The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

84 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. Massachussets, 1889, while at Haylor Camp, Devonshire, G. W. Rowdon is said to have cleared 6 ft. 5f in. in 1890, andyet some people say the human race is degenerating! Rowdon 's record has not been acceptedas genuine however. The followinghave clearedfrom 5 ft. 4 in. to 5 ft. 6 in. R, Lawson, Culloden; W. Aitken, Killearn; D. Lamont, Kil- barchan; J. Watt, Aboyne; D. M'Donald, Tullymet; W. M'Donald, Inverness. CHAPTER VIII. LONG LEAP; HOP, STEP, AND LEAP; AND POLE VAULTLNG. HE long leap, like the high leap, is included in the pro­ gramme of almost every Scottishgathering. In the South the standing long leap ispopular, but for much the same reasons as are given against the standing high leap, it seems quite unnecessary. Standing long leap has little or no show, is any­ thing but graceful,and ofall the feats practised at games is the one most likely to injure the athlete,as it is very likely to cause rupture of the abdomen. The long leap is so simple a feat that there canbe little variety in style. The main difference in Scotland at different gatherings is in the methodof measuring. In the Souththe leapis generally measured from toe toheel, one judge notingwhere thetoe of the footthe competitor rises from was at the moment of leaping, the othernoting the mark left by the hindmost heel on alighting—the former holding the end of the tapeline, the lattergiving the distancecleared. Generally in the North a scratch orstrip ofwood is placed on the ground,and each jump ismeasured from the edge of the mark nearest to where each competitor leaps from to hindmost heel. By measuring from toe to heel the competitor gets full value for the ground cleared, an important point, whereas by