Plaque on the cairn shown in picture below

The first mention of golf in relation to Leith dates from a reported dispute in 1552 between ‘the cordiners (cobblers) of the Cannongate and the cordiners and gouff ball makers of North Leith’. This implies the use of stitched golf ball and more modern golf rather than just 'kolf' with wooden balls.

One traditional derivation of the term “Fore!” derives from the use of two defensive cannons of Leith fort.  The embankment, seen in the picture to the left of the cairn, is allegedly one of two gun emplacements used by the attacking forces in 1560, when the Links were the scene of the Siege of Leith by the English. Click picture for larger image.

View of the of the Links / plaque on the cairn. Click images for larger pictures

Leith was the site of some of the first attacks and injuries in golf. The first of these was 1575 when golfers were attacked and fought back successfully. On a later occasion, in 1690, Sir Robert Sibbald was crossing the Links when a young boy who did not hear him approach, apparently hit him on the backswing with his club. Sir Robert required medical attention, but the name of the golfer is not mentioned, nor whether he carried any insurance.

As elsewhere, Edinburgh Burgh records of 1593 bemoan the fact that Edinburgh churchgoers were playing golf in Leith instead of going to church. On 16th February 1610, South Leith Kirk Session proposed a fine of 20 shillings (one pound) to be paid ‘to the poor’ by anyone found playing golf (or bowls or archery) between sunrise and sunset on Sunday. Apart from the fine, they would also have to confess their sins in church. This persecution continued until 1724, which year marks the last official Kirk prosecution in Scotland for Sunday golfing, when the Leith innkeeper John Dickson was accused of giving victuals to Sabbath golfers.

Tradition has it that the Bishop of Galloway was playing golf on Leith Links in 1619 when he suffered a deadly premonition of two men attacking him. So he threw down his ‘arma campestria’ (golf clubs), took to his bed and died. Another much repeated story is that King Charles I was playing in Leith in 1641 when he heard about the Irish Rebellion. Some say he finished the match; some that he broke off the match to attend to the matter; and others that he used it as an excuse to terminate the match because he was losing. This is depicted in a famous, but much later, etching by Sir John Gilbert in 1875/6. Both these Victorian tales must be interpreted carefully.

Sir John Foulis of Ravelston, who was Keeper of the Register of Sasines (legal title deeds) and who kept copious personal records, played golf in Leith in 1672. So too did the medical student Thomas Kincaid in the winter of 1687-8. Both record the return coach journey from Edinburgh to Leith as 10 shillings. (There were 20 shillings in a pound). This shows how highly Edinburgh golfers rated playing at Leith Links compared to Bruntsfield Links.

More significant is the record of the first ‘international’ golf match in 1681, between Scotland and England on Leith Links. The Duke of York, who was the brother of the King Charles II and who would succeed him as James VII of Scotland / II of England, was then in residence as the King’s Commissioner at Holyroodhouse. Two English nobleman of his circle claimed that golf was an English game. The Duke disagreed and challenged them to a golf match to settle the matter, choosing John Patersone as his playing partner. Patersone was a ‘champion’ golfer, but a common ‘cordiner’ (cobbler). Not surprisingly, the Duke and his champion won for Scotland and it is said that Patersone bought a house at 77 Cannongate with the lion’s share of the winning purse that the Duke generously split with him. The house was called ‘Golfers Land’, shown below, and the Duke had an escutcheon affixed to the outside with a heraldic design and the golfers’ motto ‘Far and Sure’ inscribed on it.  When John Patersone died, he also owned a house in Leith, from which he supplied golf equipment to the gentry.

77 Cannongate Royal Mile 1875 and now and plaque (click pictures for larger images)

Cannongate is part of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and Patersone's Golfers Land was demolished in 1960. It is now the site of Jenny Ha's pub (also shown above) and remembered only by a plaque. It would rival any prize money today for a single golf game. It is also reported that the man who carried the clubs of the Duke of York was Andrew Dickson, , the future clubmaker, who thus became the world’s first recorded caddy.  It is not recorded whether Andrew Dickson got the caddie's usual percentage.

In 1724, ‘a solemn match at golf’, the first reported in a newspaper, took place on Leith Links, between the Honourable Alexander Elphinstone and Captain John Porteous of the City Guard for a stake of 20 guineas (22 pounds). Both men would be further reported in the press. Alexander Elphinstone fought a duel at Leith Links in 1729. Then in 1736, Captain Porteous gave his name to the Porteous Riots, as a result of which several Edinburgh citizens were shot and he was lynched later by a mob when he was pardoned for his part these deaths.

Of course, the most famous single golf event on the Links was on 2nd April 1744; the occasion of the first golf competition anywhere in the world arranged by a group of golfers who were to become known as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. In 1994, there was a 250th anniversary match, duly commemorated on a plaque on the cairn that can be seen in the pictures at the top of the page.

Leith Links Golf Course 1744

Another commemorative plaque on the cairn is an outline drawing, shown above, of the five holes used by 1744 on the course. The course begins in the bottom left and is played clockwise. Not shown is the ‘practice’ hole, played before the first round but not in subsequent rounds. We do not know when the first holes were laid out. There is a second cairn at the site of the second hole, in the grounds of the old White and Mackay bond store, which is currently being redeveloped for housing.

The Honourable Company built a clubhouse called the 'Golf House' in 1768, and played at Leith until 1831 when the Links became too crowded. After an interlude of five years, they recommenced playing at Musselburgh in 1836.

The ‘Golf House’ no longer exists.  It was beside the first tee and is now under the building on Duke Street, originally constructed for Leith Academy, but which has become part of Queen Margaret’s College. The links are split in two by a road. There are two cricket pitches on one side and a bowling green and children’s play area on the other. Apart from the cairn, you would never know that international and competitive golf started here.

It’s not an isolated neglect. The Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has only nine artefacts of golf in one corner of one cabinet. They comprise 3 clubs, 4 medals, a box of gutta percha balls and a cup.

Thus do the Scots honour their national game in their national capital.

More history of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

Accommodation in Edinburgh

More details of history of rules of golf

More history on the siege of Leith