The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

86 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. HOP, STEP, AND LEAP.— This, like tossing the caber,may be called a distinctly Scottish feat.. Not that itis unknown in Eng­ land, America,and the Colonies, but nowhere is it so commonly practised as in Scotland, and particularly in the north-east of Scotland. In the South the programmes generally have the absurd announcement, " Hop, step, and leap, or two hops and leap." Now, the only reason for " Hop, step, and leap " being included in a programme at all is that it includes three different kinds ofleaping in unbroken succession. In hopping a leaper rises off and alights on the same foot; in a step he rises from one footand alights on the other ; in the leap he rises off one foot and alights on both feet. There is no more reason for having two hops ortwo of anything ofthe same kind in succes­ sion than for having three or thirty hops, or steps, anda leap. The following are a few specimens ofvariations of this kind taken from the Sporting Chronicle Annual for 1888 ;—Two hops andjump ;six hops andjump ; eight hops andjump ; ten hops and jump; fifteen hops and jump; hop, two strides, and jump; hop, ten strides, and jump, and so on. Now, it is evident there ispractically no end to variations of this kind, the only use of which is to give variety in matches, and a fresh stimulus to betting. Such whimsical feats ought to have no place in the programme of standard athletic meetings. The reason why two hops and jump have come tobe recognised at most sports in the middle andsouth of Scotland is that, as a rule, from two to three feetmore can be cleared by substituting a second hop forthe stepthat follows the hopin hop, step, and leap. Two things account for this—in the first place the balance of the body is not disturbed by the second hop as it is when the leaper has to throw his weight from the left to the right foot in the step ; in the second place the final leap is taken from the foot the athlete is accustomed to rise from in leaping. After the step in hop, step,and leap,the leaperhas to rise from what he calls the wrongfoot. To offerprizes for hop, step, and leap ina programme of sports, andat the same time allow competitors to take threeleaps which are not hop, step,