The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

42 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. in. with 16 lb. stone there. Kenneth M'Krae's true form is found by looking at the factthat three successive years at Inver­ ness, with a 21 lb. stone, leaveshim with an average ofunder 37 ft., and that his best putat Aboyne with the 22 lb. stone is 35 ft. 11 in. If John Tait couldput a 22 lb. ball 42 ft. 10 in. rather uphill, he should never have beenunder 40 ft. 10 in. with a 22 lb. ball or stone; yet at Glasgow, when in his prime andtrying his best, he just managed 36 ft. 3 in. with a 22 lb. ball, on ground about level, that is 6 ft. 7 in. under his best, or about the difference between a put with a 16 lb. and a put with a 22 lb.; in other words, we areasked to believe that anathlete in his prime would put the 22 lb. stoneon some occasionsabout as far as he would put the 16lb. stone on other occasions. William Tait oughto have putted the 2 2lb. stoneat least 38 ft. 10 in. when fit and well every time, yet we find him 35 ft. 4 in. at Birnam with the 22 lb., and J. Fleming beat his Dunkeld put by nearly 4 feet. There is a serious difficultyabout the private practicerecords of John andWilliam Tait. The 22 lb. record is given as 40 ft.10 in. ; the 20lb. record as45 ft. 10 in. ; and the 16lb. record as 49 ft. 6 in. That is 2 ft. 6 in. of difference in distance for every lb. differencein weight between 22 lb. and 20 lb., and n in. for every lb.between 20 lb. and 16lb. Now it is a well known fact that as the weightdecreases, the difference in distance putted for every lb. lessweight increases. Therefore, if both athletesputted a 20 lb. stone 5 ft. farther than a22 lb. stone, theyought to have putteda 16 lb. more than10 ft. farther thana 20 lb. stone, so that the 49ft. 6 in. with the 16lb. stone ought to have been more than 55ft. 10 in. to have been consistent with the 20 lb. record as compared with the 22 lb. record. In short, these records disprove themselves. But all this does not bring the records to a proper level. Dinnie's 37 ft. with 22 lb. stone at Aboyne; Davidson's 37 ft. t in. with same; John George's 36 ft. 10 in. with same; *• M'Rae's 35 ft. 11 in. with same; J. Tait's36 ft. 3 in. with 22