Golf, the game traditionally given to the world by Scotland,
was banned several times in that country in the 15th century-as
a military precaution. The game was so popular that it was distracting
men from archery practice at a time when England was embroiled
in the Wars of the Roses(1455-85) and it seemed that the fighting
could spil over the border. The game's earliest mention was in
the first of these Scottish laws, passed in 1457, which decreed
that "golf be utterly cryit doune and not usit". The
ban did not last for long, however. By the early 1500s, the game
was back in favour and even Scottish kings-including James VI,
who as James I introduced the game to England - are known to have taken it up. |