13 -- GOLF in SCOTLAND

Anne Marie has prepared some information for everyone about golf.
Read the text first and you can see her photos in Post 14.

THE BIRTH OF GOLF

Scotland's national game began on the sandy links* around St. Andrews.

The earliest record of the game being played dates from 1457 when golf was banned by James II because it was interfering with his subjects’ archery* practice.

Mary Queen of Scots was berated* in 1567 for playing immediately after her husband Darnley had been murdered.

St Andrews is now a shrine* to golfers all over the world.

St Andrews was the oldest university town and at one time the ecclesiastical capital.

We saw the venerable ruins of the 12th century cathedral in Scotland, once the largest cathedral in Scotland.

It was later pillaged* for its stones which were used to build the town.

The castle was built in the year 1200; the dungeon in which many religious Reformers were held prisoner can still be seen.

The St Andrews golf courses occupy the land to the west of the city; each is open for a modest fee* for everybody.

"You are not a true golfer until you have won at St Andrews."

Anne-Marie Hauduin
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A little vocabulary:
-- links = golf course, built along the seaside. The soil is sandy there.
-- archery = the sport where you use a bow and arrows (Robin Hood was very good at
this sport!)
-- to berate = reprimander
-- shrine = a place of religious devotion
-- to pillage = piller
-- fee = the money you must pay (to play golf here)