were bound for the Palaestra. "Hail to you, Critias,*' I said ; "is it permitted to accompany you ?'* " Indeed, Socrates, you may, and you may even carry those clubs for me," said Critias. "But," said I, "is the carr3ring of clubs an art, or a sport ?" " An art, if it be done for money," he said ; " but a sport, if to oblige a friend, for the things of friends are common." " Will you then lend me your putter 21 Socrates on the Links to knock yonder sophist on the head ?" I asked ; but he denied it with an oath. ^^ Neither then/' said I, *^0 best of men, will I carry yonr clubs, for it does not become one who has not learned an art to practice it." Critias was now building a small altar of sea-sand, on which he placed a white ball, and addressed himself to it in a pious manner, and becomingly. " It is a singularly fine morning," I remarked ; on hearing which he smote his ball, not rightly, nor according to law, but on the top, so that it ran into the road, and there lay in a rut. "Tell me, Critias," I said, "do you think it becoming a philosopher, and one who studies the sacred writings even of the extreme Barbarians, to be incapable of self-command, and that in a trifling matter such as whether a ball is hit fairly, or not fairly ?" But he seized an iron club, and glared 22 Socrates on the Links upon me so fiercely that I turned to Charmides, who was now about to hit his ball tor the second time. He observing that it was "a beautiful lie," I asked him : " Charmides, can we say that any lie is really beautiful or noble, or are not nobility and beauty rather the attributes of the True ?" He thereupon struck his ball, but not skilfully, so that it fell into the Ilissus, which did not seem to be his intention, but otherwise. " Socrates,'* he said, "you have made me heel it." "That," I answered, "is rather the function of the physician ; and yet no harm may be done, for shall we not say that healing is also an art, and benefi- cial?" But by this time they had crossed the Ilissus, walking, one by a bridge of stone, and the other by a bridge of wood, whereas I deemed it more seem- 23 Socrates on the Links ing to go round by the road. Hurrying after them, I found them declaring that **the hole was halved;'* and as they again stood up before their balls, with genuflexions as is customary and pious, I said to Critias : '' Then, Critias, if the half, as Hesiod tells us, be better than the hole, is he more truly fortunate, and favored of the Gods, who wins one half, or two holes, or *' But as I was speaking he struck his ball, not far off, but near ; into a sand- pit which is in that place, and hard by it is a stone pillar, the altar, perhaps, of some God, or the sepulchre of a hero. "What call you this place, Critias?" I said to him, as he smote the sand re- peatedly with an iron instrument. " We call it a bunker," he said. "Is it, then, analogous to what you name a *bunk,' or even more so, for have you not observed that when the 24 Socrates on the Links syllable * er * is added to an adjective, then, as Cratylus says, addition of a sort is predicated ?'* By this time he was in another sand- pit, digging" eagerly with his iron weapon. "Critias,** I said, "of three things one. Either a wise man will not go in- to bunkers, or, being in, he will endure such things as befall him with patience, or, having called to his aid certain of the agricultural class, he will fill up those cavities, adding a prayer to the local Gods, anJ perhaps sacrificing a tom-cat." But, I having said this, Critias and Charmides turned upon me with impre- cations and niblicks, and, having first rolled me in the gorse bushes, and hurt me very much, they then beat me with the shafts of their clubs, and, next fill- ing my mouth with sand, they bore me along and cast me into the Ilissus, whence I hardly escaped by swimming. 25 Socrates on the Links **Now, Socrates/' they said, "is it more becoming a philosopher to speak to a man when he is addressing himself to his ball, or rather, having somewhere found a Professor, to prove to him — he being perhaps an old man or an amiable — that he does not understand his own business ?" But, by the Dog ! I was in no case to answer this question ; rather I have brought an action against Critias and Charmides before the Court of the Areopagus, estimating at several minse the injuries which I received, as I have already told you. 26 HERODOTUS IN SAINT ANDREWS BY ANDREW LANG 156. n^HE tribes which inhabit Saint A Andrews are many, not all wearing the same dress nor using the same speech. Now, contrary to what we know of other nations, the Priests are more numerous than the people, be- ing both young and old. Of the young, some wear red cloaks, and others black ; they also wear square caps like the tribes on the Isis, of whom we have spoken elsewhere. They who wear red cloaks are extremely proud, and of those the proudest are the tribe called Bejants, Now, as to the meaning of the name, many accounts are given ; but that which I prefer I come telling. Of old the chiefs of these tribes were 27 Herodotus in Saint Andrews called RegentSy but they were over- thrown in a sedition. So, as it appears to me, the Be j ants are descended from the Regents, for B, in their language, resembles R, and the words are other- wise akin and of similar sound. Hence, therefore, the Be j ants are proud, they having no other reason to show for their haughtiness. 157. They who wear black gowns are more instructed than the other tribes, having knowledge of the mysteries. Now, the god of this people is the Lynx, which I did not myself see. For indeed he comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the Kadis say, of five hun- dred years. And these say he comes regularly when his father dies, and if he be like the painting of him, he is green, in this differing from other Lynxes. His priest is called "The Tommoris," and is greatly revered by all the tribes, dwelling in a small 28 Herodotus in Saint Andrews chapel hard by the sea. He, however, offers no sacrifice, nor does he chant hymns, but remains absorbed in con- templation of the Lynx. There are some who say that the Tommoris, when once he has been chosen, never grows old, nor does he take odds from any one. Others, however deny this. Some re- port that he is a Scythian, being de- scended from Tomyris, the Queen of the Massagetse, whereof I make men- tion in my Muses. Concerning the Tommoris, then, let this be sufficient. 158. There is another tribe of Saint Andrews called the Clubmen, who dwell opposite the chapel of the Tommoris, and still nearer the sea. Their manner of life is this : Having built a large house, wherein also is a great hall, they fill it with ladders and paint it with paint, so that it smells grievously, as Homer also says of the skins of the seals. The Clubmen then perform lus- 29 Herodotus in Saint Andrews trations, setting urns of water in the Hall, but they do not drink of this water. They consider it better to die than to live, as is proved by an inscrip- tion in Cadmeian letters, which I myself read : HANGING ACCOMMODATION ROUND THE CORNER. There, then, the Clubmen hang them- selves, being vexed by the ladders and and the paint. Some of the survivors wear scarlet chitons, not made like the cloaks of the Priests, but otherwise, for they are by no means of the same tribe as the Priests, though they also worship the Tommoris, making him offerings of silver. Among them is a Priest who instructs them in the oaths which it is customary to employ when they lose themselves in the sands of the desert. Concerning this Priest, it is said that he is acquainted with the oaths of the Barba- rians. The Oracle, however, is in the 30 Herodotus in Saint Andrews chapel of the Tomtnoris, who interprets such questions as are asked by the na- tives. 159. In respect to animals, dogs are an abomination to the Clubmen. The dogs, therefore, gathering in great num- bers outside the house of the Clubmen, can hardly be prevented from entering, behaving like the cats of Egypt on the occasion of a fire. The reason why the Clubmen abominate dogs is known to me, and the reason why they sprinkle cayenne pepper on the threshold of their dwelling, and to what god ; but it is not fit that I should mention these things in this place. He, however, who has been initiated into the mysteries of the Tommoris knows what I mean. 160. The Women of the Saint An- dreans are somehow wont to be exces- sively beautiful beyond those in other cities. There is, however, a certain holy place where they are not permit- 31 Herodotus in Saint Andrews ted to walk. Concerning this they tell a sacred story. When lo came to Saint Andrews in the shape of a cow, she was grazing in the field. Now, one of the Clubmen was endeavoring to strike a ball into a small hole, as is the custom ; and having struck the cow, she instant- ly became a woman again, whereon the Clubman imprecated a curse upon any woman who entered the sacred place, averring that he had been put off his play by the circumstance which I have mentioned. This, then, became the law, even to this day. i6i. The largest tribe of those which I have not mentioned is called the Ka- dis. They are the attendants in the chapel of the Tommoris, and are great- ly respected by all the tribes, who make them daily offerings of silver. This they do by way of expiation. For, when any men would strike balls in the ground where women are not permitted 32 Herodotus in Saint Andrews to enter, the Kadis are obliged to ac- company them, and judge concerning their skill. This they do not willingly, but unwillingly, for the performances of the other tribes are an abomination to the Kadis, who are far more skillful than to rest. To appease them, then, the tribes make offerings of silver. The young Kadis are much more se- vere than the old, mocking openly at such as are not skilled in their art. The Kadis, moreover, do not wear red robes. 162. To the north of the Saint An- dreans dwell the Dundaei, a strong tribe, but very ignorant and foolish. They are said to be entirely ignorant of the Greek speech, which the Saint An- dreans know — some, but not all. The Dundaei then they speak of as Barba- rians — ^reasonably, for they are indeed a very foolish people, living after the manner of the Sidonians. Some of them, however, having been instructed 33 Herodotus in Saint Andrews by the Saint Andreans, worship the Lynx. Horatios, the traveler, the son of Hutchi, having, as he says, visited Saint Andrews, declares that the L)mx is not a beast, but is the place where women are not allowed to enter. He also says in his Periplous^ that "the Links are a noble ruin," — most mani- festly confusing it with the remnants of ancient temples whereof I have spoken. On this matter, then, being at Saint Andrews, I myself consulted the Oracle of the Tommoris. He answered me in the hexameter meter as is usual : — ** Stranger, if these be the words of the King, the descendant of Hutchi, Him from the shores of the South, and the Ho ! they denominate ** Westward,'* Answer him thus, No man, if the Links are indeed but a Ruin, Skelps them with iron as freely as thou — De- scendant of Hutchi." Having said this he burned a certain weed in a small vessel, inhaling the smoke,and cursing Horatios the Hutchid. 34 THE DEVIL'S ROUND A TALE OF FLEMISH GOLF BY MRS. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON THE following story, translated by Mrs. Anstruther Thomson from Le Grand CholeuTyOi M. Charles Deulin {Contes du Roi Gambrinus)^ gives a great deal of information about French and Flemish golf. As any reader will see, this ancient game represents a stage of evolution between golf and hockey. The object is to strike a ball, in as few strokes as possible, to a given point ; but, after every three strokes, the opponent is allowed to d^choler^ or make one stroke back, or into a hazard. Here the element of hockey comes in. Get rid of this element, let each man hit his own ball, and, in place of striking to 35 The Devil's Round a point — say, the cemetery gate — let men " putt '' into holes, and the Flemish game becomes golf. It is of great antiquity. Ducange, in his Lexi- con of Low Latin ^ gives Choulla^ French ^^