A golfing idyll : or, The Skipper's round with the Deil on the Links of St. Andrews

Set against the windswept cliffs of St. Andrews, a young woman studying medicine in London takes a holiday to sketch the famed golf course. While sketching, she overhears an elderly caddie, freshly dressed yet haunted by his past, engaging a jovial companion in a lively conversation. Intrigued, she listens as the seasoned “Skipper” launches into a vivid, rhymed recounting of an uncanny adventure that pits a mischievous devil against the quiet humility of the Links.

The caddie's tale blends the rough‑and‑tumble language of Scots‑Doric with flashes of literary allusion, hinting at a larger, almost mythic struggle without revealing its conclusion. As the narrator records the story in doggerel, the atmosphere of the old club, the sea breezes, and the clatter of clubs become a vivid backdrop to a tale that feels both humorous and oddly solemn. Listeners are invited to share the wonder of a story that lingers between folklore and a golfer’s day‑to‑day reality.