Adelaide in the Sixties. Very cool.

Scotland's story in 100 objects - The Scotsman

via thescotsman.scotsman.com

SCOTLAND'S history is most often remembered as a dark drama etched out on a stunning landscape by the bloodstained battlefields of Mons Graupius, Bannockburn, Flodden, Culloden and many more. But there was another more constructive side to it, and the surprise is how much evidence of that has survived thousands years of murder, massacre and mayhem.
Scots were also among the pioneers in collecting and preserving materials to illustrate the progress of humanity that, by the time of the Enlightenment in the 18th century, they believed had taken place. They had themselves, after all, gone in a couple of generations from cutting throats in the Highlands and burning witches in the Lowlands to gracious living in the New Town of Edinburgh and mechanising labour at New Lanark. They wanted to mark the change and preserve the memory of it for future generations. This is why Scotland has some of the best museums and art galleries in the world.

Posted via web from poobumwee's posterous

I wonder if you were allowed to move the ball for a cow pat

I learned today that Australias first golf course was in a cow paddock in Adelaide. Having grown up in and around St Andrews, the home of golf it is nice to know that I have an Antipodean parallel.

On opening day twenty foundation members "of status and wealth", all of whom sported traditional red coats, joined a varied assortment of Adelaide citizenry who had turned up "to see the fun". In those long-gone days anything out of the ordinary, which was participated in by so-called "Swells", was considered amusing by thr lower strata of society.

"The first games were played in the presence of a highly amused gallery. If a player missed the ball the crowd roared. If he hit it, they laughed just the same - on principle it seemed. But the crowd soon tired of the novelty and the golfers were left in peace as far as the gallery went." A further hazard was the presence of young boys who, despite the engagement of fore-caddies by the players, stole many of the expensive "feathery" balls...

A greater handicap was the presence of cows; in those days the parklands were an unfenced commonage and many families in the city owned a cow which was turned loose on them. It is left to the reader's imagination as to some of the natural hazards confronted by the intrepid golfers. The mind boggles regarding the pitfalls of a "lift and clean" local rule!

After the governor left the colony interest waned; the harsh Australian summers cracked the glue in the expensive clubs with their beechwood heads and ash shafts, while breakages and other damage were most annoying as the clubs had to be sent back to Scotland for either repairs or replacement.

Although the cattle links have long gone, other animals make sport with horse race meetings held at Victoria Park intermittently. Unfortunately Victoria Park is very run down and the SA Jockey Club have turned off the sprinklers to save water. There is a good chance that racing may be finished there also. The good people of that part of town would like to have it maintained as a private dog paddock rather than have the area developed. But that is another story.

Thanks Jayne from Our Great Southern Land

No Convicts Here

Today is the 170th Anniversary of Proclamation Day in South Australia, the day the non convict Brits claimed their piece of the action in Australia. The flag was raised in Glenelg by Colonel Hindmarsh in the name of the Queen. The rest as they say is history.