GOLFERS, the world over, will readily admit that the significance of mere numbers as the accepted designation of the varied expanses tor play on many golf courses is at the best weak and colourless. Yet, such is our habit of mind, we accept numbers without protest. We would be appalled at the thought of the counties of England and Scotland being known to us only in terms of figures, for where then would be the romance of, say, Devon if we merely thought of Devon as nine, or thirteen, or whatever number it might have been given ? And what of Perthshire, and its glorious traditions, were it only a numeral ? You have to think but for a moment and the loss we should sustain is manifest. The illustration may serve, however, to bring into sharper focus the value of place names and all that they stand for in romantic associations. Scotland can boast of place names that hold romance in every letter Lennoxlove and Sweetheart Abbey are positively lyrical with old-world charm, and Little France awakens memories of the devoted French servants of Mary Stuart. Go where you may in the country north of the Tweed you will not tail to find a name here, or a name there, that is a pure delight. There is something of the majestic in the very name of Gleneagles itself, and it you come to the glen, and to the Golf Courses it leads to. you will discover more of the wonderful endowment that attaches to descriptive titles. Come by rail from the south, and as you are nearing your destination you pass in quick succession Greenloaning and Blackford. These names may at first convey little to the imagination, and vet can you not guess that in them we have the green lane between the cornfields along which "the kye come hame to the milking, and the black ford across the river. Then in the east at the entrance to the glen there is Gleneagles Castle, the ancient home of the Haldane family, and in the immediate vicinity, nestling at the foot of the Ochil Hills, the historic Kincardine Castle, the seat of Mr. George Borland. And coming from the west by way of Crieff there is Drummond Castle, the stately home of the Earl of Ancaster. the oldest part of which - the grey old stronghold built in the fifteenth century - has memories of many an ancient romance and tragedy. Coming in another direction from Crieff you pass Strathallan Castle, the seat of Sir James Roberts, Bart., in its setting of beautiful woods, as well as the site of the Castle of Tullibardine, where Mary, Queen of Scots, rested on her way to Drummond Castle. The Castle is no longer to be seen, but the name is well known in connection with the courtesy title in the family of the Duke of Atholl - The Marquis of Tullibardine. In connection with Tullibardine another interesting matter arises. It would seem that a joyous atmosphere attached to Gleneagles even before the countryside was sealed to the pleasures of golf; autres temps, autres mæurs, and "to the trembling string the dance gaed through the lichted ha'." Incidentally the name "Tullibardine" furnishes a tide tor one of the liveliest of Scottish dance tunes explained by the fact that many of the most famous of these times are named after places in the neighbourhood of the Golf Course, a circumstance due in part to the fact that Niel Gow, the celebrated Scottish violinist and composer, was born in Perthshire in the early part of the eighteenth century. Brilliant as an executant, his skill became a Scottish tradition, and his compositions are still treasured as being among the finest strathspeys and reels ever penned. Niel was greatly thought of by the then Duke of Atholl, and a published collection of his works was dedicated to Her Grace the Duchess of Atholl. Below is a reproduction of the title page of the old volume. Another famous fiddler and composer, Malcolm M'Donald, who shared with Niel Gow the distinction of having been born in the cathedral town of Dun-kekl dedicated a further collection of dance music to the Earl of Bread-albane.and to Niel and Malcolm we owe the Duchess of Atholl Strathspey, the Marquis of Tullibardine Keel, Mrs. Graham of Orchill Strathspey, Miss Murray of Aber-cairney Reel, Miss Drummond of Perth Strathspey, and many others. A m o n g t h e m all, ho we v e r , The Gleneagles Strathspey, deili-cated to Miss H a l d a ne, h as special significance. A merry and sprightly measure, it is here reproduced from the eighteenth century volume: -

Highland piper

The Gleneagles Strathspey. Dedicated to Miss Haldane.

The tunc is charactcrically Highland, and, although written about one hundred and fifty years ago it played as Scottish dance music should he played, it sill charmingly reflects the delight of the environment that gave it birth.

The lilt and swing of Scottish dance music bespeaks the vigour of the rate and that sense of rhythm that is almost a universal birthright in Scotland, liven to-day the more modern dances have not entirely superseded those that are national. The playing of Scottish airs, while regarded in certain quarters as falling short of the higher plane of musical culture, is not to be relegated to a secondary position. A national trait in music cannot be set aside in that fashion, and so long as we have reels and strathspeys associated in name with these gateways to Gleneagles Perth, Aber-cairiuv, and Orchill- and with neagles itselt, there will be Scots abroad as well as at home who will delight in them. Hut to return to the particular subject of significant Scottish place names and to make plain the purpose tor doing so it may be pointed out that it you come to Gleneagles from St. Andrews you will learn something of the Rumbling Bridge, the Witches' Cauldron and the Yetts o' Muckart, and thus have a clearer understanding of how it came about that the landmarks on the Gleneagles Jolt" Course have also their distinctive names, and how it is that every green on which you play has been aptly christened. The native Scot is, naturally, in no doubt as to the meaning of the names. He realises how appropriate they are, how happy, how full of meaning. They speak to him in his own language, and it is not so generally spoken now as it was at one time. The speech of the native Scot has been modified, He still loves the vernacular, however, and nothing can stir his deepest emotions so readily as "the guid auld mither tongue." The Scottish language braid Scots "as distinct from the Gaelic of the Celt is rich in expressive values. Root, stem and branch it has vigour, sap and those delicate shades of meaning that touch the deepest founts of nature. Hut its appeal is not to Scots only. It someone sings to us "Annie Laurie" we are at once responsive to the beauty of the song's message. The English speaking world appreciates the tenderness of the old ballad. The songs of the Hebrides, the songs of the North, the Border Ballads translate for us, in terms of music and lyrical verse, the profound beauty of Scottish folk lore and stir deep springs of feeling that are not only national but universal. Who among Scots does not appreciate the appeal of the lines: -