The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

36 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. fall, otherwise the put is disallowed. This is both stupid anc unfair; stupid because an athlete cannot exert himself fully to throw far and at the same time aim to throw in a particular direction; unfair because an athlete may have the bestthrow measured from toe to first break, andyet not get a prize because the stone felltwo inches farther to the leftor right than that of the otherswho had shorter throws. But why the hoppingstyle at all? No one is compelled to hop, only it is found to be the best method within 7 feet 6 inches, so that it is the limitedrun that has originated the style. But there is no more reason for saying eachone must be confined to the same length of run in putting than for maintaining that each one must be confined to a certain length of run in high or low leaping. South of the Grampians, many athletes used to take a double hop, requiring 8 to 9 or 10 feet of a run, which added from 2 to 3 feet to the length of their put. There ought to be no restrictions in putt­ ing, except that the stone orball must be putted—that is, the hand that holds the stonemust never be behind the elbow. The athlete who can put agiven weight on given ground the farthest is champion putter. The champion putter inBorder, Braemar, or common Scotch style ismerely a champion with an if. The unquestioned champion putter is the athlete who can put the greatest distance between his foremost toe mark and the first break made by a given weight, on level ground, just as the champion long leaper is the athlete who can cover most ground between his foremost toe and hindmost heel. Quite recently reports of long throws have come from Australia; they origin­ ated not in putting, but in throwing lumps oflead, and have no connection with putting. FAMOUSPUTTERS AND THEIR PERFORMANCES.— Taking22 lbs and 16lbs as the standardweights forstone orball, putters may be divided into three classes; the first class, those who have made puts equal to 36 feet or over with 22 lb stone or ball, or 43 feetand over with 16 lb., onlevel ground, with 7 feet 6 inches of run, the throwsmeasured from toe to first break; the second