The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

94 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. note theexcellencies and defects ofthe various dancers. Each particular dance has particular steps, points, and movements that enable a competent judge to weed out the indifferentdancers in a few minutes, often before they finish a single step. At the present time incompetent judges of dancing are so often ap­ pointed at Scottish gatherings that i has become a scandal. It is matter of notoriety that there are successful dancers, as far as regards the prizes theyhave got—not won—who cannot dance, and never wereknown to dance a single step of any dance either correctly or gracefully. At many gatherings all that is necessary to be sureof a prize is to have a number of medals on the breast, to caper about with great energy and make a great show of dancing, andto bow w T ith sufficient empressement and servility before andafter eachdance to the judges and the occupants of the grandstand. A dancer of this class,a very successful prize- getter, wason his way to the Aboyne Gathering one year, and met with a well known and first-class dancer inAberdeen. The latter asked the successful prize-getter where he was bound for. "For Aboyne." "Aboyne! well, if ye'll tak' my advice ye'll turn, ye're farenough." "How's that?"Because there's one of the judges atAboyne whowas a first-class dancer, and knows good dancing, and it's his opinion generally decides the thing." Nothing daunted by this friendly but somewhat uncomplimentary advice, the generallysuccessful prize-getter went to Aboyne, and returned a sadder andwiser man. SUGGESTIONSFOR BETTER JUDGING .—How isgood judging of dancing to be introduced ?B} r , as already indicated, appointing as judges men who know the good points ofdancing, and can explain the groundsof their decisions. For educatingthe public taste, photographs of first-class dancers, illustrating the position of the dancer in the principal steps, along withexhibitions of the positions ofbad dancers in the same steps are necessary. If instantaneous photographs of bad dancers who sometimes get first prizes were taken, and exhibited along with t at of first -class dancers who do not get a prize at all at some meetings—each