In the year 1724 the Honourable Alexander Elphinstone who was the elder brother of Lord Balmerino (who had been executed on Tower Hill for taking part in “45” rebellion) played on Leith Links what prints of the time said “was a solemn match at Golf” with a another famous person Captain John Porteous who was later hanged during the Porteous Riots from a dyers pole by the Edinburgh mob. The wager at the time was twenty guineas. (more…)