The River Cup Papers
Chapter 1: Two Lives Meet
I
cannot recall at this time the complete details of the River Cup's history
as it was related to me by my grandfather early in my life. What recall
I do have, however, I deem to be sufficiently important as to require its
being set down upon paper so that it shall not forever be forgotten. The
reader will forgive, it is hoped, any departures from true events should
any more contemporaneous history later be found. I know of none and so
I have nothing to draw upon in my rendering other than memories of my grandfather's
description which over the course of my years have become fainter.
Young
Angus MacLeitch, known as such to distinguish him from his father Old Angus
MacLeitch from whom he had taken his name, was the scion of a wealthy and
well-respected Scottish clan. [Footnote 1]. During his early years in the
beginning of the 19th century, MacLeitch entered into a career in banking
in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his family lived. He was well liked by all
in the community for his personable manner.
During
his early career in banking he developed a particular fondness for the
still fledgling sport of golf, which he indulged on the greensward at the
Links of Leith, just outside Edinburgh, where his forefathers before him
had played the game. [Footnote 2]. His work suffered mightily as he attempted
to hone his meager skills at the confounding game. Even more sadly, he
became addicted to the thrill of a golfing wager and lost great sums in
this fashion. In addition to this perhaps forgivable shortcoming, MacLeitch
also suffered from an unquenchable thirst for the local distillery's malt
whiskey. All of this brought great disgrace on the family's good name and
his siblings, of which he was the eldest male, turned their backs upon
him.
Over
the course of his middle years, MacLeitch squandered his once sizeable
inheritance on the game and failed to advance in his career in banking.
Castle MacLeitch, which had served as the clan's home for centuries and
which he had inherited when his parents died, fell into disrepair as more
and more of MacLeitch's inheritance and limited earnings were assigned
in the betting books of the Links of Leith to his golfing opponents.
In
happier times, before his gambling debts had consumed the bulk of his assets,
MacLeitch had taken as his bride a beautiful Scottish lass many years his
junior. He was a devoted husband to the young Tully despite his passion
for a game which would come to control his life. She, in return, was devoted
to him and remained so even when this passion threatened their previously
happy life together in Castle MacLeitch.
Despite
the family's worsening financial plight, MacLeitch continued to cling to
the one avocation which allowed him to forget, if only fleetingly, the
family's squalor: golf. Forced to sell his fine golfing equipment to pay
off his mounting gambling debts, MacLeitch crafted for himself a rudimentary
set of clubs. He made his own balls, carefully stuffing feathers into their
leather outer shells which he then dried in anticipation of his upcoming
rounds. His once fine golf wear became ragged with use when he could not
afford to replace it. MacLeitch was a sorry sight indeed when he arrived
at the greensward on Saturday mornings to partake in the sole remaining
pleasure of his decrepit life. Each Saturday morning, MacLeitch arrived
hopeful of somehow escaping from the debt into which he had sunk by betting
on the outcome of that day's matches. Without fail, by the conclusion of
the day's matches the family's financial condition had worsened as in all
of Edinburgh, a golfer of lesser ability than MacLeitch could not be found.
MacLeitch
complained bitterly to Tully that if only he could acquire a new set of
fine clubs and improve upon the quality of the balls with which he was
forced to play, he could most certainly improve his game sufficiently to
defeat his opponents and lift the family from its poverty. Tully listened
patiently to her husband's excuses but knew in her heart that there was
little hope that his game would ever improve. She also knew, though he
tried to hide it from her, that her husband imbibed heavily during the
day's play, as each Saturday evening when he returned he reeked of whiskey
and his eyes had been reduced to mere slits from which he could scarcely
see. This, she knew, certainly was of no benefit in righting his swing.
But Tully, a sweet girl, never complained about the time her husband spent
at the local greensward knowing as she did the joy it brought to his otherwise
sad life. Tully suffered mightily, but she suffered silently, consoling
her wretch of a husband each evening with the warmth of her supple body
in the cold dankness of the Castle's bedroom. This, too, made MacLeitch's
existence bearable.
In
order to survive the almost total depletion of his assets other than the
family home, MacLeitch was eventually forced to seek a lender willing to
advance funds to him for the support of his family using the Castle as
security. Unfortunately, no local banker in Edinburgh, nor anywhere in
the environs of Castle MacLeitch, was willing to risk his money on MacLeitch,
as word of his vices had traveled throughout Scotland.
Forced
to seek a lender outside of Scotland, MacLeitch learned of a man near London
who was willing to lend monies to those with whom no cautious lender would
deal. Jay Langdon had earned a fortune selling various potions and supplies
to the doctors of London. Though centuries removed from the heartless barbers
of medieval times, these "men of science" were little advanced
in their understanding of the science of healing. They used the wares which
they purchased from Langdon in their often cruel efforts to "heal"
the afflicted. Langdon became the largest supplier of these goods in all
of the British Empire and acquired great wealth in the process. Though
not a heartless man, he seemed not to know the suffering his wares caused
to those upon whom they were used.
Langdon's
wife, a fetching English women of high standing wed in her innocent years
to the budding peddler, could not bear the constant absence of her husband
as he travelled across the Empire to peddle his wares, though she was thankful
for the comfortable living it conferred upon them. The beguiling Gaelyn
eventually convinced her husband to remove himself from that tiresome endeavor
as he seemingly had sufficient resources to support them both for many
a year, although her tastes were well refined and required great sums to
satisfy. Though Langdon often wished he could restrain her habits, the
methods by which she satisfied his nightly cravings for her enraptured
him and she was able to get all that she desired of him in this manner.
After
several years of living off his previous earnings, it eventually became
necessary to enter into another form of commerce in order to support the
lavish lifestyle Gaelyn craved. To support her excesses, Langdon struck
upon the idea of lending his remaining funds to those desperate enough
to pay high rates of interest for the use of his monies. A shrewd businessman,
Langdon was as successful in this undertaking as in his previous peddling
career. He soon became known among his borrowers as Langdon, Jew of London,
and he was able to increase his wealth tenfold each year in this distasteful
manner without leaving his London flat. He and Gaelyn again were well off,
so much so that they were able to purchase an estate just outside of London
in the village of Moss-on-Thames, and this served as their second home.
This was well suited for Gaelyn, allowing her the opportunity to furnish
a new home for the family from the resources her husband willingly supplied
her. Langdon was also known as a sporting man with a particular fondness
for the game of golf, which he had learned of in a trip to Scotland while
peddling medical wares early in his life. [Footnote 3]. Later, when he
had acquired his great wealth, he laid out a course emulating the Scottish
greensward upon which he had first learned the game on land behind his
country estate, with three of the seven holes running along the banks of
the Thames.
To
maintain the holes in playable condition, Langdon purchased a herd of sheep
and hired a sheepherder whose responsibility was to lead the sheep to the
course each day for grazing. The sheepherder, an industrious young lad
of little intellect, never failed to do that which was instructed and soon
became known as the best greensward keeper in all of England. [Footnote
4].
Due
to the great wealth he had acquired, Langdon was able to practice his game
every day, free as he was of any financial concern. After many years, though,
his skills had improved only imperceptibly and the flight of his feathery
ball continued to have an unsightly left to right look about it. [Footnote
5]. He nonetheless vainly considered himself the finest golfer in all of
Moss-on-Thames. Indeed, he most likely was since very few Moss-on-Thamers
engaged in what appeared to most Englishmen of the time as a frivolous
and unwholesome undertaking.
In
order to have sufficient numbers of golfers with whom he could engage in
his almost daily rounds, Langdon introduced the game to many of his acquaintances,
mostly his former doctor customers but also to the solicitors who prepared
the notes by which his lendings were accomplished. Eventually, the game
became the rage among Englishmen of high standing in their communities,
particularly among the doctors and solicitors who had been the first introduced
to the game on Langdon's greensward. In his daily matches Langdon wagered
great sums upon himself and due to the ineptitude of his opponents newly
introduced to the game, he won a goodly portion of those bets.
As
the reader may have surmised, it came to pass that Young Angus MacLeitch
and Langdon, Jew of London, became inextricably intertwined in golf's history
by virtue of the crying need of MacLeitch for funds and the ability of
Langdon to satisfy those needs. Having learned of him from members of the
banking community, MacLeitch corresponded with the lender seeking a loan
to be secured by the Castle MacLeitch. From his travels in Scotland, Langdon
knew it to be one of the finest in Edinburgh, although in great disrepair,
and sufficient to secure a loan of a significant amount. As was the case
in all his loans, the Jew of London expected to recognize a handsome rate
of return on the loan of his funds. Despite the exorbitant return required
by Langdon, MacLeitch had no alternative but to accept the terms proffered.
After correspondence back and forth, a deal was struck and the loan extended.
Chapter 2: A Wager is Struck
Chapter 3: Preparations
Chapter 4: The Competition is Joined
Chapter 5: The Match is Decided
Chapter 6: Salvation
Chapter 7: The River Cup