Leith

One traditional derivation of the term “Fore! ”derives from the use of two defensive cannons of Leith fort. Theembankment, seen in the picture to the left of the cairn, is allegedly one of two gun emplacements used by the attacking forces in 1560, when the Links were the scene of the Siege of Leith by the English.

Leith was the site of some of the first attacks and injuries in golf. The first of these was 1575 when golfers were attacked and fought back successfully. On a later occasion, in 1690, Sir Robert Sibbald was crossing the Links when a young boy who did not hear him approach, apparently hit him on the backswing with his club. Sir Robert required medical attention, but the name of the golfer is not mentioned, nor whether he carried any insurance.

As elsewhere, Edinburgh Burgh records of 1593 bemoan the fact that Edinburgh churchgoers were playing golf in Leith instead of going to church. On 16th February 1610, South Leith Kirk Session proposed a fine of 20 shillings (one pound) to be paid ‘to the poor’ by anyone found playing golf (or bowls or archery) between sunrise and sunset on Sunday. Apart from the fine, they would also have to confess their sins in church. This persecution continued until 1724, which year marks the last official Kirk prosecution in Scotland for Sunday golfing, when the Leith innkeeper John Dickson was accused of giving victuals to Sabbath golfers. Tradition has it that the Bishop of Galloway was playing golf on Leith Links in 1619 when he suffered a deadly premonition of two men attacking him. So he threw down his ‘arma campestria’ (golf clubs), took to his bed and died. Another much repeated story is that King Charles I was playing in Leith in 1641 when he heard about the Irish Rebellion. Some say he finished the match; some that he broke off the match to attend to the matter; and others that he used it as an excuse to terminate the match because he was losing. This is depicted in a famous, but much later, etching by Sir John Gilbert in 1875/6. Both these Victorian tales must be interpreted carefully.

Sir John Foulis of Ravelston, who was Keeper of the Register of Sasines (legal title deeds) and who kept copious personal records, played golf in Leith in 1672. So too did the medical student Thomas Kincaid in the winter of 1687-8. Both record the return coach

journey from Edinburgh to Leith as 10 shillings. (There were 20 shillings in a pound). This shows how highly Edinburgh golfers rated playing at Leith Links compared to Bruntsfield Links. More significant is the record of the first ‘international’ golf match in 1681, between Scotland and England on Leith Links. The Duke of York, who was the brother of the King Charles II and who would succeed him as James VII of Scotland / II of England, was then in residence as the King’s Commissioner at Holyrood House. Two English nobleman of his circle claimed that golf was an English game. The Duke disagreed and challenged them to a golf match to settle the matter, choosing John Patersone as his playing partner. Patersone was a ‘champion’ golfer, but a common ‘cordiner’ (cobbler). Not surprisingly, the Duke and his champion won for Scotland and it is said that Patersone bought a house at 77 Cannongate with the lion’s share of the winning purse that the Duke generously split with him. The house was called ‘Golfers Land’, shown below, and the Duke had an escutcheon affixed to the outside with a heraldic design and the golfers’ motto ‘Far and Sure’ inscribed on it. When John Patersone died, he also owned a house in Leith, from which he supplied golf equipment to the gentry.